IT'S SOFTLY, SOFTLY ON CANNABIS LAW

The Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence has cautiously supported
moves to liberalise laws against cannabis use, saying a relaxation would
allow police to redirect their attention to harder drugs.

More than 81 per cent of all drug offences were related to cannabis,
involving significant police resources, while about 30 per cent of the
population had tried the drug, the bureau's report on illicit drugs said.

It said decriminalisation of the personal use of cannabis and cannabis
production "could result in a big reduction in the resources committed to
controlling the drug", noting that unlike other illicit drugs there was
little crime associated with cannabis use.

It rejected the view that cannabis was a "gateway" drug which would lead to
the use of harder drugs, suggesting that a less stringent approach to
cannabis could discourage users from progressing to harder drugs. It
suggested the link between cannabis and harder drugs was due to the
increased likelihood of cannabis users being exposed to the availability of
harder drugs either through other users or dealers.

"If this is correct, then preventing this exposure may reduce the number of
cannabis users that progress to the more harmful drugs," the report said.
In other key findings: Growing opium production throughout the world means
heroin imports are unlikely to decrease. Australian heroin seizures have
doubled in the past two years, with increased heroin purity and falling
costs leading to more overdose deaths. Cocaine has become more available
and prices have dropped by about $150 a gram, to about $200 a gram in
eastern Australia and to as little as $100 a gram in Canberra, increasing
the likelihood that its use will increase. A crackdown on locally produced
amphetamines has turned some users to heroin because it is cheaper and of
higher quality, causing police concern. LSD is enjoying a resurgence among
young people, due to its decreasing cost and the popularity of "party"
drugs such as ecstasy.

The report found cocaine was being imported by traffickers from South
America. In NSW, people of Colombian descent were reported to be working
with Australians to distribute the drug. Sydney continued to be the cocaine
capital of Australia, with 70 per cent of all seizures taking place there
since 1992. The most pure cocaine was also found in NSW (an average of 46
per cent pure) while Queensland had the least pure, at an average of 27 per
cent.

The report said there was no evidence that moves by the ACT, South
Australia and the Northern Territory to adopt "limited" cannabis
decriminalisation regimes had increased use of the drug. "Community
attitudes to the use of cannabis are undoubtedly changing, becoming more
tolerant and accepting," it said. However, it fell short of recommending
more comprehensive moves to decriminalise cannabis outright. Instead, it
suggested that a thorough study of the effects of existing drug law reform
be considered before decriminalisation of cannabis was expanded. Detection
of ecstasy imports was increasing, with drugs usually found in postal items
and baggage from Britain, The Netherlands and Indonesia, it said.

The bureau's chairman, the Victorian police commissioner Mr Neil Comrie,
said the effects of amphetamine abuse were "quite extensive".

"They have caused a great deal of pain to the community," he said. "The
fact that law enforcement has been particularly effective in dealing with
that issue ought to be recognised rather than criticised.