Doctors demand tougher drug laws

[Luke Skywalker]

February 2, 2005

Doctors demand tougher drug laws

 

CATHY O'LEARY

 

 

 

WA doctors have reignited cannabis laws as a critical election issue, demanding the state's soft drug regime be replaced by criminal charges and substantially tougher penalties.

 

The Australian Medical Association said last night the existing laws, which allow those caught with a small amount of cannabis to either pay on-the-spot fines of up to $150 or attend educational seminars, failed to deter young marijuana users, some of whom would move on to harder drugs.

 

The AMA attacked the State Government for introducing the laws last year and then accused the Opposition of being "wishy-washy" on the issue, saying it wanted a Coalition commitment to dump the on-the-spot fines if it won the election.

 

The doctors lobby believes thousands of parents around the State are vehemently opposed to the decriminalisation of marijuana. They believe promises to introduce tougher laws would prove a political winner for both parties.

 

Under the laws introduced last year, people caught with less than 30g of cannabis or with smoking implements can either pay a fine of up to $150 or attend a drug education session.

 

They also allow households to grow up two cannabis plants without the occupants facing criminal charges, instead providing for them to be fined $200 or sent to education sessions.

 

AMA WA president Paul Skerritt said WA's "soft-on-drugs experiment" had been a dismal failure and the State Government should withdraw the ill-conceived laws.

 

He said politicians needed to send a strong message to the community, particularly young people, that so-called recreational drugs were dangerous and socially unacceptable.

 

Giving police discretion to issue infringement notices rather than laying criminal charges was an experiment which had failed.

 

"Figures for the first three months of the new cannabis laws showed that almost half of the 1000 infringement notices were ignored," he said.

 

"That means the offenders thought the new laws were a joke and not to be taken seriously. There is also plenty of evidence to show that a big percentage of cannabis users tend to move on to harder drugs which are also rampant in our community."

 

Dr Skerritt said he was not advocating a move to draconian laws or sending everyone who used drugs off to jail.

 

But he said a tougher line accompanied by better drug education in schools and more rehabilitation programs were long overdue.

 

The idea that cannabis was a soft drug should be dead and buried, he said. Apart from being a gateway to harder drugs, it was dangerous in itself.

 

"Cannabis can provoke very serious mental illnesses and its risks are not to be taken lightly," he said.

 

"These drugs are not a simple bit of fun or a case of 'boys will be boys', so we don't think a little slap on the wrist is the appropriate way to deal with them. It's a criminal offence and should be dealt with that way."

     

   

© 2005 West Australian Newspapers Limited

All Rights Reserved.

 

 

WTF?!?!? Did the AMA turn into Rush Limbaugh?

[everest]

:scratchin bloody typical . I havn't met a doctor yet to be right on any friggin subject , let alone ganja . I bet any one a million bucks they were all stoned at med school . hyprocrites

[internationalist]

this is a call out to all wa voters

never vote for the conservative coalition

de criminalise will be lost

if they win cannabis laws will be set back 10 years

anyone else interested in supporting a weed lobby towards party,politicians

start collecting signitures

[jackfrost]

a cured patient is a patient lost...

[Guest niall]

Vote Green on Feb 26th. If you can't do that, vote Labor. Virtually all of the other parties are conservative and have preference deals with the Coalition - if they win the new cannabis laws will be rolled back and probably made much tougher.

[Guest niall]

Well, well, well... the WA branch of the Australian Medical Association has been shot down by their Federal counterparts! The Federal AMA says that harsher penalties do not work, and that they support decriminalisation!

 

My letter in The West was published, so I've included it and some others below. Every OzStoners member should consider writing to the WA papers and expressing their views on the subject. Local papers, State papers, talkback radio - the works. Start making your voice heard, because if the Liberal-National coalition wins this month's election we are all pretty much fucked:

 

Coalition's cannabis policy too soft: AMA

 

Newshawk: Niall Young

Pubdate: Thur, Feb 3, 2005

Source: The West Australian (Australia)

Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited

Contact: letters@wanews.com.au

Website: http://www.thewest.com.au

Author: Cathy O'Leary, Kim MacDonald and Ben Ruse

 

The coalition plan to crack down on small-time cannabis users does not go far enough and it should adopt zero tolerance,

says the WA branch of the Australian Medical Association.

 

It said the Opposition's wind-back on cannabis law reforms should have been tougher.

 

But it was still better than the State Government's attempt to rein in drug users.

 

AMA State president Paul Skerritt said even first-time users should be subject to a strict treatment regime and he was

disappointed the policy did not contain more funding for education programs.

 

"We want a sentencing policy which corrects the problem, and that's not necessarily jail time but could be through strict

court-imposed treatment regimes," Dr Skerritt said.

 

Under the coalition policy announced yesterday, first-time offenders with less than 10g of the drug would be cautioned, with

second-time offenders and all cultivators to face court.

