MARIJUANA: REGULATED SALE URGED

LONDON, Sunday: The prospect of the Australian Government-regulated sale of
marijuana has been raised by an influential adviser on drug policy.

Professor David McDonald, of the Australian National University,
attending an international conference on cannabis law in London's
Regent College, said there was a growing body of opinion among
Australians, as seen in recent opinion polls, that total prohibition
might not be the best approach to regulating the drug.

"We now have the situation in Australia where there is a huge cannabis
market but it is not regulated by government," he said.

"But here we are [at the conference] talking about government getting
control of the market in the interest of the people and in the
interest of the government, through taxation."

"What we have not got in Australia is a clearly thought-through range
of other ways of dealing with [cannabis]."

The London conference is billed as the world's first on the regulation
of cannabis. The main form of regulation discussed was the Californian
model, in which recognised "buyers clubs" are allowed to supply
cannabis to those who need it for medical reasons.

The chairman of the Australian National Illicit Drugs Expert Committee,
Robert Ali, said that "nationally there is a lot of interest in looking at
alternative models" for the regulation of Marijuana.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry