Statutory Context
In Western Australia (WA) the primary source of legislation related to cannabis is contained in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981. A cannabis infringement notice (CIN) scheme, which commenced on 22 March 2004 & provided WA police with the option of not charging an adult who had committed any of four defined expiable minor offence set out in the Cannabis Control Act 2003. The monetary penalties for these offences were prescribed in the Cannabis Control Regulations 2004.
To view or download copies of these statutes click here to go to the State Law Publisher.
In October 2009 the current Liberal government introduced the Cannabis Law Reform Bill 2009, which when passed will repeal the Cannabis Control Act 2003 & instead establish a conditional cautioning scheme, with mandated attendance at an education intervention, for first time offenders who have committed either of two defined minor cannabis offences.
For further details on the progress of this legislation click here to go the WA Parliament website listing of current Bills.
Statutory Review of the Cannabis Control Act 2003 (2007)
The 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, the study 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 evident 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 DAO on its website.
Copies of these reports are presently available from the Drug & Alcohol Office website here.
Short Papers & Summaries
Swensen G. (2009)
Legal framework involving cannabis offences in WA & recent developments.
This paper briefly outlines the framework established through the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (MDA) with respect to cannabis offences & its inter relationship with the Cannabis Control Act 2003 (CCA), which established the CIN scheme.
Click here to view or download a PDF version (250k) of this paper.
Swensen G. (2009)
Cannabis expiation schemes
This paper briefly summarises some of the main features of the infringement notice schemes that presently exist in South Australia (SA), the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the Northern Territory (NT) and Western Australia (WA) so that offenders can expiate minor cannabis offences. It lists relevant expiable offences and penalties that are applicable in each of these jurisdictions.
Click here to view or download a PDF version (205k) of this paper.
Swensen G. (2009)
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.
Swensen G. (2009)
Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 & Cannabis Control Act 2003
This paper outlines the offences & penalties under the MDA in relation to both minor & serious cannabis offences & the provisions for issuing cannabis infringement notices (CINs) under the CCA. 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 (94k) of this paper.
Data Summaries
Comparative cannabis arrests by jurisdiction
- Estimated rate & number of cannabis arrests for each Australian jurisdiction & other selected jurisdictions in 2004. (PDF 86k)
Australian drug arrests: 1995/1996 - 2007/2008
Annual arrest data has been broken down for the period from 1995/1996 to 2007/2008, based on data extracted from statistical summaries contained in Australian Illicit Drug Data Report published annually by the Australian Crime Commission.
These summaries are presented as tables to provide data for each Australian jurisdiction of annual counts 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 included for type of drug (ie amphetamines, heroin & all drug types).
- Annual drug charges by type of drug (amphetamines, heroin, cannabis & all), Australia. (PDF 106k)
- Annual drug charges by type of drug (amphetamines, heroin, cannabis & all), Western Australia. (PDF 106k)
- Annual cannabis charges: consumer offences by Australian jurisdiction. (PDF 102k)
- Annual cannabis charges: provider offences by Australian jurisdiction. (PDF 102k)
- Annual cannabis charges (infringements & arrests): summary of all jurisdictions. (PDF 98k)
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