From:    Albertus Magnus                        Area: Magical Plants
To:      All                                    22 Dec 94 22:06:34
Subject: GreenLeft: Cannabis in Oz              UpdReq 

From: NY Transfer News Collective <nyt@nyxfer.blythe.org>
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 1994 16:23:02 -0500 (EST)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
from Green Left Weekly #171 12/14/94
   Magazine Banned over Grass Growing Guide
   ACT Toys with Cannabis Reform
Row over banning of magazine
By Brendan Greenhill
BRISBANE - The Queensland Department of Consumer Affairs has
refused distribution of the December issue of the lifestyle
magazine Simply Living. The department has banned the magazine
because it promotes the cultivation of prohibited drugs.
``The Simply Living guide to Growing Cannabis'' gives a detailed
description of how to grow marijuana. It also details how to
select and grow seeds, nutrients, indoor cultivation and drying
and cutting.
The marijuana reform group HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition)
has attacked the move and called for the ban to be lifted.
Spokesperson Tony Kneipp has asked minister for consumer affairs
Tom Burns to explain why he is dragging Queensland back into the
Joh era.
Burns, the deputy premier, said the magazine promoted the
development of major drug crops. Kneipp said, ``This kind of law
and order populism would do Joh proud''.
A spokesperson for the Consumer Affairs Department said that the
publication was investigated because of complaints received from a
newsagent. Consumer Affairs also stated that there were other
complaints but would not say what they were. It would not confirm
what role the police had in the investigation.
Subsequently, the publications classification officer contacted
the editor of Simply Living, who said that the article was the
last of a series about cannabis and presented a balanced viewpoint
to the series. Editor Matthew McPherson has been issued with a
written direction. Newsagents throughout the state are in the
process of returning all copies to the distributor.
Kneipp also attacked Burns for his statement to the media that the
article was promoting the growing of multi-million dollar drug
crops, the selection of a site for a major crop, and how to
conceal it from the police. According to Kneipp, there were no
such references in the article at all. ``Any normal person would
take it as being aimed at recreational users'', he said.
The concern of groups such as HEMP is that the ban may lead to the
progressive banning of literature on all aspects of cannabis law
reform. Any publication which discusses or explains possible
law-breaking can now be banned in Queensland.
[Brendan Greenhill is a journalist with Public Radio 4ZZZ-FM in
Brisbane.]
                                -30-
ACT toys with cannabis reform
By Rebecca Collerson
Reform to drug laws in the ACT, enacted on November 30, which
allows legal cannabis consumption for those suffering from certain
illnesses, is likely to be reversed following an outcry from the
federal police and doctors' groups.
The new law, passed by the Liberal opposition and independents,
allows possession of up to 25grams of cannabis by people suffering
from certain illnesses, providing they have a certificate from
their doctor permitting it.
The law, however, is likely to be changed so that cannabis may be
prescribed only to people taking part in clinical trials or
research projects being carried out with permission from the
health minister.
Trials of cannabis as medicine have occurred throughout the 19th
and early 20th centuries. Cannabis made up half of all medicines
sold in the US from 1842 to 1900.
Doctors may prescribe cannabis for glaucoma, cancer, AIDS and
muscular disorders. Cannabis is believed to also be effective in
the relief of pain from arthritis, cystic fibrosis, migraine,
rheumatism and menstruation. It is reputed extremely effective in
the relief of nausea, particularly that caused by chemotherapy,
and in increasing appetite in those suffering from eating
disorders such as anorexia.
The multinational pharmaceutical company Roche has poured huge
amounts of money into the development of a synthetic THC (the
active ingredient in cannabis) called Manisol to market as a
treatment for glaucoma. Studies have shown cannabis to be two to
three times more effective than current medicines for reducing
ocular pressure.
Cannabis contains at least 60 therapeutic compounds. The possible
medical advantages of cannabis can be gauged from the fact that
pharmaceutical companies in the US contribute half the funds of
the anti-marijuana lobby.
                             -30-
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are available for A$60 (North America) and A$75 (South America,
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