‘I hate what drugs do to people but I would be a raging hypocrite not to admit what happened in my 20s’

As a drug law debate looms, Steve Price reveals something even his mum doesn’t know and would break the internet if it happened today.

Under a ‘crazy’ Greens plan, it would be legal for Victorians over 18 to buy cannabis.

It’s confession time.

In the late 1970s, in Adelaide, I was arrested and charged with drug possession. I’ve never told this story before publicly and am not that comfortable admitting it now.

I hate what drugs do to people but I would be a raging hypocrite not to admit what had happened in the dim, dark past in my early 20s. Somewhere on file, in the bowels of the South Australia police department, would be, I guess, a folder with my name on it.

The case went to the South Australian Magistrates’ Court, and I was required to appear.

Luckily for me – those were simpler times – I took the day off work and my employer, News Ltd, never found out until now.

Charged on summons, I somehow managed to intercept the warrant with the charges and court date mailed to my parents’ home. My mum will be reading of this for the first time today, like you.

Steve Price managed to keep his drug charges a secret. Picture: Mark Stewart

Even better I had mates working at the Advertiser, the morning broadsheet rival to my paper The News, and they published the daily court lists of cases for hearing.

My name was on the list and a reporter turned up, but kindly didn’t report any of the appearance in print.

As I said, simpler times.

Can you imagine if I appeared today on drugs charges? The internet would break.

This confession comes as Australia – at the urging of the Greens – starts a national debate about marijuana and the push to legalise it.

My offence involved a small amount of weed, and the possession charge came about because I was caught with two others smoking a joint in a car registered in my name.

The marijuana was found in a plastic bag in the glovebox. The car was parked outside a hotel at a work function.

It was so long ago I don’t even remember the size of the fine, and I retell the tale to show that my attitudes to drugs are not formed from ignorance or lack of experimentation.

For Victoria and the rest of Australia to embrace the Greens’ crazy idea of regulating cannabis and creating a government agency to oversee and regulate the production, sale and price of dope is madness.

And as usual the Greens are not telling you the whole story.

Brunswick state Greens MP Dr Tim Read wants cannabis regulated.

This latest campaign – to coincide with the Victorian state election at the end of next month – was launched by Brunswick MP Tim Read, a doctor.

Read would have you believe this is a law change only about marijuana, but it’s about a hell of lot more than that.

In unveiling his weed-for-all plans, Dr Read said the law changes would also involve decriminalising small quantities of OTHER DRUGS.

Go online and the Greens website does not spell out what these other drugs are, but you can only presume we are talking in general about recreational drugs. That’s a very loose term and a very slippery slope.

In that category you have analgesics, depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens.

Dr Read and his Greens mates are suggesting we decriminalise small quantities of what, exactly? Ecstasy, ice, heroin, cocaine?

Shouldn’t they spell this out instead of burying this idea in a line about saving the justice system $250m. This is where the community, the state Government, and the opposition need to pull Dr Read and his federal Green mates into line, including the federal member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt. He wants federal law changes along the same lines.

In Victoria – under this plan announced on Monday – it would be legal for people aged over 18 to buy cannabis. The Greens don’t stipulate how much you could buy at any one time. The drugs would be sold by a government agency charging a 30 per cent sales tax, like on booze.

Now I know the Greens have no idea about free markets, but surely even they see this will create a massive underground black market selling dope minus their 30 per cent tax.

Dr Read even claims the opposite will happen and clearly has never heard of chop-chop, the black- market sale of cigarettes at a third or half the retail price.

That’s estimated to be costing one state government alone $900m in lost revenue.

How naive are these people?

Costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, apparently the scheme will spend $10m of your tax money to set up the agency to oversee the production of cannabis.

I guess a little like the Wheat Board, only growing dope.

Under a Greens’ plan, some drugs would be sold by a government agency, charging a 30 per cent sales tax.

This agency would also be funded for five years of education around marijuana.

I’m not sure if that’s teaching the right way to roll a joint or load a bong or if it’s about the long-term health effects of spending your day lying on the couch with the munchies.

That same budget office says the legalisation will lead to “a sustained, annual increase in total consumption”.

Is that really the outcome a community already struggling with the effects of vaping on youngsters is after?

A community beset with violent ice addicts smashing up hospital EDs, and heroin users overdosing in public streets?

Dr Read sounds like a smart bloke. He’s a former GP who studied to be an epidemiologist and worked treating HIV patients.

He is particularly passionate – it says in his biography – about changing the way advertisers promote unhealthy products like junk food, alcohol and gambling.

You wonder how adding drugs to that list is going to help anyone.

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Australia Today with Steve Price can be heard live from 7am weekdays via the LiSTNR app.

Originally published as ‘I hate what drugs do to people but I would be a raging hypocrite not to admit what happened in my 20s’