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Australia: Harsher penalties for cannabis users in SA

Tim Dornin

Daily Telegraph

Monday 02 Jul 2018

The South Australian government will significantly increase penalties for cannabis use, declaring it far from a benign recreational drug.

Fines will quadruple for drug possession and jail time will also be on the table in legislation expected to come before parliament this week.

Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said the government had conducted the first major review of penalties for cannabis possession for more than 30 years and the changes would bring penalties into line with other illicit drugs.

"We realised that for 33 years there had been no upgrading of the penalties in relation to that drug, while there had been other new drugs and reviews of others," Ms Chapman told reporters on Monday.

"So we wanted to bring that up to speed.

"It also highlighted for us that it was utterly absurd that the possession of marijuana should have a penalty regime consistent with someone who jaywalks.

"That was unacceptable to us."

Ms Chapman said it was an inquest into the shooting death of Lewis McPherson in 2012 by another man high on cannabis that had prompted "everyone to sit up and reappraise the significance of cannabis and the dangers of using the drug".

"It highlighted to us marijuana is not just some benign recreational drug," she said.

"It needs to be dealt with and it needs to be treated as having adverse effects on people's capacity in a very serious way."

Under the proposed changes the government will also seek to bring in harsher penalties for bikies dealing in drugs.

But it will continue to allow people caught with cannabis for personal use to opt to seek medical treatment up to two times within four years before facing criminal sanctions.

Originally published as Harsher penalties for cannabis users in SA

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/harsher-penalties-over-cannabis-in-sa/news-story/47d7b1f9a761d40beda1a3518b01cc5b

 

 

 

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