 

The coalition would repeal existing legislation which imposes only fines or education seminars on those who possess less

than 30g of marijuana or who grow up to two non-hydroponic plants.

 

AMA Federal president Bill Glasson said he supported the decriminalistion of cannabis for personal use and did not believe

that criinal sanctions were the right approach.

 

Dr Glasson said that there was no safe level of use for cannabis but he believed that education was the best way to get

users off the drug.

 

"We have examined international research and what has been shown is that criminal sanctions do not lead to rehabilitation

and may, in fact, cause the reverse," he said.

 

 

 

 

LTE: Prohibition won't work

 

Newshawk: Niall Young

Pubdate: Thur, Feb 3, 2005

Source: The West Australian (Australia)

Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited

Contact: letters@wanews.com.au

Website: http://www.thewest.com.au

Author: Geoff Palmer

 

The old "soft on drugs" arsenal has been dragged out of the war chest yet again by Opposition Leader Colin Barnett for this

election. How predicatable it is to target the fears and vulnerability of the electorate to score cheap political mileage.

 

As much as i abhor drugs and the negative impact they have on society, their use is simply a manifestation of the weaknesses

of human nature. Put simply, we had better come to terms with substance abuse because, like prostituion, it just won't go

away. It has been around for as long as human civilisation and no amount of prohibition will deter society's craving for

drugs. Not even the deterrent effect of custodial, corporal or capital punishment.

 

I live in a society where the effect of illicit drug use and the hypocrisy of drug policies cause so much angst. Big sums

of money profit the demi-respectable oranised crime gangs, while the flower of our youth willingly consumes quantities of

their product. The very same product undergoes no quality asurance or control procedures. There are no recall provisions

of defective product nor any obligation to publish the product constituents on its packaging. There are no manufacturing

standards, no controlled licensing arrangements.

 

There needs to be a paradign shift in our thinking about drugs and drugs policy. The US alcohol prohibiton experiment of

the 1920s triggered a proliferation of clandestine alcohol production, resulting in the ascendancy of the likes of Al

Capone. Today, who buys bootleg whisky? Does organised crime profit from alcohol racketeering? Education, controlled

supply, controlled legalisation and associated health management must be a priotity to address responsibly such a complex

issue.

 

I ask Mr Barnett whether he would rather live in a society where drug addiction is sustained by organised crime, or

controlled and monitored by a responsible and caring government.

 

Geoff Palmer,

Dianella.

 

 

 

LTE: Evil habit

 

Newshawk: Niall Young

Pubdate: Thur, Feb 3, 2005

Source: The West Australian (Australia)

Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited

Contact: letters@wanews.com.au

Website: http://www.thewest.com.au

Author: M. Simms

 

Thank you, The West Australian, for the front-page report about doctors wanting tougher laws on cannabis use (Doctors demand

tougher drug laws, 2/2). It was music to my ears.

 

There will always be fools out there who think puffing on cannabis is in no way harmful. This is because they have reduced

brain cell functions as a result. You can't tell them.

 

There is a culture with the parents of kids who have secret smokes and bongs in their rooms or grow plants, that it is

dandy. Of course, if you have grown up with a mentally ill mother and know what that does to a person, you instil the fear

of God into your own children in regardes even to looking at a cannabis cigarette.

 

My three children know that because their maternal grandmother had schizophrenia, they may be predisposed to becoming like

my mother was (she died in her 50s as a result of the mental illnes) if they ever are foolish enough to start smoking

cannabis.

 

In a way we are lucky we know this is in my family. Other's don't. Kids who are found to be smoking cannabis should not be

given the option of going to a seminar. They should be made to, and it should be run by the police. As for people selling

cannabis, lock them up and throw away the key.

 

M. Simms,

Ballajura.

 

 

 

 

LTE: Hard facts

 

Newshawk: Niall Young

Pubdate: Thur, Feb 3, 2005

Source: The West Australian (Australia)

Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited

Contact: letters@wanews.com.au

Website: http://www.thewest.com.au

Author: Desmond Hoad

 

I would like to explain to the WA president of the Austraian Medical Association, Paul Skerritt, the difference between

marijuana use leading to harder drugs and the likelihood that one bad habit will necessarily lead to another. Tobacco use

does not lead to alcoholism; smoking does not lead to gambling; marijuana does not lead to heroin use.

 

However, a person with any bad health habit is likey to have some form of character flaw which leads them to be indifferent

to their health. Because of this indifference, they are prone or susceptible to any or all of the bad health habits

available in our wonderful modern society.

 

Also, the person selling the marijuana would be a poor business person if they didn't also sell the top of the range drugs.

They are just like car dealers who try to sell you the most expensive model. Some people will succumb to the temptation.

 

Marijuana use leading to harder drug use is no more likely than listening to Kylie Minogue's singing leads you to a form of

tone deafness, despite the fact many of the people going to Kylie's concert could prove to be tone deaf.

