Pubdate: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 Source: Hobart Mercury (Australia) Page: 18 Copyright: News Limited 1999 Contact: http://www.themercury.com.au/ Author: Wayne Crawford DOPES OVER USE OF DOPE IN a sense, Tasmanian Police have been looking back to more enlightened times in their efforts to cope with some of the banes of the 90s - juvenile crime and drugs. There are those who preferred the old-fashioned days when the beat Bobby on his bike would give delinquent kids a clip under the ear and supervise them while they righted whatever wrong they had committed against the community. There is also something to be said for taking a lesson from the days when cannabis - rather than being demonised as the great evil of our time - was merely a useful drug. Indeed, for centuries it was the basis for the most commonly-used medicines in the world for treating the majority of mankind's illnesses - from asthma to arthritis - with even Queen Victoria using cannabis resins for her menstrual cramps. Supporters of the summary justice approach to policing should approve of the direction taken by Tasmanian Police Commissioner Richard McCreadie - with legislative backing - of trying to keep kids out of the courts and jails by allowing for less serious and non-recalcitrant offences to be dealt with by warning. counselling or confronting their victim. Although The Mercury's poll this week showed a strong public preference for tougher penalties for juvenile crime, the conclusion could not be drawn from the responses to the question asked that the public disapproved of McCreadie's counselling and cautioning approach. It seems more a case that there is a strong belief that where police do decide to take matters to court, the magistrates and judges should more stringently apply the available penalties that courts have been letting wrongdoers off too lightly. On marijuana use, latest developments in policing are a long way from a return to the days of marijuana as medication but -as with juvenile crime - it is enlightened policing that first-time dope-smokers are let off with a warning rather than have their jecord sullied with a criminal offence for something which should not be a crime. It is downright, absurd that, while the Tasmanian economy benefits by millions of dollars from production of that most potent of narcotic drugs, opium, it is illegal to even possess an equally useful and potentially beneficial drug, cannabis. It's not often that I applaud Prince Charles, but it was a sign of his sensitivity and thoughtfulness that he recently hinted strongly at his approval of the use of marijuana to relieve pain. In a visit to a daycare-centre he asked a multiple sclerosis sufferer if she had experimented with alternative remedies such as cannabis which he had heard was useful for pain control, under strict medical supervision. Charles is right, of course, that some MS sufferers do find dope useful for pain, cramps and spasms. It has also been useful for treatment of other diseases including cancer and glaucoma. But it cannot be used under medical supervision because it is illegal. That forces anyone who wants to try it to look to illegal suppliers for their drugs, and to take their chances with the strength and quality. I talk from experience as someone who has had MS for 30 years. A doctor once advised me to try marijuana for pain and cramps. He said he didn't know if it would help, but it wouldn't do me any harm - except that I would have to find an illegal dope-pusher to supply me. That, as it transpired, was not difficult. So I gave it a try but - far from being a credit to my generation of drugs and free-love hippies - passed out, evidently because I smoked too much in one sitting. To that ixtent it was a help with pain control - I wasn't feeling a thing - but ever since, I have been nervous about trying it again, wishing I could get medical advice on the dosage and strength. The other point is that it is illegal. In the unlikely event that I was caught, at least under Commissioner McCreadie's enlightened policing policy I would be merely cautioned. But even that is not good enough. I should not have to turn to crime and risk-taking in the legitimate search for pain relief. Politicians have been derelict in failing to change the law to deal with this glaring anomaly. Prohibition has been a failure and counter-productive. But even if politicians are not prepared to generally decriminalise use of cannabis they should at least provide for it to be available for supervised medical use - in the same way as the more potent morphine. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry