HOME GROWN DOPE PRUNED TO ONE PLANT

THE State Government launched a new attack on cannabis growers yesterday
with a plan to allow only one marijuana plant to be grown without penalty.

Under the proposed regulation change, the number of marijuana plants which
can be grown without criminal conviction will be reduced from three to one.

The move is the latest in the Government's ``tough on drugs'' strategy,
which the Liberal Party is hoping will be a major vote-puller in the
lead-up to the election.

Those caught with more than one plant will face the courts and could be
fined or jailed.

The possession of only one plant will attract an expiation notice.

Human Services Minister Dean Brown said the latest move arose out of
concerns ``about home invasions and drug-taking that's going on in the
community''.

But problems could arise for the Government in the Upper House, where
previous attempts to reduce the number of plants have been defeated.

The Australian Democrats made it clear yesterday they would oppose any
moves to reduce the number.

Democrat MLC Mike Elliott said the Government was ``searching for its
Tampa-like issue''.

The regulation change, sanctioned by the Controlled Substances Council,
will be announced on Thursday.

Although the Labor Party will allow MPs a conscience vote to stop the
motion, some individuals are concerned about the electoral consequences of
supporting the status quo. The Liberal Party has not yet decided whether a
motion disallowing the regulation change - which would stop the move -
would be a conscience issue.

James Danenberg, convenor of Help End Marijuana Prohibition, said the
reduction in the number of plants would ``send people back to organised
crime''.

The regulation change would not include any exemptions for the use of
marijuana for medical purposes, he said. Flinders University Professor Mark
Currow said there was a number of people who smoked marijuana to minimise
``uncontrolled pain and nausea''. Research suggested such people needed
three plants, he said.