MP CUTS TO TRUTH ON DRUG SEARCHES

Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos has finally discovered why police used
to frequently stop him on the street and search him for drugs.

According to the Police Association, the dreadlocked Rastafarian who
openly admits to using cannabis was more likely to have been stopped
because of suspicions that he was carrying a knife.

Mr Tanczos put the association's president, Greg O'Connor, on the
spot during a select committee inquiry into cannabis at Parliament
last night.

"Before I became famous, I was stopped by the police many times and
searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act," said Mr Tanczos.

"Because of my dreadlocks they assumed that I used cannabis."

Mr O'Connor said Mr Tanczos' appearance could have led police
officers to believe he was involved in criminal activity.

"When you were stopped, it wouldn't be looking for cannabis," he said.

"They might believe you had a knife ...

"Now they know who you are they know you're unlikely to have a knife."

Mr O'Connor agreed with Mr Tanczos' comment that the Misuse of Drugs
Act gave police a right to stop and search people arbitrarily.

But he said police officers were more aware today that they needed to
use that power with discretion.

In his submission, Mr O'Connor said the association believed the
present cannabis laws should be retained because it feared
liberalisation would lead to more young people using the drug.

"Its illegal status does have a deterrent effect on a significant
number of young people," he said.

Mr O'Connor said he did not believe cannabis use was as rife as some
surveys indicated.

He said police mostly came into contact with cannabis users because
they were investigating the person for other reasons such as burglary.

"While cannabis is not at the root of the act we are dealing with, it
is a common factor that runs through it and is something we associate
with the type of anti-social behaviour we deal with."

He accepted that many people were recreational users of cannabis and
did not fit the criminal profile.

Much of Mr O'Connor's submission dealt with a trip to the Netherlands
and his observations of its drug scene.

Although cannabis was legal there, the Dutch attitude to drug users
ranging from heroin to cannabis was that it was a health problem, he
said.

The country had a huge heroin problem, he said, and the use of
alcohol and Ecstasy had skyrocketed.