We Asked Australians What They Think About Cannabis and Here Are The Results
- Sammy K. (24) in Gold Coast
- Dhaval P. (24) Duty Manager in Sydney
- Maigoe Murphy (56) Tourist Consultant in Gold Coast
- Matthew A. (24) Food & Beverage Supervisor in Sydney
- Richard Jones (65) Brain Surgeon in Dalesford, Melbourne
- Sarah Zhima (22) Night Auditor in Sydney
It’s been exactly 4 months since Canberra decriminalized recreational use of marijuana. What has changed since then? Have Australians changed their opinion of cannabis?
Cannabis Place offers an exclusive insight into what Australians look forward to & their fears in the growing cannabis industry in Australia.
Table of Contents.
Sammy K. (24) in Gold Coast
Question: Have you heard about Canberra decriminalising recreational cannabis?
Answer: I think I have, kind of, I know about it from mainstream media.
Question: What is your opinion about cannabis?
Answer: I reckon to go for it!
Question: Do you yourself use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: Recreational, yeah.
Question: Do you know anyone around you who uses cannabis recreationally or for medical uses?
Answer: Yes, and I know people who both use cannabis for medical and recreational purposes.
Question: What are their opinions about it?
Answer: 9/10 people are all the same as me - They all go for it. It’s not even just my demographic, I met quite a few people from the older generation that have done it in the past and have no problems with it. But there’s only a select few that, I feel, are influenced by media really easily (like the panic buyers) - they’re the ones that think ‘ah, the news said it so it must be true,’ so that’s why I don’t trust it and I don’t trust people that believe in it.
Question: Do you have any fears about the legalisation of recreational marijuana? And if you do, what kind?
Answer: None whatsoever. It’s been proven multiple times that there’s not a lot of repercussions coming from using weed, especially when it comes to comparing it to abuse from alcohol, cigarettes… there are a lot more repercussions from those things which are legal as opposed to medical marijuana.
Question: Why do you think that the Australia government is so strict & conservative about marijuana then?
Answer: Mostly because I think… it’s one of those things where their top money-maker at the moment is selling pharmaceuticals and more expensive drugs. If they make weed easily accessible, they’re going to lose a lot of profit, have a lot healthier people which means they don’t make money.
Question: Are you looking forward to the cannabis industry in Australia?
Answer: Oh yes, absolutely.
Question: Do you see any downfalls to it?
Answer: There’s going to be downfalls in every industry you have no matter what, but, I think that the pros will definitely outweigh the cons in that situation and there’s going to be a lot fewer people abuse that… what’s the word…‘substance’ I suppose you can say. Like I said, people can get drunk and beat people up, do stupid things, smoke, get cancer. Marijuana is the most vanilla thing of all things. It’s like the lesser of all evils.
Question: Do you follow up on the news of Canberra?
Answer: Not really to be honest.
Question: Why?
Answer: Just lack of effort. I try to avoid media, especially at the moment with the whole coronavirus outbreak at the moment. You can’t get an honest report out of anyone at this point in time. You don’t know who to trust, what to read, what to do so I just tend to believe in my own facts that I’ve seen myself, seen things proven.
Question: If you’re not following mainstream media, what kind of information are you getting from?
Answer: I like to do my own research when it comes to things. I get a lot of time to myself because it’s very quiet so I read articles, not Wikipedia, actual medical documents and talking to people about it. I got a few friends and family that do both recreational and medical so it’s interesting to get their points of view. You can put them all together and come up with your own decision, really.
Dhaval P. (24) Duty Manager in Sydney
Question: Have you heard about Canberra decriminalising recreational cannabis?
Answer: Yes, it’s been a couple of months now in the news and I searched it up and researched about it.
Question: What is your opinion about cannabis?
Answer: I think it’s a good thing. I think there’s medically we don’t know about but if we legalise it can open a lot of doors. Recreationally as well to an extent, it’s better than meth which is a really big thing in Australia. There might be a chance of people turning to hard drugs if weed is legalised.
Question: Do you yourself use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: Yeah recreationally sometimes once every two, three months.
Question: Do you know people around you who use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: I know a lot of people around me who use it recreationally.
Question: Do you see any downfalls or fears to the legislation of recreational marijuana, and if you do what kind?
Answer: I think everything comes with a limit, and I think it’s the same with marijuana. Legalising it, I think there will be a lot of people walking around looking dazed. You know what I mean right? It’s the same with alcohol - it’s legal but you can’t drink & drive, you have a certain age limit. When people get caught by the police with marijuana on them, they usually let you go as long as you don’t have the intention to sell.
Question: What are you expecting & what are you looking forward to Australia’s cannabis industry?
Answer: It’s going to grow like crazy. It’s a big industry to add to the agriculture industry. People are already looking into ways of stepping and jumping on to the fact that legalisation of marijuana will be soon in the future.
Maigoe Murphy (56) Tourist Consultant in Gold Coast
Question: Have you heard about Canberra decriminalising recreational cannabis?
Answer: No, I have not
Question: What is your opinion about Cannabis?
Answer: I’ve heard that there’s some good outcome out of particular drugs that they are developing medicine to cure particular diseases or dyslexia.
Question: Do you yourself use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: No, I don’t. I don’t even smoke cigarettes. It doesn’t interest me in the first place and also my beliefs in being part of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I don’t do recreational drugs at all.
Question: Do you know people around you who use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: No.
