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A better way to legalize marijuana

As marijuana legalization <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/12/22371929/marijuana-legalization-connecticut-biden">has grown into a political triumph</a>, a standard model has emerged for how it should be done: “Regulate marijuana like alcohol” is the slogan that has dominated legalization campaigns since <a href="https://aclu-co.org/aclu-joins-campaign-to-regulate-marijuana-like-alcohol/">Colorado</a> became one of the first two states to legalize pot.
This is commercialized legalization. For-profit companies grow, cultivate, and sell marijuana. Some companies are expanding across state and national lines and doing more advertising. Soon enough, the market for marijuana will look a lot like the market for alcohol, with large companies spreading brands to make big profits while smaller, boutique operations take off here and there.
So far, 18 states <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx">have commercial legalization</a>, and there are fights in a <a href="https://www.mpp.org/about/campaigns/">handful more states</a> as well as in Washington, DC, to enact the model there.
Some experts and advocates don’t love this model. There are genuine concerns that the current commercial model of legalization will lead to “<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/12/2/9831980/marijuana-legalization-industry-business">Big Marijuana</a>”: a large industry that, similar to the tobacco, alcohol, and opioid industries, has a powerful financial incentive to market and sell its product to as many people as possible, no matter the consequences for consumers or the public more broadly.
But marijuana legalization — and alcohol regulation, for that matter — doesn’t have to look like this. As other states move to legalize cannabis, it’s possible to follow an alternative model that might be able to achieve the same goal with fewer downsides.
An obvious question is: If the standard commercial model works for alcohol, why can’t it work for a newly legal drug like cannabis, too?
But this model doesn’t work well for alcohol. The nation’s second-most popular drug (after <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/06/caffeine-coffee-tea-invisible-addiction-is-it-time-to-give-up">caffeine</a>) is linked to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/features/excessive-alcohol-deaths.html">nearly 100,000 deaths</a> a year in the US — about the same as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm">all overdose deaths</a>, and more than the combined death tolls of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22675358/us-car-deaths-year-traffic-covid-pandemic">car crashes</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/upshot/murder-rise-2020.html">murders</a>.
A different model could help. <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP50498.html">Previous research</a>, for example, found that states that maintained a government-operated monopoly for alcohol kept prices higher, reduced access to youth, and cut overall levels of use — all benefits to public health.
Marijuana is nowhere as dangerous as alcohol. You can quite literally drink yourself to death; the same doesn’t apply to marijuana. So it’s almost certain that legalizing marijuana the same way won’t lead to all the same bad outcomes.
Still, there are some risks. A <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/1/14/14263058/marijuana-benefits-harms-medical">thorough review of the research</a>, by the <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2017/01/health-effects-of-marijuana-and-cannabis-derived-products-presented-in-new-report">National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine</a>, found that marijuana poses a variety of possible downsides, which can include a higher risk of respiratory problems (if smoked), an increased risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses, an increased likelihood of car crashes, a general decrease in social achievement, and, potentially, some harm to fetuses in the womb.
There’s also the <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/8/20/17759820/marijuana-addiction-cannabis-use-disorder-legalization">real risk of addiction and overuse</a>. As Stanford’s Keith Humphreys <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/americas-invisible-pot-addicts/567886/">put it to the Atlantic</a>, “In large national surveys, about one in 10 people who smoke [marijuana] say they have a lot of problems. They say things like, ‘I have trouble quitting. I think a lot about quitting and I can’t do it. I smoked more than I intended to. I neglect responsibilities.’ … People will say, ‘Oh, that’s just you fuddy-duddy doctors.’ Actually, no. It’s millions of people who use the drug who say that it causes problems.”
None of that is to make the argument for prohibition, which produces its own problems: millions of arrests, deep racial disparities, and the lifelong harm of a permanent criminal record.
But if the model for alcohol hasn’t worked well with alcohol, why immediately replicate it with marijuana? Maybe the government or nonprofits can handle supply chains instead of for-profit corporations. Maybe people can grow, gift, and sell pot to each other, but mass commercial production is illegal. Maybe taxes can be way higher for marijuana than <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/13/18130843/alcohol-taxes">they have been for alcohol</a> to deter excessive use. (And if some of these ideas succeed, they could be applied to the alcohol market, too.)
