CANNABIS TAKES A TRAGIC TOLL

The destructive impact of cannabis on indigenous communities was
rammed home to Coroner Alastair Hope yesterday as he was confronted
with more proof of the squalor endured by Aboriginal communities in
the Kimberley.

A young Aboriginal man living in a remote community in the Fitzroy
Valley told Mr Hope he had been admitted to Graylands Hospital twice
because of heavy cannabis use. Kelvin Gordon, 26, said many young
people in his community of Yiyili, 180km east of Fitzroy Crossing,
smoked the drug. He said he had spent a month in Graylands
psychiatric hospital but no longer used cannabis.

Mr Hope spent the day visiting indigenous communities on the
outskirts of Fitzroy Crossing as part of his inquest into more than
20 indigenous deaths in the Kimberley. He told a meeting of about 50
men, women and children at Yiyili that he was there to listen
because he was concerned cannabis was making their young people go
"crazy" and do "stupid things". He said he was also worried about
alcohol killing them.

"I came here so you can tell me what the problems are," he said.

As Mr Hope toured the communities, about 80 residents of Fitzroy
Crossing took part in a protest march against a controversial ban on
almost all takeaway alcohol from the town's main pub, the Crossing Inn.

During the meeting at Yiyili, where up to 200 people live, locals
told Mr Hope that residents were spending all their welfare money on
alcohol and cannabis. Aboriginal woman Marjorie Cox told the coroner
it was the reason families were left with no food on the table.

A murder-suicide just outside the community is part of Mr Hope's
inquest. Residents agreed that alcohol and cannabis were a factor in
the tragedy, with one elder, Archie Doherty, telling Mr Hope it
"couldn't be anything else".

Community leader Wayne Gordon told the meeting that government
agencies visited the town only when there was a crisis, then they
just "walk away from us".

"There's nothing going for the young people out here," he said.

Mr Hope asked the meeting if it would support a scheme where
vouchers or a card were used to buy essentials, including food and
clothes to ensure money was not all spent on alcohol.

Mr Doherty told him no one would ever be able to stop the alcohol
abuse. "They will get some cash somewhere else," he said.

Later in the day, Mr Hope visited the community of Mindi Rardi,
which resembled a war zone. It was in the worst state of any of the
communities The West Australian has visited with the coroner as part
of the inquest.

Litter was scattered throughout the community and at the house Mr
Hope visited cockroaches crawled over the walls and ran from
cupboards. There was no food in the cupboards or the pantry. The
kitchen had no fridge and the only furniture in the house was a
television on a table.

During his tour, Mr Hope was alerted to a broken sewage pump at the
back of the community which was causing waste water to soak a large
area of the ground. In the distance a group of about 30 people
gambled in the dirt. At the front of the house children played
happily in the dirt, while old women lay on filthy mattresses
drinking soft drink. Other houses looked like cages, with metal
grilles around the outside.

On Sunday, lawyer John Hammond, who is representing Aboriginal
families at the inquest, said the damning and tragic evidence
presented so far warranted a royal commission to allow a
wider-ranging inquiry.

Those involved in yesterday's Fitzroy Crossing protest said their
right to drink was being eroded.

Imposed following lobbying by local women fed up with bearing the
brunt of alcohol fuelled violence, the six-month ban on the sale of
all takeaway alcohol except low-strength beer has divided the town.

Chanting "What do we want? Alcohol! When do we want it? Now!" the
men, women, children and a few dogs marched down the street from the
supermarket to the highway and back.

Taxi owner Sharyn Morris said locals' right to drink peacefully at
home was being eroded. "I recognise there is a problem," Ms Morris
said. "But educating people how to live correctly should fix it."

Local pilot David Rundle said midstrength beer ought to be allowed.

Bobby Dededar and his friends said the low-strength beer made them
sick. "No, there's not really a problem," he said of drinking in the town.