Statutory Context

In Western Australia (WA) the primary source of legislation related to cannabis, as well as other illicit drugs, is contained in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (MDA).

A cannabis infringement notice (CIN) scheme operated in WA between 22 March 2004 & October 2010. The CIN scheme meant WA police could issue an adult offender with an infringement notice, instead of charging them, if they committed any of four defined expiable minor cannabis offences set out in the Cannabis Control Act 2003 (CCA).

On 14 October 2010 the Cannabis Law Reform Bill 2009 was passed by the WA Parliament. It repealed the CCA & amended the MDA & by added offences to prohibit the sale of cannabis smoking paraphernalia. The Cannabis Law Reform Act 2010 (CLRA) was assented to on 28 October 2010. When the legislation is proclaimed it will establish a conditional cautioning scheme, with mandated attendance at an education intervention, for first time adult offenders who have committed either one or both of two defined minor cannabis offences in the same incident.

The reintroduction of cautioning for minor cannabis offenders is similar as the cannabis cautioning mandatory education scheme (CCMES), which operated in WA between October 1998 & March 2004. Whereas both the CCMES & the cautioning scheme to be established under the Cannabis Law Reform Act 2010 were introduced by Liberal governments, the CIN scheme was introduced by a Labor government.

The October 2010 reforms added a new section to the MDA, Part IIIA, which sets out the framework for police to issue a cannabis intervention requirement (CIR) which will require the offender to attend a cannabis intervention session (CIS). Offenders will avoid prosecution for the underlying minor cannabis offence if they attend & complete a CIS, which will only be able to be undertaken at an 'approved treatment provider'. It is likely that the CIS will be provided through the same group of drug treatment agencies which were also authorised to provide a cannabis education session (CES) under the previous CIN scheme & the CCMES.

There are different provisions for adults & juveniles in the CLRA in relation to eligibility for a CIR if they had already been convicted of a minor cannabis offence or already issued with a CIR. Whearas adults will not be able to receive a CIR if they have previously been convicted or received a CIR, for juveniles, they will be able to receive a CIR if they have had one prior conviction or previously been issued with a CIR.

A transitional provision in the CLRA will come into effect upon proclamation concerned with a cannabis infringement notice (CIN) which had not been paid & had been registered with the Fines Enforcement Registry. There is a provision if the recovery of the upaid debt had progressed to the final stage, of where there driver's license had been suspended, then the debt will be deemed to have been paid after 12 months.

The CLRA also includes an amendment to the Spent Convictions Act 1988. This reduces the prescribed period from 10 years to 3 years for a person to apply for a spent conviction order if they had been convicted of offences under either Sections 5(1)(d)(i) (possession of a cannabis smoking implement) or 6(2) (possession of not more than 10 grams of cannabis) of the MDA. However, the CLRA expressly precludes the 3 year waiting time from having any retroactive effect, which means the 10 year waiting period will apply if someone had been convicted for either of these offences before the CLRA.

To view or download copies of these statutes click here to go to the State Law Publisher.

Statutory Review of the Cannabis Control Act 2003 (2007)

A statutory review examined the first 3 years operation of the Cannabis Control Act 2003 (CCA). Whilst the review covered the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2007, when a total of 9,328 CINs were issued, technically as the CIN scheme commenced 22 March 2004, it also included the 52 CINs issued in March 2004.

The review of the CCA examined the impact of the CIN scheme as well as additional issues related to the ambit of the other provisions contained in the CCA, as outlined in the Technical report, such as the regulation of the sale of cannabis smoking paraphernalia & public health measures in conjunction with the CIN scheme.

The review was published as three separate reports, two of which were tabled in the WA Parliament in November 2007 - the Technical report & and the Executive summary. The third report, Supplementary tables & figures, was published at the same time by the Drug & Alcohol Office & is available from its website.

Copies of these reports are presently available from the Drug & Alcohol Office website here.

Hydroponic cannabis and potency

This paper is intended to highlight developments in the WA, SA & the ACT infringement schemes in relation to hydroponically cultivated cannabis & amendments in 2006 in New South Wales (NSW) which created new offences & increased the penalties applicable to hydroponically cultivated cannabis.

Click here to view or download a PDF version (299k) of this paper.

Misuse of Drugs Act 1981: Summary of offences

This short paper provides an outline of the offences & penalties under the MDA in relation to both minor & serious cannabis offences. It summarises the provisions contained in the various schedules to the MDA which set out the amounts of cannabis which determine place of trial & seriousness of offence (ie possession with intent to sell or supply).

Click here to view or download a PDF version (16k) of this paper.

Australian drug arrests: 1995/1996 - 2008/2009

Trends in annual arrests are presented in both tables & graphs contained in a short paper from data extracted from statistical summaries contained in Australian Illicit Drug Data Report published annually by the Australian Crime Commission.

The report provides annual counts for each Australian jurisdiction of cannabis charges broken down by seriousness (ie consumer & provider) offences, as well as the number of cannabis infringement notices issued in the jurisdictions where expiation schemes operated over this period.

Additional breakdowns are contained in tables which have both WA & national data in relation to arrests involving heroin & other opioids, amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) & cannabis.

Click here to view or download a PDF (254k) version of this publication.

Cannabis arrests: Australia & other jurisdictions - 2004

The short paper provides information about cannabis arrests and all drug arrests in each Australian jurisdiction & the United Kingdom for the year 2004/2005 & New Zealand & the United States for 2004. (Only cannabis arrests for the US data were readily available for 2004.)

Click here to view or download a PDF (238k) version of this publication.