GREENS PROPOSE CANNABIS CAFES

Proposed cannabis cafes would be places where people could educate
themselves about the health effects of pot-smoking as well as legally using
the drug, NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said.

Greens legislation to be launched today and introduced in the NSW
parliament later this month includes provisions for patrons to legally buy
and use cannabis in specially designated cafes."People can buy small
amounts of marijuana and also learn about the health impacts (in the
proposed cafes)," Ms Rhiannon told Sydney radio 2GB.The plan would involve
the establishment of three cannabis cafes in NSW - in Sydney, on the north
coast and in a regional area.Doctors and allied health professionals would
also be given greater freedom to prescribe cannabis to patients.The bill
also proposes the legalisation of possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis
for personal use.Ms Rhiannon said she was aware the World Health
Organisation discouraged cannabis use, but said there was a shifting
attitude amongst health professionals towards the health benefits.Ms
Rhiannon said she did not personally use marijuana and the world would be a
better place without it."All the Greens are saying (is) people shouldn't be
locked up for it, they shouldn't be fined and what they should be able to
do is access information about the health consequences and get access to
counselling services," she said."Prohibition doesn't work, it just makes
life harder for people.When marijuana was made legal in Holland, for
instance, its use decreased, she said.She said 20 per cent of Australians
used marijuana and they should not be treated as criminals."In your
industry, the media industry, you know that so many journalists use
marijuana," she told Ray Hadley on 2GB.