SYDNEY, Australia - Australia's capital on Wednesday became the first jurisdiction in the country to legalize the recreational possession and cultivation of marijuana, a move that runs counter to federal laws that can carry prison terms for personal use of the drug.

Passage of the measure, which came after months of debate over policy, legal and health issues, echoed efforts in the United States, where more than 10 states have legalized recreational use of marijuana even as it remains illegal under federal law.

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SUPPORTERS of the Nimbin Lane Boys gathered outside Lismore courthouse to protest for "long overdue" cannabis law reform yesterday.

Twenty nine men were arrested earlier this year as part of Strike Force Cuppa, an investigation into the ongoing supply of cannabis in Nimbin.

The men, nicknamed Nimbin Lane Boys, appeared before court yesterday and will continue appearances today, surrounded by their angry friends and family who wish to "bring the boys back home".

President of the Nimbin HEMP Embassy, Michael Balderstone, said in an email that most of the men were not allowed to enter Nimbin.

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Victorians would be free to smoke and grow marijuana if a push by the Sex Party to legalise the drug is successful.

On Wednesday, Sex Party MP Fiona Patten will introduce a motion to the upper house calling on the government to immediately remove criminal sanctions for the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana for personal use by people 18 and older.

The motion will also urge the government to allow the drug to be grown by farmers, which would create an additional revenue source through taxation.

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Victoria's medicinal cannabis is a step closer to being dispensed to children with severe epilepsy, Premier Daniel Andrews has declared after visiting the state's clandestine marijuana crop.

Less than an hour after pictures were released of Mr Andrews inspecting the crop, the Premier announced the appointment of an independent medical committee to work out which patient cohort will be next to access medicinal cannabis. Victoria's medicinal cannabis is on track to be dispensed to the first group, children with severe epilepsy, next year, Mr Andrews says.

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Australians are the world's heaviest users of marijuana, sharing that honour with the citizens of New Zealand and the United States. It's a kind of a pot-equivalent of the ANZUS treaty.

We seem to have a lot of experience with marijuana, so it surprises me that Australia has lagged behind similar countries with socalled "medical marijuana".

Catch-up we seem to be doing, though, with the ACT government recently announcing a scheme for medical marijuana. The plan is to "establish the ACT as a leader in the research and development of cannabis products . . . and develop a framework for the prescription, use and distribution of medicinal cannabis to those who need them on medical grounds". The big problem is that medical researchers are not clear about who actually needs medical marijuana, and that many doctors are anxious about prescribing such products.

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$6m Funding a Big Step for Miles Family

WITHIN minutes of the State Government announcing a $6 million medicinal cannabis trial this week, Blue Mountain Heights mother Rhonda Miles registered her son for the program which could save his life.

Lachlan Miles, 16, has severe drug-resistant epilepsy which he has battled for years and dramatically changed the quick-witted teenager's life.

He is now waiting to learn if he earned one of 30 spots on a clinical trial set to start by the end of the year.

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In his article, "Why more drug consumption rooms are a must" (Comment, July 20, p14), Ross Fitzgerald highlights beautifully what is wrong with our current policy approach to illicit drugs.

We are spending massive funds on a falsely labelled "war on drugs" which is really a war on drug users. We have handed the lucrative production and distribution of these psychoactive drugs over to the criminal class.

As Fitzgerald points out, some resources that are being wasted on this misdirected war would be better used in minimising harms and rehabilitating those who have become addicted.

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Sydney needs to operate safe rooms for users, write Matt Noffs and Alex Wodak.

It is an indictment of our failed approach to drugs that the injecting centre in Kings Cross is, after 15 years, the only one in the country.

Australia's once bold drug policy is now stuck. Our law enforcement leaders tell us that Australia cannot arrest and imprison our way out of our drug problems. Yet as Australia struggles with increasing problems from ice use, we haven't been prepared to try innovative approaches that appear to have worked overseas.

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As a society, I ask you: "Do you want a welfare system where money is spent on food for families or illegal drugs pushed by predators?"

The crystal meth wave responsibly reported by this newspaper and so alarming to all thinking people is swamping our emergency responders.

Like all illegal drug flows, it is powered by cash. And this is where our welfare system fails our vulnerable Australians.

We have always tried to limit the debilitating drugs, destroying generations of children, by attacking the supply. Our current police and welfare structure can only address the symptoms, not the cause of social disadvantage.

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Drug prohibition costs the nation billions of dollars a year in crime prevention, not including the untold cost of overdose, family trauma and overcrowded prisons.

To legalise all drugs, let government laboratories manufacture under strict quality control and distribute through pharmacies. This will reduce accidental overdose deaths due to impure quality.

Provide drugs at the price of tobacco and crime will fall. It will clear courts and empty jails, saving millions of dollars and reducing the costs of social security, which provides the families with support while the breadwinner is in prison. Also, the tax will provide money for a negative advertising campaign that has been so effective in reducing tobacco use.