Marijuana has relatively few risks, so getting this wrong might not be the end of the world. But if it can make legalization go more smoothly, why not explore other options?
In 2015, a group of drug policy experts put together a guide to marijuana legalization, and the <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR864.html">final report</a> (published by the RAND Corporation) detailed a dozen alternatives to current marijuana prohibition.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1633957221_6011_829180" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22911179,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4LaqqVZ_A3cN1iXQet5vUaIaEPQ=/0x0:885x679/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CIQweORv5JfYrajssb3nACeTAWY=/0x0:885x679/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_BMtO41Ana1WJpDx3cKJfqbY-js=/0x0:885x679/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yrcIwtu-ZBapl6cRPnjZ9nMfXRg=/0x0:885x679/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mFcAS30LagVoNQUjlXuZiu7FfR0=/0x0:885x679/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Oz7vAv1aVpU_YAkYSR1nvxRfOxo=/0x0:885x679/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OShQAFZi9mEEN_5YS4oVkeiMxmw=/0x0:885x679/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2Zvb0dzrvQvjtaXUOo0KAOR2sos=/0x0:885x679/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ByTaiC3tEeWDSRCRr2BaCcyK76s=/0x0:885x679/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A chart showing alternatives to marijuana legalization." data-upload-width="885" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WEXVhsRc8qCBOMcSs4JP7qZGkhA=/0x0:885x679/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LSXoh2q2AO9L5gVIEiyx1SgPbwc=/0x0:885x679/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3V2Kwa_TdIepU8MsjJXnSGuK3J8=/0x0:885x679/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FPTXXJboaUa-BcHel0BA1v-KCa8=/0x0:885x679/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IiVnE0ZmrRh-nlwXqv-pFKqB-FI=/0x0:885x679/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8CMmzFEWhbwfNHXYV5rwbrSbVc8=/0x0:885x679/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XgHyveIxR31piV8iLS5ccszfGow=/0x0:885x679/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PpKkOwdrYL3QSf9EM15Ey2Kb1iA=/0x0:885x679/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EXP2Ve3phvpSAgTPdAljZjWh_ao=/0x0:885x679/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/stjAQ6Yvza9r6iQueWFzd7nrAmI=/0x0:885x679/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:885x679):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22911179/marijuana_legalization_alternatives.png 1920w" /></picture> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR864.html" target="_blank">RAND Corporation</a></cite></figure>
The 12 alternatives range from tougher prohibition measures (labeled “extreme”) to total legalization without any real regulation (also “extreme”). Among the ideas:
<ul>
<li>Communal own-grow and distribution: Under this model, there would be no formal marijuana shops and businesses. Instead, people would be allowed to grow, distribute, and use their own marijuana on a less formal basis. This would inherently limit the ability of big businesses to take off. (This is similar to how marijuana legalization currently works in Washington, DC, although with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/4/5/11368438/marijuana-legalization-highspeed-juice">some notable loopholes</a>.)</li>
<li>Government operates the supply chain: Much as some state and local governments do with alcohol, this model would put the government in charge of distributing marijuana — Uncle Sam would be a weed dealer. This might sound ridiculous, but the idea is that with less incentive to simply sell as much marijuana as possible, the government would have to weigh public health, safety, and other potential problems along with incentives for profit.</li>
<li>Nonprofit organizations: Instead of allowing for-profit companies to oversee the industry, this legalization model would let only nonprofits into the industry. This would, the thinking goes, limit the profit incentives to market and sell as much marijuana as possible regardless of the negative consequences.</li>
</ul>
There are seven other options in between the two extremes of legalization with no regulation and total prohibition, including standard commercial legalization, reduced criminal penalties, and a Dutch-style system for retail (where local outlets, typically coffee-shop-like establishments, can sell small amounts of marijuana but no one else can).
Within these models, there are also plenty of questions that different places should consider: Does a legalization framework address at least some of the damage done by the war on drugs? Does it provide economic opportunities to those who need it most? What is the primary goal or benefit of legalization, and how do you maximize that while minimizing the unintended consequences or downsides?
More than propping up any one idea, the argument of the RAND report is that there really are a bunch of alternatives.
And as the country pushes forward toward legalization — with major political figures like former Attorney General Eric Holder arguing <a href="https://www.marijuanamoment.net/former-u-s-attorney-general-says-u-s-is-on-the-path-to-federal-marijuana-decriminalization/">the US is on a “glide path” to reform</a> — it’s worth taking these alternatives seriously.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22716926/marijuana-legalization-how-rand-corporation-report">https://www.vox.com/22716926/marijuana-legalization-how-rand-corporation-report</a>

