PUBLIC MISLED ON CANNABIS

A recent Westpoll found that more West Australians support the Cannabis
Control Bill than oppose it. And yet 40 per cent of respondents still
believe that cannabis is more harmful than alcohol while more than 30 per
cent rate them the same.

Alcohol is more harmful than cannabis. It directly kills thousands of
people each year. Cannabis has not directly killed a single person. Alcohol
has been found responsible for disease, cancer and brain damage. Cannabis
has not been shown to cause any form of mental illness or significant
health problems.

A survey of West Australians in 1993 found that 37 per cent of respondents
supported making cannabis as legal as alcohol and 64 per cent supported the
decriminalisation of cannabis. After decriminalisation was properly
explained, support shot up to 71 per cent.

It is clear that the community has been subjected to decades of
scaremongering and misinformation about cannabis. If the Cannabis Control
Bill and its supporting evidence were more thoroughly explained, public
support would be even higher.

NIALL YOUNG, Mount Lawley.