Pubdate: Wed, 14 Sep 2005
Source: Green Left Weekly (Australia)
Copyright: 2005, Green Left Weekly
Contact:  http://www.greenleft.org.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2753
Author: Gary Meyerhoff

CANNABIS

I am one of the growing numbers of Australians who struggles to maintain
sanity in the midst of a world that's gone mad. One way to maintain that
sanity is to ingest various substances - licit and illicit - to take the
edge off things and help us get through each week.

I smoke pot every day (unless of course I am in a place like the USA or
Brunei), and I regularly use other illicit drugs. Living in Darwin, I have a
choice of substances with which I can escape.

Imagine living in some remote Indigenous communities. Some have prohibited
alcohol, so that's not an option and thanks to the NT Police Remote Area
Drug Desk, the price of one "stick" (1.2 1.4g) of cannabis can be up to
$100. That's four times what we pay here in Darwin.

The ridiculously high cost of cannabis out bush makes petrol sniffing a
whole lot more attractive to young people who see no way out from their
current circumstances.

This is another negative consequence of Clare Martin's war on cannabis.

Gary Meyerhoff 

Rapid Creek, NT
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