DRUGGIES ERR ON SIDE OF CAUTION

TWO hundred and seventy people have avoided criminal convictions for
possession of cannabis after almost six months of the State
Government's cannabis cautioning system.

Sgt Barry Davy, district coordinator of the WA Police Service alcohol
and drug coordination unit, said yesterday 300 people opted for
education instead of conviction.

But 10 per cent of them, or 30 people, failed to attend the classes,
which meant they were charged with possession of cannabis.

The new system was extended to the whole State on March 1 after a
trial in the police districts of Mirrabooka and Bunbury.

First offenders caught with 25g or less of cannabis can opt for the
education class to avoid a conviction.

Sgt Davy said he was pleased with the results. Under the initial
trial, 20 per cent of those who agreed to education failed to show up
but that figure had dropped to 10 per cent.

The new policy also saved police a lot of time in book
work.

Sgt Davy said he did not believe the State Government would consider
extending the caution system to the growing of cannabis plants for
personal use - as in South Australia and the Australian Capital
Territory. He was not aware of any request by police for that to happen.

He was not able to say whether the number of cautions issued was
comparable to the number of cannabis charges laid against first
offenders before the caution system began.

But a research fellow with the national drug research institute
attached to Curtin University, Simon Lenton, said it appeared little
had changed in the policing of cannabis use despite the penalty change.

He said 1996 figures showed that just over 800 people were convicted
for possession of cannabis in the first six months and, of those,
about 40 per cent were first offenders. That meant about 320 first
offenders were caught in six months in 1996.

Mr Lenton was not surprised there had been an increase in the number
of people agreeing to attend education classes. "I would expect that
as more people find out about it, you would expect that more people
would choose that option, to front up to an education session, rather
than be charged," he said.

WA Drug Abuse Strategy Office figures just released show that from
1998 to 1999 the number of cannabis seizures increased 38.5 per cent.
In 1998, there were 10,815 seizures of cannabis by police. Last year
there were 14,983 seizures of cannabis.

The amounts were not specified. But most of the cannabis seized was
from people arrested for possession or use rather than for attempting
to sell or cultivate marijuana.