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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Australia: Calls for tougher cannabis laws
Paul Lampathakis Sunday Times Australia
Wednesday 28 Jun 2006 THE United Nations' annual World Drug Report has sparked calls for the WA Government to toughen its drug laws. Opposition Drug Abuse Strategy Minister Donna Faragher said the report, released this week, was highly critical of various policy approaches to cannabis and warned that the drug was a lot more potent than a few decades ago. ``This is the latest in a long line of reports to show that cannabis is far from being a harmless, soft drug as this State Government believes,'' Mrs Faragher said. ``Western Australians should not have to suffer because of this Government whose current cannabis laws are being treated with contempt.'' Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said it was a mistake to dismiss cannabis as a "soft" and relatively harmless drug. Evidence that cannabis use could cause serious mental illness was mounting, he said. Mrs Faragher said: ``It is a fact that for those who are vulnerable, cannabis use can lead to mental illness, paranoia, suicide and distress and can be exacerbated if the user starts early in life. ``Perhaps the Government should take heed of the comments of the UN in this regard for the betterment of our community, Mrs Faragher said. She said that statistics revealed in the Legislative Council showed that of the 6,909 cannabis infringement notices issued since March 2004, almost half have been referred to the Fines Enforcement Registry. It is not good enough that 3432 infringement notices have been referred to the Registry, with 2369 currently outstanding, as a result of either the non-payment of the penalty or offenders not attending a cannabis education session, Mrs Faragher said. ``This is further compounded by the fact that only 637 people have bothered to attend a cannabis education session between 1 April 2004 and 31 December 2005. ``If the penalties were treated seriously, offenders caught would pay up or attend an education session this is clearly not happening and it makes a mockery of Labor's laws which need to be completely overhauled.'' But Health Minister Jim McGinty has repeatedly said that there was no evidence that tougher penatlies deterred people from using drugs. http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21498,19628623-2761,00.html
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