The 'Unwinnable War': Should Marijuana Be Legalised in Australia? | 60 Minutes Australia

Jan 13, 2022 – It is our biggest cash crop and worth a fortune - $5 billion a year. The massive resources used to eradicate it are also costing us a fortune. Marijuana is virtually impossible to avoid in this country. Nearly 50% of Australians say they have tried it or regularly use it. Marijuana sales are twice what Australians spend on wine. Millions indulge and millions of dollars are spent trying to wipe it out. In the hills surrounding Nimbin, on the north coast of New South Wales, Richard Carleton accompanied the police on a series of helicopter raids. It is a fight that has all the trappings of war - armed police, state of the art machinery and sophisticated battle plans. Yet, if it is a war, many also believe that it is simply unwinnable.

It makes no sense to me to make smoking tobacco, cigarettes, the bête noire of our day and charge an arm and a leg for a packet of twenty—here in the UK, a packet of twenty Marlboro Reds currently costs £12.50!—yet they want to legalize and make the smoking of cannabis legal! Go figure! When I smoke a cigarette, it does not bend my mind; it simply gives me pleasure. The same cannot be said for marijuana. Enough already! – © Mark