The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy has announced it will develop, over six months, a plan to fight the growing use of amphetamines and other dangerous psychostimulants.
The Council has also endorsed a national strategy on alcohol abuse.
The federal parliamentary secretary for health, Christopher Pyne, says the council has decided there should be a nationally consistent approach to cannabis offences.
Mr Pyne says the national strategy would target production, supply and use of cannabis, and focus on reducing the public acceptability of the drug.
He says while the federal government would like tougher cannabis laws, it cannot force territories and states to change their legislation.