It is the Will of the People of Queensland that the recommendations made by Michael Byrne QC, via the Inquiry into Organised Crime April 2016, be rejected by the parliament of Queensland.

Michael Byrne QC argued in his report that: there was a 'misconception' that cannabis is harmless compared to other illegal drugs, stating this is not the case and the use of the drug places social and economic (particularly health care sector) burdens on the state. He recommended that cannabis be considered as dangerous as heroin, ecstasy and cocaine; and that cannabis should  attract harsher penalties under the Drugs Misuse Act.

We the people of Queensland challenge his view.

The majority of reasonable minded Queenslanders (and Australians) do not consider cannabis to be dangerous.

BEFORE these recommendations are enshrined in law, the people demand proof of his findings from peer reviewed studies from recognised journals that show at a molecular level how any cannabinoid damages any cell in the human body.

Research commissioned by a Government agency such as NCPIC does not constitute the truth when it is paid for by organisations and individuals with vested interest in demonizing cannabis; unlike pubmed.org with 20,000+ articles written by independent, unaffiliated medical researchers world wide who have no reason for bias.

He needs to explain EXACTLY how this so claimed 'harm' occurs and what are the medically proven DANGERS?

Cannabis is NOT a narcotic and does not act on the receptors that all narcotics including alcohol act upon. It cannot suppress the Central Nervous System and therefore cannot cause death by overdose. It is not a poison. You cannot reasonably compare the action of cannabis to any narcotic like heroin because it is NOT such a substance.

 Mr Byrne's view is contrary to, and in conflict with, the current moves by the QLD government to commence trials on children using cannabis products. It would be negligent of any government to be initiating such clinical trials if they believe cannabis to be “dangerous”.

 There is no statistical proof that shows cannabis places a substantial burden on the health system - unlike alcohol which kills on average 15 people per day in this country and prescription drugs that account for the sharp increases in suicide rates.

In fact the 10s of 1000s of people already treating themselves with cannabis are saving the health system substantial amounts of money and reducing their dependence on prescribed medications and their burden on the PBS.

The only encumbrance on the public purse comes from wasted police resources in chasing up non-violent cannabis “crimes” ; the increased financial and time burden placed on the judicial system ; and the increased cost of keeping people incarcerated for longer periods of time while child paedophilia, rape and murder attracts a lesser penalty . If there is no Victim, is there really a crime? Most of those convicted, have committed no other crime, no violence, no theft, no property damage.

If cannabis was removed from the Drugs Misuse Act, we would see a reduction in organised crime and a reduction in the waste of budget resources needed to maintain this outdated stance and the perpetuation of the failed and fanatical war on drugs.

With nothing to capitalise on, charlatans would be weeded out and this would result in a black market that is untenable for organised crime. Resources can then be redirected to other areas like facilitating testing of oils made by individuals and community grow-ops to check on the purity of their product to ensure personal and public safety.

This issue relates more to basic human rights and health rights. Its about being “allowed to make basic choices for yourself” without the fear of being arrested and imprisoned just because the government doesn't like your personal choices. 

It is not the government's job to save us from ourselves.

Therefore we the people of Australia call upon the Queensland government to reject the claims and recommendations made by Michael Byrne QC and we demand the immediate decriminalisation of all cannabis use because we do not accept that cannabis is dangerous; nor is its use worthy of being considered a “crime” that should consume so much of the public purse and resources.