vox A better way to legalize marijuana

As marijuana legalization has grown into a political triumph , a standard model has emerged for how it should be done: “Regulate marijuana l...

Princes Charles Urges Action, Not "Just Talk" At UN Climate Summit

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Princes Charles Urges Action, Not 'Just Talk' At UN Climate Summit" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-10/mlg08h5o_prince-charles-prince-of-wales_625x300_11_October_21.jpg" title="Princes Charles Urges Action, Not 'Just Talk' At UN Climate Summit" /></div>
Prince Charles did not comment on whether the UK government was doing enough on climate action. (File)
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London:
Prince Charles, a lifelong environmentalist who has championed organic gardening and runs one of his cars on white wine and cheese, has urged world leaders to turn talk into action at the upcoming UN climate summit.
Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir, 72, is due to attend events at the two-week COP26 summit in Glasgow starting on October 31, along with his 95-year-old mother.
But in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Monday, he said he worried that world leaders would "just talk", adding: "The problem is to get action on the ground."
The UN summit will try to persuade major developing economies to do more to cut their carbon emissions, and get the rich world to cough up billions more dollars to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.
When asked if Prime Minister Boris Johnson's UK government was doing enough itself against climate change, Charles replied: "I couldn't possibly comment."
The Prince of Wales expressed sympathy with climate protesters, who have been blocking roads in Britain for several weeks as part of a campaign to make homes more environmentally efficient.
"I totally understand the frustration," he said, as the government tries to get tough with the demonstrators, who have caused gridlock to rush-hour traffic with sit-down protests and by glueing themselves to tarmac.
"All these young people feel nothing is ever happening so of course they're going to get frustrated," he added, stressing: "But it isn't helpful, I don't think, to do it in a way that alienates people.
"So I totally understand the frustration, the difficulty is how do you direct that frustration in a way that is more constructive rather than destructive."
Charles, whose Highgrove estate in western England has an entirely organic garden and farm, also outlined some of his own actions to reduce his carbon footprint, including cutting down on meat and fish.
In 2008, his office revealed he had converted an Aston Martin car he owns to run on biofuel made from surplus English white wine and whey from cheese manufacturing.
Other cars in his fleet had been adapted to run on biodiesel made from used cooking oil, as a way to reduce his carbon footprint.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/princes-charles-urges-action-not-just-talk-at-cop26-un-climate-summit-2571659">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/princes-charles-urges-action-not-just-talk-at-cop26-un-climate-summit-2571659</a>

news world Princes Charles Urges Action, Not "Just Talk" At UN Climate Summit

Prince Charles did not comment on whether the UK government was doing enough on climate action. (File) London: Prince Charles, a lifelo...

California Makes Removing Condom Without Verbal Consent Illegal

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="California Makes Removing Condom Without Verbal Consent Illegal" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/a4c509ek_gavin-newsom_625x300_15_September_21.jpg" title="California Makes Removing Condom Without Verbal Consent Illegal" /></div>
California Governor Gavin Newsom made removal of a condom without consent illegal. (File)
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Los Angeles:
California has made it illegal to remove a condom during sex without verbal consent, a practice popularly known as "stealthing."
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Thursday that classifies the removal of a condom without consent as "sexual battery."
"By passing this bill, we are underlining the importance of consent," the governor's office said in a tweet.
Cristina Garcia, a member of the California assembly who introduced the bill, said it ensures that "stealthing isn't only immoral but illegal."
The California law is the first in the country to specifically ban "stealthing," which can expose a partner to unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.
Under the bill, a person commits sexual battery who "causes contact between a sexual organ, from which a condom has been removed, and the intimate part of another who did not verbally consent to the condom being removed."
An offender is liable for punitive damages that would be awarded by a court.
The practice of "stealthing" attracted attention in the United States after a paper was published by a doctoral student, Alexandra Brodsky, in 2017 in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law.
Brodsky's paper noted that there were online forums that provided information on how to successfully commit "stealthing," some of which were subsequently shut down.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/california-makes-stealthing-removing-condom-without-verbal-consent-illegal-2571540">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/california-makes-stealthing-removing-condom-without-verbal-consent-illegal-2571540</a>

