Cannabis targeted in mental health drive

[postman]

Date: February 4 2006

 

By Louise Dodson and Andrew Clennell

 

ALL states will be urged to strengthen laws on cannabis use as part of a new national plan to tackle mental illness to be presented by the Prime Minister, John Howard, at his meeting with the premiers in Canberra next week.

 

Mr Howard will seek the agreement of the states at the meeting to a new mental health plan including measures to reduce cannabis use, senior Government sources said.

 

Mr Howard's push was pre-empted by the Premier, Morris Iemma, who yesterday announced tougher penalties for the indoor cultivation of cannabis.

 

The maximum penalty for the cultivation of five to 49 plants for individuals will be increased to a $220,000 fine and/or 10 years' jail.

 

The penalty for 50-199 plants will be a $385,000 fine and/or 15 years' jail. That penalty will rise to up to 20 years' jail for 200 or more plants.

 

Mr Iemma, who said he had never tried marijuana, said the Government would soon be completing an evaluation it was doing into the effectiveness of cannabis cautioning notices.

 

But he seemed to indicate he would be happy for first-time users to continue to be cautioned. "No one wants to see a young person who has made a genuine mistake, unfairly punished," Mr Iemma said.

 

Close to 18,000 cautions have been issued for first-time offenders since the cautions system was introduced in 2000.

 

Mr Iemma said his message to his children was that marijuana could "make you sick", a spokesman said.

 

The Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, also said he had never tried marijuana, and did not rule out changing the cautioning system if elected premier.

 

The Federal Government wants the tougher laws to send a strong message to young people that cannabis is not a harmless drug as there is mounting evidence linking its use to serious mental problems such as schizophrenia.

 

The plan is to improve co-ordination of federal and state services in health and welfare agencies to improve treatment of mental health problems.

 

One focus will be how to provide suitable accommodation and support for the mentally ill who were once institutionalised and now sometimes end up homeless.

 

As well as the mental health initiative, the meeting will discuss a list of reforms following the Podger review of overlapping federal-state responsibilities in health.

 

This will involve measures to better co-ordinate services in preventive health, early intervention and primary care in rural areas.

 

It also aims to ensure young people with disabilities are not accommodated in nursing homes and that aged people are not kept in hospitals rather than nursing homes.

 

Another plan is for a national approach to apprenticeship training. Mr Howard will be seeking the agreement of the states to a new national training agreement to introduce a uniform system of apprenticeships with minimum standards.

 

This is seen as an important measure in trying to tackle the growing skills shortage.

 

Mr Howard told Channel Nine yesterday that he would "open the batting on mental health" at the premiers' meeting.

 

"We have a lot of other things on the agenda and I think we can make a lot of progress in some other health areas and also things relating to skills and recognition of qualifications.

 

"But I think we can, if there's goodwill, make a lot of progress in this area," he said.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2006/0...8958911116.html

[Pa-uul]

...mounting evidence linking its use to serious mental problems such as schizophrenia...

If one does a web search on cannabis and mental illness it often results with a claim from some "authority" or other (usually funded by the government) that cannabis causes schizophrenia. But if you do a search and make no mention of cannabis it leads to very different results. People who actually study schizophrenia without the predilection that cannabis is a cause do not stress cannabis as an important factor. In fact, the information presented could very easily lead one to the conclusion that it's impossible to give yourself the disease.

 

My contention is that you cannot give yourself a mental disease with a drug that doesn't have a demonstrable harm in the short term; that you need to damage yourself to create a change. For every other known type of personality change from drugs there is a fairly clear link between cause and effect. For example: Korsakoff's syndrome is a serious and debilitating disease usually caused by damage from alcohol abuse. Alcohol use is the main way to get this disease, so it's no mystery. Marijuana has no observable damaging effect on the body short-term yet, according to the government, perplexingly is one cause of a disease which is serious and irreversible. The flimsiness of the theory can be seen when it is compared with the other known causes of schizophrenia, for in none of these is it voluntary. You can't get it or give it to anyone. You can't get it from bad parenting. You can't get it from hanging around with a bad crowd. The best evidence is that it's determined before you're even born.

[everest]

we will have to keep an eye on this wanker .....

 

The Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, also said he had never tried marijuana, and did not rule out changing the cautioning system if elected premier.

 

and this twat ...

 

Mr Iemma, who said he had never tried marijuana, said the Government would soon be completing an evaluation it was doing into the effectiveness of cannabis cautioning notices.

 

don't ya just love mj virgins :smoke

[danny29]

i only just joined this forum and i live in tassie...i was just wonering about how it says the maximum fine for having 5 to 49 plants is up to $220.000 or 10 years jail! but i wanna know what there fine is for under 5 plants, is there any?

[raverspec]

1. So the fuckwit politicians are imposing harsher penalties....without ever having tried it for themselves? Blind leading the sick and twisted.

 

2. Exactly what fucking "mounting links to mental health" are they talking about? That sounds pretty fucking vague and circumspect to me!

 

3. What is this drivel they crap on about homelessness, mental illness and a skills shortage?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY HAVE TO DO WITH SMOKING POT? IS ANYONE ON HERE SKILL-LESS, HOMELESS OR MENTALLY ILL? I DON'T THINK SO, AND GUESS WHAT, WE ALL SMOKE POT?

 

 

It is this kind of rehashed, vague dribble based on nothing short of contempt and conjecture that really get my blood boiling.

 

What an utter crock of implausable shite!

[LOGGER_KING]

Get a bigger shed,,,,,,,,Have under 5,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,KEEP THEM IN VEG FOR 10 months...........GIANT TREES..............That will fix the problem...

[tomiie]

I can't find any definitive research about weed causing all the stuff they mention either.

 

Obviously it shouldnt be available to kids because there minds are still forming. But it's prohibition thats putting it in the hands of the schoolyard drug dealers..

 

I did a search on science daily for the latest studies done on cannabis and this is what it came up with:

Science Daily articles about cannabis

Science Daily articles about Marijuana

 

Mostly they seem to indicate any effects are transient and not long term except for people who are heavy users and, people that are prone to mental disorders (they should be keeping well away from mind altering substances anyway)..

 

I don't know where these politicians are getting there information from but there grossly overstating the dangers to your average toker.