The war on cannabis has been lost, and the Northern Territory should permit its residents to possess a legal amount of the drug, the 1Territory party says.  The party was recently established by disaffected Country Liberals members and it is running candidates in 13 of the NT's 25 Legislative Assembly seats, positioning itself as the alternative conservative party to the governing Country Liberals.  On Thursday morning, president and candidate for Katherine, Braedon Earley told ABC local radio that legalising the drug in the NT would see a bump in tourism income, and government revenue would increase through taxation.  "The war on marijuana has been lost, as is testament to the United States and other parts of the world, and it's high time we stepped into the year 2016 in the NT, addressed it, embraced it, executed it," he said.  "There's millions of dollars leaving the economy of the NT on a monthly basis going elsewhere so marijuana can come into the Territory ... in the event we do look at decriminalising the activity further, it will be a boost for tourism, it will be a boost for the local economy."  Currently in the NT, police have discretionary powers to issue a fine to someone found with less than 50g of cannabis, provided they don't have a drug offending history.  Mr Earley said it was not just cannabis but also "gummi bears" that could be permitted, which contain THC, the active drug in marijuana.  "You can get a gummi bear for a night out at the movies with your wife, you can get a gummi bear for watching the carnage which is the NT political election, or you can get a gummi bear for just chilling with your mates," Mr Earley said.  The number of plants permitted for personal use would be subject to community feedback, he said.  In countries such as the Netherlands fewer young people were taking up the drug because of its availability, Mr Earley said: "(Currently) it's placing community members and other people at risk, it's time we addressed it and brought it out into the open."
Legalising cannabis in the NT would boost tourism and the economy, says the recently formed 1Territory conservative party.