r/ausents

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The NSW-Qld border reimagined. Photo Peter Ellis, altered by Jeff ‘Does This Mean I Can No Longer Go to Qld’ Dawson

The words ‘courageous’ and ‘Minns Labor government’ are not commonly used in the same breath. But with drug driving laws for medicinal cannabis users they have stared down the opposition, and are close to legislating the most sensible, safe, and progressive regime in the country. Prescribed patients must register, and do a course. Then they can drive with up to 50ng in their saliva, and if they exceed that level, the first three times there will be no penalty. Its far from a perfect solution – the registration carries fear of targeting, the course is superfluous, there is still a 24-hour suspension and the level is probably too low for some. But in the face of vociferous but ill-informed opposition from the shock jocks, conservatives, many medicos, and the NRMA the Bill will likely pass with support of the Greens and of course the Legalise Cannabis party. If you really want a good laugh listen to Rachel Merton (Lib) speaking against the Bill in the Legislative Council on 6 August 2026. It’s like the 1950’s on steroids.

Of course, if you are driving under the influence (meaning adversely affected), whatever the reading you will rightly still commit an offence.

The NRMA is perhaps the most surprising opposer – many of their members (like me) must have supported the Bill, and they have touted the most outrageous and inaccurate statements conflating causation and correlation like some illiterate conspiracy theorist.

But the real guts of this story is Queensland, where the reaction to proposed reforms around Australia has been reminiscent of oppositional defiance disorder. Despite having almost half of all prescriptions for cannabis in Australia, the Queensland government is going zero tolerance, imposing doubled minimum fines of around $5,000, mandatory prison terms, longer disqualification periods, even more testing, and a fast track detection system. The RACQ, just like their NSW cousins, are leading the charge for tougher penalties quoting the same tired old false figures, and strawman arguments.

The roads minister Brent Mickelberg gets the dumbest comment of the year award when he said that ‘60% of drug driving fatalities had THC in their system’ and that this proves ‘it is not safe to drive under the influence of THC’. What in heavens is a ‘drug driving fatality’?

I guess it is a fatality where there is any presence of a drug, and that more than half had THC in it. But you can see the sleight of hand. The impression he wants to give is that 60% of all fatalities are caused by THC which is absolute garbage. In fact, there has not been a single coronial finding, anywhere in Australia or the whole wide world which has concluded that compliant prescription cannabis use has caused a death.

The truth is that these provisions will cost lives in Queensland. We know that those who use barbiturates and benzodiazepines and many other prescription medicines are far more dangerously affected by these drugs than prescribed medicinal cannabis

People will return to driving with those drugs, or just tired or sick or distracted by pain. There has been no increase in road toll as a result of medical exemptions in any of the many countries which have them. Tasmania has had a defence for a decade with no resultant rise in road trauma.

Australia devotes more police time to random THC tests than the rest of the world combined, and all those hundreds of thousands of tests impact on the ability to investigate real crime and proven road safety measures like hanging outside pubs and catching staggering drivers. The only people cheering on the Queensland provisions are big pharma, anti-drug zealots, the alcohol industry, misguided doctors, and the law enforcement establishment.

For those in NSW who get a prescription and live in our area things are going to get weird. It will likely soon be legal to drive to Tweed Valley Hospital but not to John Flynn, or the university or the airport. In fact, you may well end up in prison or fined to the poorhouse if you cross the border at all. Surely that’s not great for the Queensland economy and it is hard to think of any other turf (apart from daylight savings) where states have such divergent laws. Maybe we should put up warning signs at Tweed Heads? There’s a prize for the best design.

I chose to switch my family member over to horizon since it’s brand agnostic and I’ve heard mostly good things about it (still waiting on an appointment she’s already given the discharge letter)

any recommendations for best strains for chronic pain relief? (Specifically for severe pain caused by spinal problems and arthritis and it has to be flower)

Also if I’m not mistaken once she gets accepted theres an app that you can look at that shows everything on the market and the user reviews aswell? And do you order scripts off the app if that is the case?

This family member is terrible with technology and I don’t know anything about it so I’m just curious is that how she will order what she wants? (She has chronic pain so severe she will be allowed basically anything that’s available)

Hey everyone,

I’ve just realised I never actually set up a code specifically for the Reddit crew who found Billymart through here… so I’ve finally fixed that 😂

The code is now live for anyone who’s supported me through this community.

I honestly just want to take a minute to say thank you.

It’s been 17 months since I started Billymart, which is honestly pretty wild to think about. What started as me trying to build something for myself has turned into something I’m genuinely proud of — and a huge part of that is because of you guys.

I recently sat down and worked out that I’ve given away roughly $20,000 worth of stock in freebies back to the community over the last 17 months. And that’s not even including discounts. 😂

Some people have bought something. Some have interacted with a post. Some have recommended me to a mate. Some have just been around and supported what I’m doing.

It all means more than you probably realise.

Billymart also started during probably one of the hardest periods of my life. Around the same time, my dad was involved in a hit-and-run and ended up in a coma for 8 months. He’s thankfully recovering, but unfortunately he’ll never be the same again.

Trying to build a business while dealing with all of that was… a lot. There were definitely moments where I questioned everything.

But the people who knew what was happening, checked in, supported me, ordered from me, shared my stuff, or simply sent a message — I’ll never forget that.

So genuinely, thank you.

My goal has always been to build Billymart into one of the greats without becoming one of those businesses where everything costs an arm and a leg 😂

I want to keep the prices fair, keep giving back, and most importantly, keep the level of customer service and support that Billymart has always had.

I’m still just one bloke behind a computer trying to make this thing work. 😂

But 17 months in, $20k+ in freebies later, and with an incredible community behind me… I reckon we’re doing alright.

Much love to everyone who has supported Billymart in any way.

Whether you’ve spent $10, $100, told a mate, liked a post, commented, shared something, or just quietly watched the journey from the sidelines — you’re part of it.

Thank you all. Seriously. 🫶🙏

Here’s to the next chapter. ❤️

https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council

Debate will start around 3:30 local time Tune in if you would like to see the machine in action