Greens’ latest ploy reeks of desperation

THEY demand respect for science when it comes to global warming, but the Greens have no problem ignoring the evidence on cannabis, writes Miranda Devine.

GREENS leader Richard Di Natale lost the Batman by-election in the loony left heartland of Melbourne, and his socialist idea of universal welfare fell flat.

So yesterday in a desperate bid for relevance with his ageing hippy base, he recklessly rolled out a perennial favourite — a plan to legalise cannabis. Thankfully Health Minister Greg Hunt ruled it out straight away. And the Australian Medical Association condemned the plan because of the serious physical and mental health impacts.

When it comes to global warming the Greens demand everyone respect the science.

But on drugs they don’t care.

The medical verdict is in.

Every reputable medical journal has shown that cannabis and psychosis are linked, with young people and those with a genetic predisposition most at risk.

Take the long-term study of 50,465 Swedish Army conscripts, which found that pot users who had started smoking the drug before they turned 18 had 2.4 times the risk of getting schizophrenia in the following 15 years than did those who had never used the drug.

Heavy users were almost seven times more likely to be admitted to hospital suffering from schizophrenia.

Legalising cannabis would just mean more users and more psychosis.

We know that The Tough on Drugs strategy of the Howard government worked spectacularly, cutting in half the number of Australians over 13 who smoked pot, from 18 per cent in 1998 to 9 per cent in 2007.

The strategy including education for young people on the dangers of drugs, and it worked a treat. Cannabis use among 14- to 19-year-old males, dropped from 36 per cent in 1995 to 13 per cent in 2007. The advent of the Rudd government soon saw the drug liberalisers in charge.

Di Natale keeps saying “the war on drugs has failed”. But that’s a straw man. No one ever said drug use would be eradicated. And at the moment no one’s even trying.