Question: Because Australia’s medical cannabis industry is growing, there are signs that it will boom in the upcoming years, do you have any fears of legalising recreational marijuana? Answer: No, I don’t think so because if people use marijuana with good purposes in life, I’m for it. If for example one of my family members needs a particular drug made from cannabis, then I might consider it. As long it doesn’t hurt me or my family. What I disagree is using it for a different purpose. If you’re using it for a good purpose, I might change my mind.
Question: What are you expecting from your point of view and your knowledge of the cannabis industry right now?
Answer: I wish they would make cannabis available in communities and make the use of it for good rather than just for recreational usage. Most commonly here in Australia, people use the drug to have fun. But I wish they would tailor it, use cannabis to its full capacity to direct it to medical point of view rather than having fun.
Question: So do you disapprove Canberra decriminalising recreational marijuana?
Answer: I won’t disapprove. I won’t use the word but as I said, make good use of it.
Question: Is there anything to look forward to in the cannabis industry?
Answer: Because of my ignorance as far as the abilities of what marijuana can do, I’m not sure. That’s my answer. Hopefully, all the research we can do in Australia can find more uses in the future.
Question: Do you see any downfalls or fears to it?
Answer: I do. Some people misuse the drug. That’s the only downfall and the criminal activities that goes along with it.
Matthew A. (24) Food & Beverage Supervisor in Sydney
Question: Have you heard about Canberra decriminalising recreational cannabis?
Answer: Yeah, on the news on Facebook.
Question: What is your opinion about Cannabis?
Answer: I think it should be legal. I think it helps people in a lot of different ways. I find it a good way of relieving stress & anxiety-like alcohol. I don’t drink as much anymore because it’s healthier for me to just smoke marijuana.
Question: Do you yourself use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: Recreationally, probably 4 or 5 times a week.
Question: Do you know people around you who use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: Recreationally yes, and they smoke a lot.
Question: Do you see any downfalls or fears to the legislation of recreational marijuana, and if you do what kind?
Answer: As long as it’s regulated properly, I don’t see any negative effects of legalising it. Spread soon to other states, and they will definitely find out the benefits
Question: What are you expecting & what are you looking forward to Australia’s cannabis industry?
Answer: Cannabis tourism. In America, that specific part of tourism blew up from new dispensaries, bed & breakfasts, skiing, and other sports. I believe that it will also blow up in Australia when everything eases in legalisation and I actually hope to work in the cannabis tourism. There’s a lot of CBD oil as well that’s going to be really big so I’m looking forward to that.
Richard Jones (65) Brain Surgeon in Dalesford, Melbourne
Question: Have you heard about Canberra decriminalising recreational cannabis?
Answer: I have from one of the doctors I work with.
Question: What is your opinion about cannabis?
Answer: It has a lot of healing properties and it’s been repressed due to the pharmaceutical and medical industry.
Question: Why are you interested in cannabis?
Answer: Because it brings healing to the body, it’s good for cancer treatments, it can also elevate once’s consciousness to escape this paradigm in which we live in.
Question: Do you yourself use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: Not really.
Question: Do you know anyone around you who uses cannabis recreationally or for medical uses?
Answer: Yes. Everyone I know smokes.
Question: Do you see any downfalls or fears to the legislation of recreational marijuana, and if you do what kind?
Answer: None. Except for someone who is really under the influence…. It needs to be done safely. For example, if you’re going to drive under the influence, you drive so slowly and you can cause accidents to cause you’re not driving with full comprehension. So similar to don’t drink & drive, don’t smoke weed & drive. Also being controlled by the government and being owned by big corporations. It should be really free for anyone to use and grow.
Question: What are you expecting & what are you looking forward to Australia’s cannabis industry?
Answer: I’m looking forward to growing my own plants without being in trouble
Sarah Zhima (22) Night Auditor in Sydney
Question: Have you heard about Canberra decriminalising recreational cannabis?
Answer: Yes, I heard about it in January this year when they decriminalised and it was in the Sydney Herald morning paper.
Question: What is your opinion about Cannabis?
Answer: I support decriminalization and I have nothing against cannabis in general. It’s pretty much tobacco or alcohol and it’s known to be less addictive. If people are so worried about marijuana, which is a soft drug, I think it’s actually easier to regulate it. You can legally regulate who distributes, who grows it, the prices, and you can tax it! The government can get a lot of benefits. The war on drugs is so blindly and I don’t understand why.
Question: Do you yourself use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: I am not a regular smoker because of my lifestyle and medications, I have tried it like 4 times during my life. I’m off alcohol as well.
Question: Do you know people around you who use medical/recreational cannabis?
Answer: Around me, a lot of people smoke recreationally.
Question: Do you see any downfalls or fears to the legislation of recreational marijuana, and if you do what kind?
Answer: The only fear I have, that people won’t be thorough enough while making the legislation the way they word and formulate it. The biggest catch with Canberra legislation is that it legalises growing weed and possessing and using up to 50 grams, but it hasn’t addressed the federal law and you can still get arrested so its a grey area. You can grow up to two plants but buying or distributing seeds can get you arrested so where are you getting it from?? Where’s the safety in that?
Question: What are you expecting & what are you looking forward to Australia’s cannabis industry?
Answer: Honestly, I don’t know enough the operation of the industry but it’ll be good not to see people being judged or feared to be smoking. People look down on smokers but if you legalise it, you normalise it. I heard that medical marijuana have great benefits for mental health which is great for me because my current medication sucks.
Question: Why aren’t you taking medical marijuana?
Answer: In Sydney, it’s only for pain relief for cancer patients that’s what I’ve been told.
Constance Williams
Constance is a medical journalist that critically analyses and reports on how Australia can benefit from the cannabis industry in the future.
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