RUGENDYKE WANTS TOUGHER CANNABIS LAWS

Canberra's system of on-the-spot fines for cannabis offences was impossible
to enforce with most offenders simply ignoring them, Independent MLA Dave
Rugendyke said yesterday.

Failure to pay the fines had been allowed to go unchecked; no warrants were
issued by police or the courts to fine defaulters and no statistics were
publicly available.

Mr Rugendyke - a former police officer - said he intended to introduce his
own legislation in the Legislative Assembly later this month seeking to
'recriminalise' cannabis offences.

He said serious social and health questions had been exposed since cannabis
was decriminalised in 1992 - brainchild of the now-Health Minister Michael
Moore.

Yet no government or medical study or evaluation had been carried out since.

Offenders with five cannabis plants, up to 25g or using cannabis are given a
$100 fine for each offence.

Mr Rugendyke said substantial medical evidence was now available showing
that the drug had a devastating impact on the mental and physical health of
users.

"The push to establish a shooting gallery and heroin trial is happening
against the will of the community while at the same time there are
deep-rooted problems caused by marijuana which are being ignored," he said.
"There is clear evidence we have a huge problem in Canberra. I dealt with
kids hooked on cannabis daily in my previous career in the police force.

"I still have parents coming through my door at a total loss trying to come
to terms with drastic personality changes in their children who are habitual
users."

He had lost count of stories about family problems and children who grew up
to be unemployable. "Cannabis use is tearing families apart . . . the
present system is not working."

His Drugs of Dependence (Amendment) Bill would abolish the fines but allow
police to issue cautions, in response to overwhelming concerns about the
direction of the ACT Government's and Mr Moore's drug policies.

The relaxation of cannabis laws had created a perception that cannabis was
legal and not harmful. But it was linked with depression and other mental
illnesses and was causing deep concerns in the community. Sydney doctor John
Anderson, who ran the Brain and Behaviour Centre in Sydney, treated 100 new
patients from Canberra each year - two a week - for psychotic illnesses
induced by cannabis.

An ACT secondary schools survey showed usage rates increased from 19 per
cent to 26 per cent among Year 7 to 12 students from 1991 to 1996. It was
linked to youth suicide, and police seizures had doubled in five years from
325 to 665. Opposition Leader Jon Stanhope said he was disappointed by Mr
Rugendyke's law-and-order approach - a zero-tolerance stand - which would
lead to even more problems.

ACT branch secretary for the Australian Federal Police Association Jason
Byrnes said cannabis fines were "practically unenforceable" on defaulters
and police were reluctant to seek court orders for such minor offences.

Mr Moore could not be reached for comment last night.