Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 from "death with dignity" and right to die groups who saw it as a model to be followed elsewhere, and widespread condemnation from euthanasia opponents, such as right to life groups, who sought to overturn it. Opponents also included the Australian Medical Association, and the Bishop of Darwin, Edmund John Patrick Collins. While the law was in effect, four people died by suicide through its provisions. The first was carpenter Bob Dent, 66, who died on 22 September 1996. Dent was a prostate cancer sufferer who became Australia's first person to lawfully end his life by means of physician assisted
Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States a number of ballot initiatives leading up to 2012, but none succeeded. In 2012, success was finally achieved when Washington and Colorado became the first two states to legalize. In 2014 and 2016 several more states followed, and in 2018 Vermont became the first to legalize through an act of state legislature. All jurisdictions that have legalized allow for the commercial distribution of cannabis, except Vermont and the District of Columbia. All allow for personal cultivation, except Washington state. At the federal level, cannabis remains prohibited for any use under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Justice Department has