news world California Makes Removing Condom Without Verbal Consent Illegal

California Governor Gavin Newsom made removal of a condom without consent illegal. (File) Los Angeles: California has made it illegal t...

Iraq Arrests ISIS Financial Chief Wanted By US: Prime Minister

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Sami Jasim al-Jaburi has been captured by Iraq, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said.
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Baghdad:
Iraq has captured the alleged finance chief of the ISIS group, Sami Jasim al-Jaburi, who was sought by the United States, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi announced Monday.
Jaburi, also the suspected former deputy to the late ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was arrested by intelligence services "outside the borders" of Iraq, Kadhemi said on Twitter.
He did not specify the location but said Jaburi was captured in a "complex external operation".
The US had offered a reward of up to $5 million for the capture of Jaburi.
The US Rewards for Justice programme said Jaburi within IS had "reportedly served as the equivalent of... finance minister, supervising the group's revenue-generating operations from illicit sales of oil, gas, antiquities and minerals".
In September 2015, the US Treasury Department labelled Jaburi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
ISIS took a third of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014.
Iraq's government declared victory against the jihadists in late 2017 after a grinding military campaign backed by a US-led coalition.
Baghdadi was killed in a raid by US special forces in northwestern Syria in October 2019.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iraq-arrests-isis-financial-chief-sami-jasim-al-jaburi-wanted-by-us-prime-minister-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-2571478">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iraq-arrests-isis-financial-chief-sami-jasim-al-jaburi-wanted-by-us-prime-minister-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-2571478</a>

news world Iraq Arrests ISIS Financial Chief Wanted By US: Prime Minister

Sami Jasim al-Jaburi has been captured by Iraq, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said. Baghdad: Iraq has captured the alleged finance ...

China's Largest Province Warns Of More Power Shortages Amid Energy Crisis

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China's Liaoning province issued its second-highest level power shortage alert.
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Beijing:
China's largest provincial economy in its northeast rust belt warned of worsening power shortages on Monday, despite government efforts to boost coal supply and manage electricity use in a post-pandemic energy crisis hitting multiple countries.
China's Liaoning province issued its second-highest level power shortage alert on Monday, the fifth in two weeks, warning the shortfall could reach nearly 5 gigawatts (GW).
Liaoning has the biggest economy and consumes the most power of the three provinces making up China's rust-best industrial region. It has been suffering widespread power cuts since mid-September. A level two power shortage alert indicates a demand gap of 10%-20% of total power demand.
The rebound in global economic activity as coronavirus restrictions are lifted has exposed shortages of fuels used for power generation in China and other countries, leaving industries and governments scrambling as the northern hemisphere heads into winter.
"The biggest power shortage could reach 4.74 gigawatts (GW) on Oct 11," a notice issued by the Liaoning Provincial Industry and Informatization Department said.
An order to curb power use had been put in place from 6 a.m. (2200 GMT on Sunday), it said.
The province also issued level two power crunch alerts for each of the last three days of September, when the daily power supply gap reached as much as 5.4 GW, leaving hundreds of thousands of households without electricity and forcing industrial plants to suspend production.
The power shortages follow tightening supply and sky-rocketing prices for coal, used to generate more than 70% of electricity in the region. Wind farms have also been idled due to slow wind speeds. Wind power made up 8.2% of Liaoning's power generation in 2020.
Last week, China's top two coal mining regions, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, ordered more than 200 of their mines to expand production capacity and prioritise coal supply to power plants in northeastern provinces, including Liaoning.
Analysts and traders, however, expect coal output will still fall short this winter, and China would still have to cut industrial power consumption by about 12% in the forth quarter.
China's thermal coal futures rose 8% to hit a daily upper-trading limit shortly after trade started on Monday.
Moody's Investors Service in a report said: "China's electricity cuts will add to economic stresses, weighing on GDP growth for 2022. And the risks to GDP forecasts could be larger as disruptions to production and supply chains feed through."
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-power-shortage-chinas-largest-province-warns-of-more-power-shortages-amid-energy-crisis-2571463">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-power-shortage-chinas-largest-province-warns-of-more-power-shortages-amid-energy-crisis-2571463</a>

news world China's Largest Province Warns Of More Power Shortages Amid Energy Crisis

