CANNABIS CHANGE EFFECTS UNCLEAR

Wellington: Decriminalising cannabis will not guarantee an end to the black
market in the drug or a drop in abuse and dependency, a Wellington public
policy expert says.

Karen Baehler, a public policy lecturer and researcher at Victoria
University, believes cannabis users would still rely on criminal sources to
buy the drug and dependency could increase unless changes to the law were
accompanied by more resources to combat abuse.

Writing in the Institute of Public Administration's journal "Public
Sector", Dr Baehler said MPs should have clear goals before moving to
change drugs laws, such as saving money by reducing police time and
resources spent arresting and prosecuting users.

Another valid goal would be to respond to changing public attitudes towards
cannabis use, although any changes to the law should not be based solely on
public opinion.

Dr Baehler said yesterday two of the main benefits advanced by proponents
of overhauling the legal status of cannabis - ending the black market and
associated crime and reducing abuse - were unlikely to come about simply
because of a change in the law.

"It's not at all clear from the current evidence that we have done enough
to try and fund treatment programmes for people who need it, and if it is
illegal for individuals to grow their own cannabis or for commercial
growers to supply it then the only place you are going to get it is on the
street."

Even if cultivating cannabis was made legal, few users were likely to grow
their own in the same way that few beer-drinkers brewed their own, she said.

Parliament's health select committee chairwoman, Judy Keall, last week
announced an inquiry into cannabis and the health issues associated with
its present status.

The inquiry is seen as a first step towards decriminalisation of the drug,
possibly to make possession a ticketing offence, like speeding. A review of
the law is scheduled for this term of Parliament.