RELAX CANNABIS LAWS, URGES REPORT

Possessing and using cannabis would be treated much the same as minor
traffic offences under a proposal to be considered by the Victorian
Government.

The National Drug Research Institute has recommended that users of
small amounts of cannabis no longer receive a criminal conviction if
caught with the drug.

Instead, an adult found with up to 50 grams and no more than three
mature plants would initially be cautioned by police. If caught again,
they would be fined up to $150 but no criminal conviction would be
recorded.

First-time offenders found with less than 50 grams of cannabis now
receive a caution. The institute's recommendations follow a six-month
research project commissioned by parliament's now-defunct Drugs and
Crime Prevention Committee.

Researcher Simon Lenton said the institute did not recommend
legalising cannabis, only a system to help control its use. "We need
to recognise that we are not going to eliminate it from society," he
said. "But it is possible to have a system which does not increase the
rate of use."

The institute report recommends a system of cautions and fines
designed to direct the illicit cannabis market towards smaller growers
and users. Mr Lenton said such people were less likely to use or
manufacture other illegal drugs. He said most cannabis users were
unable or unwilling to grow their own plants and instead bought from
the illicit market.

Mr Lenton said the problem with most approaches, including the caution
system now used in Victoria, was that they concentrated on drug users
without trying to change the system of supply.

The report will be considered by the government's drugs policy expert
committee chaired by David Penington. Committee member Rob Moodie said
there were strong arguments in favor of moving minor cannabis usage
from the criminal to the civil legal system.

Acting Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said the government did not
support legalising cannabis but drugs were a very complex area and the
government needed as much information and research as it could get.

Opposition Leader Denis Napthine said there was a link between
cannabis use and mental health problems and the existing caution
program was quite different to legalising cannabis use.

Western Australian Premier Richard Court yesterday disagreed with the
institute's findings that a more tolerant approach helped control drug
use, saying South Australian cannabis growers became big suppliers to
NSW and Victoria after South Australians were allowed to grow cannabis
for personal consumption.

He rejected suggestions that allowing people to grow their own
cannabis plants would keep them away from harder drugs.