China's Liaoning province issued its second-highest level power shortage alert. Beijing: China's largest provincial economy in ...

Freedom And Caution As Sydney Reopens Hoping To Live With COVID-19

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Freedom And Caution As Sydney Reopens Hoping To Live With COVID-19" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-10/qlhgrpvs_-sydney-covid-reuters_625x300_11_October_21.jpg" title="Freedom And Caution As Sydney Reopens Hoping To Live With COVID-19" /></div>
Coronavirus: Businesses in Sydney reopened after Covid restrictions were lifted.
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Sydney:
Sydney's cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers on Monday after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the coronavirus and gradually reopen with high rates of inoculation.
Some pubs in Sydney, Australia's largest city, opened at 12:01 a.m. (1301 GMT Sunday) and friends and families huddled together for a midnight beer, television footage and social media images showed.
"I see it as a day of freedom, it's a freedom day," New South Wales (NSW) state Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters in Sydney, the state capital. "We are leading the nation out of this pandemic but this will be a challenge."
Perrottet warned that infections would rise after reopening, and virus-free states such as Western Australia and Queensland are watching what living with COVID-19 is going to look like amid concerns health systems could be overwhelmed.
While NSW's dual-dose vaccination rate in people above 16 hit 74%, in neighbouring Queensland, whose borders remain closed to Sydney-siders, the rate is only 52% and the state government is following an elimination strategy with rapid lockdowns to control any outbreak.
Perrottet has declared an end to lockdowns in NSW and has strong support for reopening in Sydney, whose more than 5 million residents endured severe restrictions from mid-June following an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
The outbreak has since spread to Melbourne and Canberra, forcing lockdowns in those cities, even as case numbers dwindle in NSW.
New South Wales on Monday reported 496 new locally acquired cases, well down from their peak last month, while Victoria logged 1,612 new infections, the lowest in five days.
Under the relaxed rules for NSW, retail stores and restaurants reopened with reduced capacity, and more vaccinated people were allowed to gather in homes and attend weddings and funerals.
The state aims to hit an 80% vaccine rate around late October, when more curbs will be relaxed. But the unvaccinated must remain at home until Dec. 1.
Steven Speed, the publican at Sydney's oldest pub, Fortune of War, told Reuters he hoped it was the last lockdown after 18 months of restrictions.
"Just the costs of closing down and opening up, closing down and opening up - they're huge," said Speed, whose most loyal customers returned from 9:00 a.m. on Monday for the first post-lockdown beers with friends.
Kyl Raggio, owner of the KR Performance gym in the Sydney suburb of Randwick, said Australia could no longer afford to rely on rolling lockdowns to combat the virus.
"I hope that we can deal with whatever happens now moving forward, looking at the rest of the world hopefully we can stay open and do our thing," said Raggio, who welcomed his clients back into his training facility early Monday morning.
Election Looming
Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Sydney residents to "enjoy the moment".
"Today is a day so many have been looking forward to - a day when things we take for granted, we will celebrate," he said.
Morrison, who must call an election before next May, has come under pressure to press all states to reopen borders to bolster the economy and allow families separated by state border closures to reunite by Christmas. Some states with few cases have not said when they will re-open their borders.
With the vaccine rollout gaining momentum, Australia is planning a staggered return to normal, letting fully vaccinated residents enter and leave the country freely from November, although New South Wales plans to bring forward those dates.
Australia shut its international borders in March 2020, helping keep its coronavirus numbers relatively low, with 130,000 cases and 1,448 deaths.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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Coronavirus: Businesses in Sydney reopened after Covid restrictions were lifted. Sydney: Sydney's cafes, gyms and restaurants welco...