Page 3781 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 October 1991
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arrested, charged, photographed, fingerprinted, bailed and put to their trial, where they are ultimately fined - often less or no more than what this amending Bill sets as the on-the-spot fine.
That process continues to alienate a significant number of young people from society. They emerge as convicted criminals. They have experienced a system which sets a double standard. They are prejudiced throughout their life in job seeking, particularly in areas relating to the defence services, the police and national corporations. As well, a number of countries will not grant entry visas to convicted persons. These young people are, in short, stigmatised. The object of this Bill is to do away with the stigma, not the offence.
Smoking is a health hazard. Smoking marijuana must also be a hazard. It is not the purpose of this legislation to enter the debate as to whether cannabis smoking is harmful. For my purpose, I assume that, at the very least, it is in the same category as tobacco. Therefore, the community must continue all efforts to deal with the smoking issue. Imposition of a criminal sanction has achieved nothing but alienation. Decriminalisation is in line with modern developments - suicide and other social phenomena have been decriminalised.
It would be most unfortunate if judgmentalists in our community see this Bill as leading to the corruption of our youth, or the poisoning of society. North American parallels are not entirely relevant. There decriminalisation became mixed with laissez-faire community values. Fortunately, Australian society, as the South Australian community has demonstrated, is cohesive and backed by a police force responsive to community values, which oppose laissez-faire drug policies.
Critics should not lose sight of the fact that the police themselves have some inhibitions about applying the full processes of the criminal law to young persons caught with a small amount of cannabis. There may well be added vigour by the police in their enforcement function if there is an on-the-spot fine which, South Australian practice shows, decreases the need for police officers to expend valuable resources by attending court hearings and to all of the associated paperwork.
Cannabis has held Australian society spellbound for the past 20 years - not because of the substance itself or the image of people smoking it or using it, but because of its connections with organised crime. There has been far greater attention on the plantation busts, the corruption of our public officials, our police, the murders, and the other unsolved riddles of organised crime than there has been on any debate about the inherent dangers of using the substance.
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