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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Melissa Davey Medical editor

Decriminalising cannabis could save Australian taxpayers $850m a year, report finds

Close up on cannabis plants
The latest report says Australia’s prohibition approach to cannabis is casing ‘serious social and economic harm across the board’. Photograph: Jens Schlueter/AFP/Getty Images

Australia is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy, a report from the public health research organisation the Penington Institute has found, with decriminalisation predicted to save taxpayers around $850m each year.

With more than 90% cannabis-related charges since 2010 being for personal use or possession offences, the Cannabis in Australia 2022 report, published on Thursday, found that criminalising people who use cannabis costs Australian taxpayers $1.7bn a year in law enforcement costs.

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