Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 11. The effect of the law was nullified in 1997 by the federal Parliament of Australia which passed the "Euthanasia Laws Act 1997". The Act continues on the Territory's statute books. Dr Philip Nitschke founded Exit International in response to the overturning of the Act. While voluntary euthanasia had previously been condoned officially in the Netherlands and the US state of Oregon, the act was the first time that a legislative assembly passed a law explicitly legalising euthanasia. The Act allowed a terminally ill patient to end their life with medical assistance, either by the direct involvement of a physician
Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States average of $11.3 billion per year on courts, police, prison guards and other related expenses. Studies on decriminalization of marijuana in Portugal have indicated it to be a "huge success". Drug use rates in Portugal were found to be dramatically lower than the United States with decriminalization enacted. Teenage use of marijuana in the Netherlands where it is sold legally and openly is lower than in the United States. Uruguay became the first country in the world to completely legalize cannabis in 2013. Some people are in favor of decriminalization and legalization of marijuana simply for the moral stance that