MARIJUANA COMES WITH THE TERRITORY

Pot, grass, gunja, hooch, hydro, bush buds _ whichever way you put it,
marijuana comes with the Territory.

Figures reveal Territorians are by far the biggest consumers of pot in the
country. More than 40 per cent of NT males aged 14 to 24 are regular pot
smokers.

This compares with 34.5 per cent of young males from the ACT and 32.6 per
cent of South Australians in the same category, where it is legal to grow
small quantities for personal use.

NT men aged 25 to 39 are also the biggest users for their age group in the
country (34.3 per cent), with more than a quarter of all male Territorians
regular users.

The state with the second-highest male pot smokers is WA (20.6 per cent).

Young female Territorians are also near the top of the list for regular
marijuana consumption at 32.6 per cent, just behind the ACT and SA.
Alarmingly, that figure increases for NT women aged 25 to 39 (33 per cent),
bucking the national trend which shows up to half of women stop smoking pot
by the time they reach 25.

Overall just under a quarter of Territorians are classified as regular
users of cannabis, double the national average and 7 per cent more than
West Australians per capita, who rank second.

The statistics are compiled by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Strategies to address the high rate of cannabis use in the NT are based
around diversion programs that enable first-time drug offenders in
possession of a non-traffickable quantity of marijuana to be diverted for
treatment.

But while the community consensus is that pot smokers in the NT are here to
stay, police and government authorities agree with health professionals
that decriminalising marijuana possession is not the answer.

Marijuana is known to cause significant mental and physical impairment in
people who are susceptible to it and the cost to the community in terms of
associated medical treatments and financial loss is impossible to quantify.

Police and the Martin Government have clamped down on marijuana dealers and
suppliers with a "tough on drugs" strategy aimed at getting marijuana off
the streets and fining peddlers.

But the fact remains there is a huge demand for marijuana for personal
consumption and there is little authorities can do to eradicate the drug
from the psyche of a significant proportion of Territorians.