A recent study suggests the ACT’s cannabis legislation is mostly working as intended, but shows the majority of cannabis cultivators are engaging in illegal activity in order to grow it.

In 2020 growing, possession and use of small amounts of cannabis was legalised in the ACT.

The research, conducted by the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics based at Sydney University, indicated the five-year-old laws are having the intended effect.

Academic Director of the Lambert Initiative, Iain McGregor, said the legislation had “been a real positive for cultivators”.

Nearly three years after the legislation was introduced, 311 people who grew cannabis were asked a series of questions.

Some respondents also sent samples of their cannabis for chemical analysis, including the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol — the chemical that produces a high — in them.

Professor Iain McGregor of the Lambert Initiative into Cannabinoid Therapeutics says the average tetrahydrocannabinol content of supplied marijuana samples was nine per cent. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)

Professor McGregor said very strong cannabis was about 30 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

“What we found [in Canberra] was the average was nine per cent THC,” Professor McGregor said.

The research also showed a community had formed around growing and using cannabis in Canberra, including sharing seeds and harvested buds.

This is where some of the conflicting areas of the law begin.

Cannabis legal to grow, buying seeds illegal

The majority of cultivators surveyed by the Lambert Initiative grew their first cannabis plant from seed. (Supplied)

Almost all of the those surveyed who grew their first cannabis plant did so from seed.

It’s legal to grow two cannabis plants per person, with a maximum of four plants per household.

However, sharing seeds or other harvested cannabis is illegal and considered supply under the legislation.

*Jimmy is a public servant in his 50s who decided to grow cannabis on the balcony of his apartment when the laws were introduced.

The study showed 59 per cent of surveyed growers shared cannabis with family, friends, and other cultivators. (Supplied)

“I noticed a neighbour was growing a plant in their garden, and I just started up a conversation with him,” Jimmy said.

“He was very generous … [and asked] ‘did I want a couple of seeds?’, and so it started from there.”

In spite of laws against it, the Lambert Initiative study shows 59 per cent of growers shared cannabis with family, friends, and other cultivators.

Jimmy said growers had established messaging groups to share information on cultivation and seeds as well as swapping their home-grown cannabis.

“I might grow a particular brand or a particular strain, [while] someone else is growing a particular strain,” he said.

Just over half of people sourced their first plant from other growers, while 40 per cent used online suppliers to buy seeds, which is also illegal.

“I found a site, I made payment, [but] they got stopped at Sydney customs,” Jimmy said.

“Then I found another site and they got delivered no problem.

“So I’ve bought twice now from those sites, six seeds at a time [and] I’ve got enough to do a couple of plants each year for the next few years.”

The legal amount of cannabis a person can possess is 150g of fresh cannabis and 50g dried. (Supplied)

The other problem Canberra’s growers have come up against is their own success.

The study showed that growers’ median yield of harvested fresh cannabis plant material was 150 grams per plant, or 120g per plant for dried cannabis.

If a person grew two plants that would be 300g and 240g respectively.

The legal amount a person can possess is 150g of fresh cannabis and 50g dried.

According to the research, 68 per cent had harvested above the legal limit of 50g of dry plant material.

Professor Iain McGregor says the ACT’s cannabis decriminalisation laws are allowing people to grow cannabis without fear of prosecution (Supplied)

“We kind of need to tweak these numbers a little bit so people can grow two plants as an individual or four as a household, and not exceed these limits,” Professor McGregor said.

“They’re avoiding criminal networks who they would have to rely upon if this legislation wasn’t in place, and they’re also addressing their needs in terms of medical use.”

According to ACT Policing, in the five years since the laws came into effect 23 people have been charged with trafficking small amounts of cannabis.

Twelve people have been charged for having more than four plants in a household, and 24 people have been charged with having more than 50g of dried cannabis.

“Our focus remains on those who cultivate cannabis to sell,” an ACT Policing spokeperson said.

Home-grown cannabis used for medical and recreational purposes

Of the people surveyed by the Lambert Initiative, 42 per cent used cannabis for both medicinal and recreational purposes. (ABC Canberra: Donal Sheil)

Jimmy uses his home-grown cannabis as an alternative to alcohol.

“My partner drinks, so she’ll have a couple of glasses of wine, I might just have a small joint,” he said.

“Or if I’ve got some baked goods, I might have a cookie.”

The median age of respondents to the Lambert Initiative study was 42 years old.

69 per cent identified as male, and 69 per cent were currently employed.

Of those, 42 per cent used their cannabis for both medicinal and recreational purposes, 13 per cent used purely for medicinal purposes, and just over a third used only for recreation.

Most growers also converted at least some of their cannabis plant material into other forms, the most common being cannabis butters at 56 per cent and oils at 29 per cent.

*The name of the individual has been changed to protect their identity.