The Legalise Cannabis party will today introduce bills to legalise marijuana for personal use in parliaments in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.

It is the first time the same bill has been tabled in three states on the same day.

The bills will be introduced to the states’ upper houses and will need support from major parties to become law.

It will not allow people under 18 to access cannabis, or permit driving while impaired by the drug.

New South Wales upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham said the reform would allow people over the age of 18 to grow up to six cannabis plants in their households.

It would also allow people to gift small quantities to other people but driving under the influence of the drug would remain prohibited.

“This is a historic move by the Legalise Cannabis Party across Australia to bring a coordinated reform for cannabis legalisation,” Mr Buckingham said.

He said the intention of the reform was to divert people who use cannabis from the criminal justice system, which has seen over 700,000 cannabis-related offences nationally since 2010.

Police also estimate cannabis generates $8 billion in profits for organised crime each year.

“The wider community wants cannabis law reform,” Mr Buckingham said.

‘Majority of Victorians support regulation’

Victorian Legalise Cannabis MP David Ettershank told ABC Radio Melbourne the public was on board with the change.

“The majority of Victorians support the regulation of cannabis, and a huge number of Victorians … regularly consume cannabis,” he said.

He said politicians across the political spectrum had expressed to him desire to change cannabis laws.

“There’s a lot of politicians, again from both sides of the house, who use cannabis,” he said.

“What we need to do is to regulate, we need to educate, and then we need to normalise this, such that we minimise any adverse social outcomes as a result.”–