STATE DECIDES ON WAIT-AND-SEE LINE FOR MARIJUANA

ONLY a third of Tasmanians believe marijuana should be legalised - the
second lowest level of support in the country.

A national Morgan Poll released yesterday showed 33% of its 653 Tasmanian
respondents backed legalising pot and 60% believed it should remain
illegal.

The only state more opposed to legalisation was New South Wales, where 30%
supported it and 61% were opposed.

Attorney-General Peter Patmore said Tasmania's no vote to legalisation
could not be interpreted as a vote against a State Government proposal for
decriminalisation.

He said feedback from Tasmania's new cautioning system for first-time
offenders at the end of six months, followed by a full public debate, would
determine whether the Government moved towards decriminalisation.

The proposal means marijuana users would still face fines but would be kept
out of the criminal justice system.

Mr Patmore said the cautioning system appeared to have been a great success
in Victoria and initial indications were that it was saving police and
court time in Tasmania.

"Let's see how it goes and use the stats from that to have an accurate
debate," he said.

The survey showed that national support for the legalisation had been
holding steady at 33% since 1993, up from 24% when the survey started in
1977.

Support for legalisation is strongest nationally at 42% in the 18-24 age group.

Opposition to removing marijuana's illegal status has been steadily falling
from 66% in 1977 to 58% now, with 9% of the community still undecided.

The major pocket of resistance to legalisation is in the 50-plus age group,
where 68% of Australians are opposed.

Western Australians were found to be most likely to support legalisation,
with 38% of survey respondents in favour.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson