CAUTION, NOT COURT, FOR YOUNG DRUG USERS

Young people caught with small quantities of hard drugs including heroin,
cocaine, ecstasy and LSD will be given the chance of a caution or
counselling rather than court.

And from Monday, police will be able to formally caution, rather than
prosecute, people possessing the equivalent of up to five joints of
cannabis. The new police discretionary powers flow from last year's Drug
Summit but stop short of the summit recommendation to decriminalise
cannabis.

The Special Minister of State, Mr Della Bosca, outlined yesterday the
cannabis cautioning scheme for adults, to be run as a 12-month trial, and
the extension of the Young Offenders Act to include police alternatives to
prosecution for minor drug offences for people aged 18 and under.

Cannabis cautions will be limited to two for each offender and will not be
available for people with past convictions for drugs, violence or sexual
assault. Police would need to be satisfied that the cannabis, to a maximum
of 15 grams (50 grams under a similar scheme in Victoria), was for personal
use. People growing plants will not be covered.

Cautions and counselling will be available as a court alternative for young
people caught possessing 30 grams of cannabis.

Heroin, cocaine and amphetamines will be limited to a gram each, ecstacy to
0.25 grams and LSD 0.0008 grams. It applies only to drug users, not dealers.

The cautions will take place at police stations in the presence of parents
or guardians and include treatment options and referrals to other youth
services.

Mr Della Bosca said police were getting "the powers and discretion to
enforce the law on the ground".

"Counselling or cautioning has the outcome - and there's a huge amount of
evidence to indicate this is the case - of assisting those offenders to
change their ways," he said.

The court approach was alienating and did not "necessarily have the right
outcomes in changing their behaviour".

Sergeant Anne Cooney said at yesterday's announcement that previous
offenders would typically have gone to court and been fined.

Research into the 711 guilty findings for possession against juveniles in
1997-98 found nearly four in 10 were dismissed with cautions, a third
received a fine and a quarter were placed on bonds.