 

Desmond Hoad,

Palmyra.

 

 

 

 

LTE: Stay out of it

 

Newshawk: Niall Young

Pubdate: Thur, Feb 3, 2005

Source: The West Australian (Australia)

Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited

Contact: letters@wanews.com.au

Website: http://www.thewest.com.au

Author: Niall Young

 

The AMA has come out in opposition to sensible cannabis laws, but I cannot locate any evidence to support its claims.

 

It claims that fines are failing to deter young marijuana users - yet the laws are applicable to adults only. The goal was

not to deter marijuana use by minors, but to redress a grossly disproportionate punishment for this "crime".

 

This "soft-on-drug experiment" has apparently been "a dismal failure". Says who? Part of the Cannabis Control Bill 2003

required that independent research be undertaken on the effects of the new legislation. Where is this research? Does it

show that the law has not met its aims?

 

South Australia's cannabis legislation allowed fines to go unpaid. This flaw cannot odccur in WA because the unapid fine

becomes a debt to the State.

 

Unlike their Austalian counterparts, doctors and scientists the world over agree that cannabis is a relatively safe drug.

It is not harmless, but the risk of harm is minimal.

 

The magnitude of this harm is also very small. Cannabis is safer and less harmful than commonly used drugs such as aspirin

and caffine.

 

The AMA believes that cannabis is a "gateway drug", but research has definitively shown that it is not. The gateway is the

black market, where drugs of every size and shape are available from the place where cannabis is currently bought. I cannot

buy amphetamines or heroin at my local deli or liquor store.

 

I would have expected evidence-based policies from a professional medical body. The AMA should leave politics alone and

perform an exhaustive review on the subject. Virtually every review has come out in support of decriminalistio or outrigh

legalistion. The facts are clear - cannabis prohibition is not working.

 

Niall Young,

Bayswater.

[Pickle]

Well said Niall, but considering the uninformed, fearful and ignorant comments before you it just goes to show how little people are actually comprehending the facts.

 

I feel sorry for the kids in that womans home, she sounds so adamant about instilling fear into her children that it seems to escape her that she's the one scaring them. she's probably just as abusive as her mother was and she can't blame pot for it.

 

Can you imagine trying to reason with your mother on any topic in the face of such assuredness as this, "There will always be fools out there who think puffing on cannabis is in no way harmful. This is because they have reduced brain cell functions as a result. You can't tell them".

 

How could you possibly reason with someone like this when they automatically dismiss everything you say? Then again, i wonder if the editor put that letter in because it shows pot smoking isn't the real problem. What a wonderful world it will be when a cure is found for schitzophrenia and everyone can get stoned.

[internationalist]

niall your a legend, i read that in todays west i dont normally read the west opinion pages cos there crap most of the time.

i think its unfortunate but in the one newspaper town that we live in the only paper left is veering to the conservative side

paul skerrit is a conservative party stooge

are there any wa cannabis platforms out there?

are there any other like minded western australians out there commited to advancing the cause cos we need to prevent rollback from happening

im willing to commit time and money to this end

[Guest niall]

in the one newspaper town that we live in the only paper left is veering to the conservative side

paul skerrit is a conservative party stooge

 

It's getting a bit scary isn't it.

 

are there any wa cannabis platforms out there?

are there any other like minded western australians out there commited to advancing the cause cos we need to prevent rollback from happening

im willing to commit time and money to this end

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I've put my hat out and asked for others to help but it's come to nothing so far. If you're interested in helping or brainstorming on what we can do, please get in touch with me over at MA.

 

What we can easily do is write letters and get on talkback radio. I'd like to put up a how to vote poster at Joynt Venture and other stores, but I'm starting to wonder if it would make any difference. I think we need to reach the mainstream on this, people who are sick of the two party system and are about to vote Family First or one of the other conservative parties that will feed their preferences to the Coalition. If only they knew what prohibition was doing to their families - tempting their children, wasting their taxes, eroding their civil rights... I'm all ears for suggestions.

[Luke Skywalker]

I agree, for any difference to be made in this election it has to be NOW.

 

Niall, I'll put my hand up for leaflet passing out at a corner somewhere any weekend or wednesday you like. And I'll be happy to drop by JV's and put in some "how to vote for cannabis laws which make sense" if you like, I can run some up on the pc this weekend.

 

I would certainly encourage any and all west australian stoners, who have any feelings about the current legal status of MJ, (I'm sure you all do, well, maybe a couple... ) to visit MA and throw in your hat. We can also make threads here, discuss the things we need to do and GET OFF OUR FAT LAZY STONED ASSES AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

 

 

We have to hear from the greens on the cannabis issue in WA I think, they've not been approached by the media, and yet they're essentially in control of the balance of power in this election. Should that happen again, I think they'll be having long, interesting discussions with the labor party.

 

Mind you, there are a lot of nutbars out there who'll vote for a moron like colin, so if you're a West Aussie, VOTE!