Cannabis Law Report will host a high-profile event at Sydney Law School next month exploring how Australia can help shape global cannabis regulation.
The one-day event – Australia’s role in reforming UN Drug Conventions to allow cannabis regulation – will bring together academics, politicians and industry leaders to examine the framework that continues to shape national cannabis laws.
Among them is host Ben Mostyn, an academic fellow at Sydney Law School whose research on Australia’s decision to sign the 1988 UN drug convention has revealed how institutional pressures entrenched prohibition and the global war on drugs.
Legalise Cannabis WA MP Dr Brian Walker will moderate a panel with Greens Senator David Shoebridge, Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP Rachel Payne, NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, and Indicated Legal director Daniel Rathner.
The group will explore the rise of cannabis politics in Australia – the good, the bad, and the lessons that could help guide reform globally.
Policy leadership and gender balance will also be in focus, with Cannim healthcare strategist Melanie Wentzel and journalist Helen Kapalos exploring the under-recognised role of women in shaping cannabis reform.
Later, International Cannabis Quality Standards Association director Atiyyah Ferouz will highlight “the great compliance gap” and asses the divide between Australia’s regime and the rest of the world.
A reform panel featuring Dr Alex Wodak, barrister Greg Barnes and Emeritus Professor and former WA premier Dr Geoff Gallop will follow, with the trio bringing decades of experience in drug law and public policy to the debate.
The program will close with an address by Fiona Patten, who served two terms in Victoria’s Parliament between 2014 and 2022.
Patten will challenge attendees to consider whether Australia can once again lead on reform or remain, as she puts it, “a cautionary tale of what not to do”.
The event will be held at the University of Sydney Law School, Level 1, with attendance capped at 60 participants.