Cannabis crowd left to smoke in peace

A counter-culture crowd gathered to celebrate cannabis as part of an international day of protest, enjoying the sun and the smoke in a city park.

By YE YUAN

A mass crowd of dope smokers gathered together in a show of force in the fourth annual 420 Day protest at Flagstaff Gardens two weeks ago.

Although huge puffs of cannabis smoke sailed into the wind, no police were present and no arrests were made.

Event organiser and long-time activist Matt Riley hoped the rally would provide an opportunity for some media coverage and a chance to debate the issue publicly. It is part of an international movement that holds rallies on April 20 to promote the legalisation of the drug.

But in the end, the only people present were the enthusiastic protestors themselves, joyfully puffing away on their joints, bongs and other smoking paraphernalia.

For Mr Riley, “there is no genuine reason [for] cannabis to be illegal”.

“Cannabis prohibition causes a lot of harm to individuals, families, communities and society in general,” he said.

Mr Riley also believes that there is a lot of prejudice against cannabis users in Australia from the wider community and he hoped the rally might help encourage better acceptance and understanding.

However, Shane Varcoe, executive director of anti-drug advocacy group the Delgarno Insitute, strongly disagreed. He said  the psychoactive toxins and cancer risk associated with cannabis made it a harmful drug.

“The literature on cannabis and its negative impact is not only growing, but replete with health/social diminishing data across all spectrums,” he said.

“Mental health issues certainly top the list, but by no means are the worst of impacts of cannabis use.”

Mr Varcoe believes that if users are “too intoxicated to care … then it’s left to those who aren’t under the influence to make the responsible call.”

Harm minimisation was introduced in Australia in 1985, going some way to reposition drug use as a health issue, rather than a criminal one. In Victoria, a person found by police to have possession of a small quantity of cannabis (less than 50g), would usually receive a caution if it was a first offence, according to Victorian Legal Aid.

“If prohibition in Australia was strengthened and used to facilitate even more and better diversion programs to enable rehabilitation, we would see a drop in usage,”  Mr Varcoe said.

“However, as long as cannabis use is promoted as ‘normal’ and a ‘human right’ then that permissive tenor will not dissuade, but promote use.”

For his part, Mr Riley says prohibition is “based on a moral judgement made by ignorant people”.

“The other reason for the rally is to give cannabis users an opportunity to rise above the oppression and have some pride in simply being themselves, even if only for an hour or so,” he said.

Full legalisation of cannabis, as recently adopted by some states in the US, is still a contentious issue.

“I support weed legalisation, but not if I’m making money off it,” said one local demonstrator who did not want to be named.

And for prohibitionists like Mr Varcoe, criminalisation remains the only option.

“Unleashing substance use is not a solution, it is at best, a ‘give-up social experiment’ that will one day, when the mess mounts, have to be reversed,” he said.