CANNABIS TRIAL RESULT DOUBTED

ONLY six people in the Bunbury district have been issued with warnings
under the controversial cannabis cautioning trial, compared with more
than 70 in the Mirrabooka district since it started last October.

Australian Drug Law Reform Association WA president Jason Meotti said
yesterday that Bunbury police had boycotted the trial and were
choosing to charge people caught with small amounts of cannabis rather
than issue cautions.

Under the trial, people caught with less than 25g of cannabis must
attend education classes to avoid prosecution.

Bunbury district Acting Supt Graeme Gordon said six cautions had been
issued in his region since last October. The figure was small compared
with 73 in Mirrabooka because the Bunbury district was not as heavily
populated as Mirrabooka.

Police were required to use discretion when deciding whether or not to
issue a caution but he denied some officers were not cooperating with
the trial.

“What you have got to appreciate is the difference between Bunbury and
the Mirrabooka district.” he said. “And on top of that, we have got a
smaller proportion of officers involved.”

He could not say how many cannabis charges were laid since
October.

Mirrabooka district Supt Fred Zagami said seven cautions had been
issued in his area in July alone.

Offenders did not qualify to be issued with the caution unless they
were caught for a first offence which was not related to any other
offences.

“I think the system is working but at the end of the day a full
evaluation will be done and that will shed more light,” he said. “The
most important part about the program is it gives first offenders a
chance to receive some education.”

A spokesman for Family and Children’s Services Minister Rhonda Parker,
who is responsible for the WA drug abuse strategy said a full public
report into the protlam would be completed in two months.

He said that only one person who had been eligible for a caution had
not received it since the trial had started.

Mr Meotti said he had expected an interim report, which had been
completed in May, to be made public.

"The reason they haven't released the report is because of
statistics,” he said.

“The information I have been given, and it is clear that this is the
case, is that the project has been sabotaged and set up to give a
negative result.”

Mr Meotti said it was not reasonable to accept that the results from
the two areas were so different because of differences in population.

“If the trial is showing benefit in Mirrabooka it is not unreasonable
to expect that the same results would be coming out of Bunbury,” he
said.