QUESTIONS OVER WA CANNABIS PENALTIES

NINETY per cent of cannabis users continue to use the drug irrespective of
the penalty they received for a minor offence, a new study has found.

The National Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse (NCRPDA)
study also found that those given criminal convictions for minor offences,
as opposed to infringement notices, were more likely to suffer at work and
in relationships and were sometimes forced to move home.

The study compared 68 cannabis users in South Australia issued with
cannabis expiation notices (CENs) to 68 West Australian users who received
criminal convictions for minor offences.

Researcher Simon Lenton said a key finding of the survey was that about 90
per cent from both groups said they had not reduced their use of the drug,
despite the different penalties.

"There's not a lot of evidence that the law is deterring cannabis use," he
said.

"Deterrence is most likely to work where the chance of being caught, or
apprehended, is quite high.

"Our work shows that the chances of being actually busted for a cannabis
offence are pretty low, probably less than about one per cent per year.

"The other thing is that where the law is seen as being unjust or not
appropriate that doesn't work too well for deterrence either".

Comparisons of the South Australian and West Australian users showed that
WA's criminal convictions system had a far greater negative impact on the
lives of cannabis offenders.

A third of the WA group, compared to two per cent of the SA group, said
they had been sacked, did not get a job, or stopped applying for jobs
because of their conviction.

Mr Lenton said many having employment problems in WA were working in the
mining industry.

"Once those guys had got kicked out of the system through one company, they
found it very difficult to get jobs in the industry," he said.

"A lot of companies are now routinely doing criminal checks".

A fifth of the WA group, compared to a twentieth of the SA group, said they
had suffered a relationship problem, and, 16 per cent of the WA group said
that they had been forced to move house or lost accommodation because of
their conviction.

Mr Lenton said while most attention focused on health problems associated
with cannabis "we also need to look at what the effects are of the legal
system which we set-up to deal with cannabis use".

But, there had been criticism of the SA system, with only 45 per cent of
those issued with CENs paying their fines by the due date.