Keep our Kids out of Jail, out of the Courts, and in School! |
| Alienation, of our youth in particular, is of primary concern, and growing daily. Rightly or wrongly, experimental cannabis use is now a feature of many young people’s lives. The latest figures show 50% of teenagers in NSW schools smoked pot in the last year. Imposing criminal punishment has not been an appropriate response and has not reduced drug use. It’s difficult getting a job with a criminal record!
Almost 70% of young people (and 40% of Australians of all ages) have used pot. Young people see cannabis as relatively harmless fun, with minimal side effects, no hangover, and the word has obviously spread. No one has ever died from using Cannabis! When young people discover that the advice they have been given about cannabis contradicts their experience then they can assume that all advice about drugs is wrong! Cynicism about information is the norm. Respect for society’s laws and authority is deteriorating. We know endless stories of young people thrown out of home because their parents discovered they were smoking pot. This, or being busted, or expelled, is the rejection which often begins the downward spiral to alienation, homelessness, poverty, and real crime. Inevitably this increases contact with other more dangerous drugs, as the black market doesn’t differentiate between hard and soft drugs. In the jail system, young people are exposed to hard drug use on a daily basis, undesirable criminal association, sexual assault, and other traumatising experiences. Jail can turn otherwise law-abiding cannabis users into hardened criminals, with more incentive and skills to commit more serio us crimes on release. 83% of NSW prison inmates are there for drug-related crime. Even if a student is only suspected of using cannabis, expulsion is Department of Education policy. This has already ruined many promising careers. It is Prohibition that is ruining lives far more than the herb itself. Peer group pressure is massive—dealers are often the heroes! The issue of small time dealing must be addressed with more understanding. At school, and in youth culture it is often the most entreprenerial and smart kids that organise supply. Pot is so expensive that dealing is a temptation to make easy money, but more often people deal just to get a free share. Prohibition and zero tolerance just
pushes cannabis culture deeper into secrecy. Real drug education and access to help
becomes even more difficult. We cannot emphasise enough the disrespect and mistrust for
authority that is now widespread throughout the community. Being labelled a criminal for
choosing to use a herb that is safer and less addictive than the available legal drugs,
tobacco and alcohol makes no sense to us. Prohibition has divided our communities and families and created serious alienation problems which are beginning to manifest everywhere in bitterness and anger, broken families, mistrust and paranoia. Police, health workers, doctors and other authorities are alienated as well! Illegal drug users will rarely talk about their use. Youth especially have lost respect. They need to be listened to and heard. They know what’s going on and aren’t fooled by old "just say no" rhetoric, in fact it pushes them further away. Rather than treat young offenders, or experimenters, as criminals, far better to have open communication with them to offer help and advice. Win back some respect. |
Rebellious
youth are often attracted to pot just because it is illegal — the
"forbidden fruit syndrome". De-glamourisation of pot in Holland has seen its use
drop to around half the level of use in Australia and the USA.