Victorian politicians failed to endorse one of the chief recommendations of Professor David Pennington — head of Premiere Jeff Kennett’s advisory council on drug reform — who concluded that the decriminalization of marijuana for cultivation and personal use would be an effective step in steering individuals away from hard drugs. Just prior to the Kennett Government’s decision, Pennington had warned Parliament that the implementation of the council’s findings without marijuana decriminalization would be “very much a second-best answer.”
“The government firmly believes that before the decriminalization of marijuana is considered further, a better coordinated, better resources, more innovative and carefully focused education, treatment, and law enforcement strategy should be given a chance to work,” stated a press release from the Victorian Cabinet.
“The Premier’s ‘firm belief’ … is laughable,” responded Jamnes Danenberg of HEMP SA, spokesman for a leading Australian cannabis law reform lobby group. “Just how many more people need to be convicted [under prohibition] before the right signal is sent?”
For months Victorian politicians had been debating over whether to implement many of the 72 major drug reforms suggested by the Drug Advisory Council report, the most controversial being marijuana decriminalization. In all, the Kennett government approved a majority of the report’s policies, including shifting the state anti-drug focus to education rather than enforcement, but rejected taking any steps toward decriminalizing marijuana. The government did conclude, however, that it “will review penalties applying to the use and possession of drugs of dependence to ensure that users are treated as having a health problem first and as criminal offenders second and that treatment, rather than punishment, is the priority.”
“The fact that the subject of marijuana decriminalization is a serious topic of debate among Australian politicians is a positive note for drug-reform advocates everywhere,” noted NORML Deputy Director Allen St. Pierre. “On the other hand, it indicates just how far behind the United States is lagging compared to other western nations when it comes to addressing the issue of alternative drug policies. Certainly, our own politicians would be well advised to heed the recommendations the Pennington Report.”
For more information, please contact Jamnes Danenberg of HEMP SA Inc. @ (+61) 8 297 9442 or write: P.O. Box 1019, Kent Town, South Australia, 5071. HEMP SA can be contacted via e-mail @: hempSA@va.com.au or browsed on the World Wide Web @: http://www.hemp.on.net/