RUGENDYKE CANNABIS PLAN 'BACKWARD STEP'

Attempts to 'recriminalise' cannabis use in Canberra was a backward
step that would clog the courts with minor offences, Justice Minister
Gary Humphries said last night.

He was responding to moves by Independent MLA Dave Rugendyke to repeal
seven-year-old laws that provide on-the-spot fines for minor cannabis
use. He intends to replace them with harsher penalties, leaving police
a cautioning option.

Mr Rugendyke warned of serious health risks and evidence of psychotic
illness from recreational use of the so-called 'soft drug'.

He said the $100 notices were often ignored, and no measures were in
place to force offenders to pay their fines.

But Mr Rugendyke's proposed Drugs of Dependence Amendment Bill
appeared to be in trouble yesterday, ACT Government ministers and
Opposition Leader Jon Stanhope combining to dismiss his proposals.

Making matters worse, a key report issued this week concluded that
tough anti-cannabis laws failed to deter most offenders from using the
drug, and could even lead to relationship breakdowns and job losses.

The report by the South Australian Drug and Alcohol Service Council
and Curtin University's National Centre for Research into Drug Abuse
compared Western Australia's prohibitive cannabis laws with the
liberal system, similar to the ACT's, used in South Australia.

It found the cost of minor cannabis offences under a punitive system
could be more damaging than the health effects.

Its findings are likely to have a substantial impact on national drug
policy talks on cannabis laws.

ACT Health Minister Michael Moore - who tabled the original
legislation as an independent in 1992 - said the current system was
having better outcomes than one based on a punitive policing system.

Police in Canberra already had the option of laying charges. Mr Moore
said he recognised the health risks but believed they were outweighed
by other social factors. He is working to establish a safe injecting
clinic for heroin users in Civic by Christmas.

Mr Humphries said the current laws had been in place for seven years
and he believed it was time to review them.

'However, recriminalising personal cannabis use would be a backward
step, clogging the court system with minor offences,' he said.

'Cannabis use is illegal and many studies have shown that it can have
a far-reaching effect on people's lives. I want to work with Mr
Rugendyke to make the system better, and make sure a strong message is
sent to potential users that this drug is harmful.'

The Member for Monaro, Peter Webb, said Sydney and Canberra people
should move to live in his electorate to escape living in 'drug capitals'.

'It appears that Premier [Bob] Carr and Mr Moore are in a race to see
which city can introduce the nation's first shooting gallery . . . but
this is abhorrent, and Sydney and Canberra will become internationally
known as drug havens.'

In their rush to relax drug laws the Governments were overlooking the
will of the people. 'So many questions remain unanswered,' he said.

'If laws within these centres are going to be bent to allow people to
inject illegal drugs, will the same blind eye be turned to people
selling and buying illegal drugs?'

He asked what businessman or woman would want a shooting gallery next
to their businesses or homes.