Higher infringement rate for WA drug users

[Tom]

The first status report on new Western Australian drug laws has revealed more cannabis users are being charged or issued with infringements than previously.

 

Under the the WA Cannabis Infringement Scheme, police can choose to either issue a fine or charge people caught with small amounts of the drug.

 

Michael Salter from the Drug and Alcohol Office says fewer people in WA are using cannabis, but of those who are, a higher percentage are facing the consequences.

 

"There's a high degree of compliance with the legislation and that legislation is effective, in that, if an individual is caught with cannabis, there will be a consequence."

 

Spokesman for the WA Coalition Against Drugs Richard Egan says the high number of infringement notices does not mean the scheme is reducing drug use.

 

"This probably just means that the police are more willing to handle the paper work involved in this particular scheme than previous cautioning schemes," he said.

 

"It doesn't really tell us anything about the effectiveness of the scheme, only 15 per cent actually attended an education session. A large number of those who elected to pay fines simply haven't paid the fines yet.

 

"One can hardly say that's an effective scheme."

 

Author:ABC

Date:Thursday April 28

Source:Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited.

Copyright:Copyright © 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation