WAR ON DRUGS? NOW THAT'S REEFER MADNESS

Reefer madness is alive, and flourishing in Australia. The latest
Illicit Drug Data Report from the Australian Crime Commission shows
two-thirds of all drugs arrests in the financial year of 2008-09 have
been for cannabis-related offences. Yes, all around Australia, despite
the scare campaigns governments and police run on substances such as
heroin, and methamphetamines, it is cannabis, a naturally growing
product, which results in the most police attention.

And it gets worse. Figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics
show that the number of charges filed by police in that state, for
simple drug use, or possession, outweigh charges related to serious
drug offences by almost seven to one.

This at a time when the citizens of California -- the US state where
the original reefer madness took hold - have decided to hold a ballot
in November to legalise both the recreational use and sale of
marijuana to adults over the age of 21. One would suspect that one of
those citizens, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is himself on the side
of legalisation. There was, of course, that appearance, lying on a
couch, smoking a joint, in the 1970s gym and muscles documentary,
Pumping Iron. Schwarzenegger has, however, recently come out on the
side of continuing prohibition. We do live in strange and hypocritical
times indeed. And, sadly, nowhere is this more on display than in the
humble state of NSW. At least the good people of California will get a
vote on it.

The NSW Government and local police forces regularly profess a
determination to be harsh on drug dealing, and organised crime. A
cursory look at the website of NSW Police reveals the tough stance the
law enforcement agency has against commercial dealers, manufacturers,
importers, and exporters of illicit drugs. According to the National
Drug Strategy, the NSW Police Force should:

. disrupt the manufacture and supply of illicit drugs;

. enhance efforts to control the inappropriate supply and diversion of
pharmaceutical drugs and pre-cursor chemicals; and

. dismantle organised crime

For these high-minded aims, NSW Police and other state and federal law
enforcement agencies are given more than $2 billion annually to
conduct their operations, according to a 2008 article in the Drug
Alcohol Review by the US economist Timothy Moore.

And how, exactly, is all this money spent? On breaking transnational
drug networks? On getting violent drug dealers off the streets? On
making sure pseudoephedrine is used only by those with a runny nose,
not ice runners? One would think so, but official statistics show otherwise.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics has collated information that
demonstrates that between 2000-08, up to 75 per cent of all annual
police charges in that state for cannabis-related offences were simply
for its use, or possession. Simply put, police in Australia are
spending the great majority of a multibillion-dollar "war on drugs"
budget on arresting a bunch of stoners with the munchies.

Does not such a seeming waste of resources err with the greater
community? Particularly when all scientific and medical evidence
suggests cannabis is no more, if less, dangerous than alcohol, and
that its active ingredient of THC has clear therapeutic benefits?
What's more, a list compiled for The Lancet in 2007 by Britain's most
eminent drugs researcher, Professor David Nutt (the former chairman of
the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs who in late 2009
resigned after the UK Government increased the level of prohibition on
cannabis) shows weed to be the 11th most dangerous substance studied.
Nutt's report shows that widely available drugs, such as alcohol,
tobacco, and your humble anxiety and sleeping pill (benzodiazepines)
outweigh cannabis on the level of danger involved in their continued
use.

Already in the US, 14 states, including California, have legalised the
medicinal use of marijuana. Patients with a wide range of symptoms and
ailments, including cancer, post traumatic stress disorder, and
wasting illnesses, are eligible. The continuing illegality of cannabis
at all levels in Australia is incredibly puzzling when governments are
aware of its medical and therapeutic benefits. The findings of a 2003
NSW Government inquiry, first established by former premier Bob Carr
in 2001, suggested the substance at least be legalised for medicinal
use, and a trial conducted on its effectiveness. Proponents and
politicians in California involved in the legalisation of cannabis for
its recreational use, say it will add up to $3 billion to the state's
annual economy, which has a $20 billion deficit in funds.

Here, in NSW, there is great potential for a legal cannabis industry,
with some of the best conditions in the world to grow the plant. The
tiny north coast town of Nimbin is already world famous. Moreover, the
state of NSW is struggling with a cash flow problem, and is
continually looking to sell off public assets for short-term breathing
space on debts and financing. Additionally, information from the
National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre shows that more
than 600,000 Australians smoke, or consume, cannabis either daily, or
weekly, despite its current illegality; while half of those aged
between 18-29 have had a toke at some point in their life. Needless to
say, there is an established market and a taste for a plant, which
historical and cultural evidence proposes has been with humans for at
least the past 4000, or so, years.