The war on drugs has been lost. Let's try a new approach.

Sol Bell, Ellenbrook

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The Debate on Medicinal Cannabis Needs the Major Parties to Grow Up.

I think I am the only member of parliament in Australia to acknowledge my recreational use of cannabis. In fact, I have enjoyed the many blessings that cannabis can bestow for a lot of my adult life and have not lost my mind or become a serial killer.

Indeed, I became a politician and some have even said I would not have been elected without it!

Jokes aside, I'm declaring my usage or non-usage of cannabis, just so everyone knows where I'm coming from. This debate would be far more informative if every journalist, every politician and every commentator on the subject of cannabis law reform did the same, instead of hiding their drug use, drug abuse or their nonuse in the closet.

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Users have to break law

The ACT government has rejected a push to create an effective amnesty for medicinal cannabis users by directing police not to charge them with drug offences.

Canberrans who rely on medicinal cannabis to treat serious illness or chronic pain are currently forced to break the law to seek relief and a number, including campaigner Laura Bryant, have spoken publicly of their constant fear of arrest.

Moves to establish legal medicinal cannabis cultivation are continuing federally, with changes to the Narcotics Drugs Act passed in February, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Department of Health advancing plans to lower barriers preventing access.

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WA researchers have warned that cannabis use causes genetic mutations that can be passed on to children and grandchildren.

University of WA scientists found cannabis alters a person's DNA structure, potentially exposing future generations to serious illnesses and diseases such as cancer.

They said the implications for future generations had not been understood and were alarming.

The link between cannabis use and illnesses such as cancer was known but the research was among the first to look at why it occurred and the impact on future generations.

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Caregivers Fear a Legalised Drug May Arrive Too Late for Their Sick Family Members.

Jai Whitelaw was 10 when he first took medical cannabis, given to him by his mother in a bid to treat the debilitating epilepsy that saw him endure up to 500 seizures a day.

Faced with the stark choice of breaking the law in the hope of soothing his chronic pain, or denying him possible relief, Michelle Whitelaw reached breaking point.

"I literally sat on the couch for two days, thinking 'Do I end his life and mine? Or do I risk helping him'," she said.

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There's never been a more exciting time to be a drug policy researcher.

That's the view of one, Professor Beau Kilmer, who was in Canberra this week for a conference at the National Portrait Gallery, hosted by the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy.

Professor Kilmer, who sat on a panel to discuss the options and issues around cannabis regulation, said that while many people were under the impression marijuana was legal in places like the Netherlands, in fact what was happening in the United States was "unprecedented".

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MARIJUANA is no more a gateway drug to opiate abuse than drinking milk is a gateway to alcohol abuse.

"Nearly all people with substance abuse problems; most heroin users, initiated their drug use beginning with marijuana."

This is about as useful as revealing that all alcoholics at one time drank mothers' milk.

There is no proven connection between marijuana and heroin abuse nor is there any reliable evidence that "establishing cannabis as a third tranche legal drug, along with tobacco and alcohol, will increase drug abuse, including the expanding opioid and ice epidemic."

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Adam Benjamin Says Medical Cannabis Could Be a Huge Export Crop for the Sunshine Coast and Today He Meet With Queenland Treasurer Curtis Pitt to Discuss His Plans to Start Farming It:

ADAM Benjamin's goal of turning the Sunshine Coast into a world leading supplier of medicinal cannabis is a step closer with a bill tabled in the Queensland Parliament.

And today, Mr Benjamin has a meeting with Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt to discuss his company Medifarm's business model.

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If the war on ice can't be won why not make it legal, and get rid of the dealers and suppliers? At least, it will give some control, and help stop the illegal trade.

Lee Williamson, Seville Grove

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Prohibition and enforcement have shown to be ineffective in reducing drug use and they often had the opposite effect (We can't win war on ice, says Premier, News 5/5). Prohibiting a drug drives it into the criminal world. Vulnerable young people are more likely to become addicts, and addicts become less willing or able to seek treatment.

Profits from untaxed and uncontrolled illicit substances are profitable for criminals, and governments lose ability to minimise the impact or dent supply. We need to look seriously at demand.

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It is hoped the article - We can't win war on ice, says Premier ( News 5/5) - promotes examination of alternatives to the "zero tolerance" policy of the failed "war on drugs".

It is critical we look at drug laws and examine the failures associated with criminalising drug-related activities.

A recent publication by Johns Hopkins Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health examined the scientific evidence.

A conclusion was that policies meant to prohibit or greatly suppress drugs "are portrayed and defended vigorously by many policy makers as necessary to preserve public health and safety, and yet the evidence suggests that they have contributed directly and indirectly to lethal violence, communicable disease transmission, discrimination, forced displacement, unnecessary physical pain and the undermining of people's rights to health". I urge all to read this. It is critical that the issue is examined from a health rather than a criminal perspective so that effective long-term benefits can be achieved.

Ian Godfrey, Bayswater

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