156 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
156 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
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CJC REPORT SAYS YES TO THE JOKE -by Tony Kneipp
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------------------------------- Brisbane HEMP
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FITZGERALD FAILS
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On Wednesday 13th July the Queensland Criminal Justice Commission
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released its long awaited "Report On Cannabis And The Law In
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Queensland". This report represents one of the final stages in
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the general review of the criminal law that was recommended by
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the Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry.
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With this report the Fitzgerald process is now effectively over.
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As a reform process it can be seen to have failed.
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"DECRIMINALISATION PAST ITS USE-BY DATE"
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The report recommends a number of reforms with respect to
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possession and cultivation of small amounts, but the author of
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the report, Dr David Brereton, and the head of the CJC, Rob
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O'Regan QC, made it clear at the media conference that these
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reforms in no way represented some kind of decriminalisation.
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Brereton said he thought that decriminalisation was a confused
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term that had passed its use-by date; something was either legal
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or illegal.
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The report recommended making a simple offence of
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(a) possession of 100 grams of marijuana or 20 grams of hash;
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maximum penalty six months jail and or $1500 fine.
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(b) cultivation of not more than 10 plants; maximum penalty two
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years jail and or $6000 fine.
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For first offenders it recommended that there be no conviction
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and a maximum $500 fine.
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It also recommended removing the offence of using implements such
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as bongs, and recommended limiting search powers without a
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warrant for investigation of these simple offences.
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THE REFORMS THAT GIVE US NOTHING
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There had been some suggestions in the main stream media that the
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report would recommend a system similar to the expiation notices
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schemes in South Australia and the ACT. HEMP were somewhat more
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sceptical, and organised a picket outside the CJC in anticipation
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of the result. Media reports focused on some of the Hempers
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smoking defiantly on the picket line.
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While the recommended reforms certainly look good by comparison
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with the current laws, which still provide for 15 year jail terms
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even for these small offences, in practice it represents no
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reform at all. The recommended penalties are based on current
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practice in the magistrates courts. So what they are giving us is
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what we've already got.
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THE MIDDLE PATH
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The Courier-Mail's feature article the following day was
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headlined "The Middle Path". Wayne Goss praised the report as
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"well researched and sensible". He said "I'm pleased the starting
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point of this debate is that the CJC has rejected legalisation,
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decriminalisation and on the spot fines used in South Australia
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and the ACT."
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In other words, after all the fallout between the CJC and the
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government over the CJC's report on prostitution law reform and
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the government's rejection of it, this time the CJC has come up
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with a report that is thoroughly in line with government
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thinking.
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What the report hasn't done is suggest anything that will change
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the black market marijuana industry in Queensland, which the
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discussion paper leading up to the report valued at $280 million
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a year wholesale, making it the state's second biggest cash crop,
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after sugar and ahead of wheat.
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The Goss government's law reforms on prostitution made
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prostitution by individuals legal, but banned any form of
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brothels. But lately the brothels around the Valley have again
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become as conspicuous as they ever were.
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SAME JOKE, NEW BOSS
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It's business as usual. Goss's moral wowserism has given us the
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same old joke, under new management.
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The report is full of contradictions and repeats many of the well
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worn myths about marijuana use, its health effects, and the law,
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even while mentioning clear evidence to the contrary. The
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conclusions of the report are clearly in conflict with its own
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research. The sudden unexplained departure of Phil Dickie from
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the committee after writing the earlier discussion paper is
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obviously part of the reason for this. The document reeks of an
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earlier draft which has been knocked back into line in a rewrite.
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In his column in the Sunday Mail, Phil Dickie headlined his own
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scathing response "Its criminal what they're NOT doing".
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SAVING US FROM OURSELVES
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At the bottom line, the report trots out the same old tired
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prohibitionist line about the need to ban dangerous drugs for the
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good of us all:-
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"Although legalisation may have some benefits, the Commission
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rejects this option for the following reasons:
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- Although the available research suggests that the effects of
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cannabis may not be significantly more harmful than some licit
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drugs, this is not sufficient reason for adding to the list of
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available drugs, especially given the national health costs
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associated with licit drugs.
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- Even if a tightly regulated form of legalisation were adopted,
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the legalisation of cannabis, like the legalisation of tobacco
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and alcohol, would probably lead to an increase in the use of
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cannabis in the community.
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- Australia's obligations under the Articles of various
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international drug conventions preclude the legalisation of
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cannabis."
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The same reasons were given for rejecting decriminalisation a la
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ACT and South Australia. Under such a scheme use might go up, and
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maybe such a regime wasn't 100% kosher under our treaty
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obligations.
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In the press conference, David Brereton said the reason 63% of
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submissions to the CJC supported legalisation and 73% supported
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decriminalisation was that pro reform groups had been actively
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lobbying, and it wasn't a true reflection of public opinion on
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the issue. But these figures are in fact in line with the CJC's
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own research. On pages 67-68 of the report the CJC publishes the
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results of a public opinion survey it commissioned. Of the 850
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people questioned in the telephone survey, 47% supported
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legalisation, and a further 27% supported an on the spot fine.
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THE LAW IS AN ASS
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While the report gives the Goss government an out on drug law
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reform, Brisbane HEMP and other activists have no intention of
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letting the matter rest there. This year leading up to the
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report, we have staged two large demonstrations of 1000 and 1500
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people. This process will continue.
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The next major demonstration will be on Friday October 21. That
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day is the final day for submissions to the Parliamentary CJC
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Committee on the CJC's report. HEMP's submission will be carried
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to Parliament House on a giant donkey bearing the slogan The Law
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is an Ass. This will be followed by active civil disobedience,
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with some of us smoking openly in front of Parliament House.
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