What we're talking about

Pauline on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS have destroyed my own family. They failed in their duty of care to provide a baby moniter for the deaf , thousands of ... more
Christine on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' isn't it funny how DHS don't recognise the psychological effects of domestic violence on children and continue to allow ... more
Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' There is a family In the Cairns Area who are Foster Carers.Atherton Child Safety have threatened the carers and own ... more
duncan on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i have spent time with this family. it is a house full of love. "mum", grandfather and older sblings.this cannot be an issue ... more
Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Family Law is different from the rest of the law in this country.. Ie. Family Law is based on probability: ie if it might ... more
carol annetta on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' having known this family for some time i am disgusted with the treatment she has received. it seems more of a witch hunt ... more
Maureen Hillary on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn,I have counselled traumatized parents as a result of DHS staff.There are great staff workers who care but they ... more
Janet Tavener on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I am a visitor to this country.My attention was drawn to the case of these children and their foster mother by a relative of ... more
sam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Happening in Tasmania also.Wewon a court case over 8 months ago and due process still hasn't been done.We spent 17,000 ... more
Anne Glover on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I just cannot believe what the DHS has put the Foster Mother, and the children through - I thought the DHS was supposed to ... more
Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS are the most disgraceful organization I have ever had the displeasure of becoming involved with. They are so ... more
Vicki on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn,I have known this carer since primary school, she has always put others above herself. Being a carer myself I know ... more
Gran'ma Pam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' As any of us with any sense know, these children should NEVER have been taken from this lady (mum) in the first place, they ... more
Dominic Lombardo on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I see my daughter every six months DHS are conducting a vendetta against me I have not been told why I can only see her ... more
cassy houghton on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hello Derryn,Firstly i would like to thankyou for your support and the willingness to help this beautiful family.I ... more
Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Im a carer also in Qld. I see this happen way too much from our Government. They are starting to use Carers own children as ... more
paul on "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch I believe what Liberal Party has done is stupid. But I feel for candidates like Joh Bauch and James Buonopane who want to ... more
Andrea on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Why are these public servants allowed to blatantly flout the law without the same consequences the rest of society faces? I ... more
birth mother on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i am the birth morther of these 4 children and i just want to say dhs dont care they just want the kids in care so they can ... more
Frances Goff on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn, Firstly, Happy BirthdayHaving worked in a primary school for 15 year I have seen some terrible things regarding DHS ... more

Hinch Blog: Arrest this plant!

Posted by: Derryn Hinch | 15 March, 2010 - 4:02 PM

There was a photo in yesterday's Sunday Herald Sun that got me thinking.

It showed two burly coppers, with their guns in their holsters, busily digging up marijuana plants in the backyard of a house in Broadmeadows. And I thought: What the hell are two policeman doing spending their time playing Don Burke when they should be playing Dick Tracy?

What are they doing arresting a pot plant when they should be out attacking the real criminals in our troubled and scared and increasingly violent community?

Surely the time has come to legalise marijuana. Legalise it and tax it. Like governments do with those other two dangerous but legal drugs: cigarettes and alcohol.

I'm not saying this as an endorsement of cannabis. Have never used it and never would. Even in the Swinging Sixties, and even living in New York, during the hippie years, I didn't indulge because I didn't like smoking of any kind. And, anyway, I was happy indulging in a social drug called booze.

I'm also not saying that pot is good for you. There is enough medical and scientific evidence around to show that it can cause brain damage and exacerbate schizophrenia.

But keeping it illegal isn't stopping it. I'm sure there are police officers currently kicking in doors and arresting plants who have indulged in pot smoking in their youth. And for some that's not so long ago.

That applies to hypocritical politicians too. Most wouldn't admit to it and few would be as stupid as Bill Clinton who tried to excuse his collegiate behaviour by saying he smoked but he didn't inhale.

(But then, he's the same guy who said that what he did in the Oval Office with Monica Lewinsky wasn't really sex. So that wasn't semen on her blue dress).

But I digress. In California, Governor Schwarzenegger has given up the fight against pot. It's still technically illegal but nobody will be prosecuted. And pot is now California's biggest cash crop. A $14 billion a year industry. I was in LA a couple of months ago and on Hollywood Boulevard there must be 20 pot shops and cafes.

That's why I say legalise it here and tax it and you would cut a major money source for criminals. Why is it so different to alcohol?

Blog comments

Amazing how life changes... California USA is in serious financial difficulties, particularly as a result of the GFC & the urgent need to trim budgets. People have suddenly realized that the illegal sale of marijuana generates 15/16 billion dollars, and people are rushing to the state in an effort to become a legalized grower of 'medicinal' marijuana. The problem is the feds just don't want to deal with it, particularly any form of legislation. It could be a financial saviour, but there are also major issues in relation to decriminalization/administration of the drug, plus issues relating to health, crime, & vehicular accidents relating to substance abuse. This issue is far from being settled.

Lenny Wednesday 16 June, 2010 - 5:48 AM
Derryn,
It would be interesting to know what the Premier and Police Min.were doing that evening while the Pol. Comm. was away having dinner.
Thanks,
Vernon

vernon Hyrapiet Thursday 8 April, 2010 - 4:06 PM
Amazing how people always quote the 'Amsterdam' experience as being the sensible & logical approach to drug control. I can assure you many of the locals have well & truly fallen out of love with coffee shops & prostitutes. There are extreme anti-dope/drugs feelings in this city, and those same coffee shops will be extinct within 5 years. At least one city is conducting a pilot scheme to ban foreigners from buying drugs in coffee shops.

Lenny Wednesday 24 March, 2010 - 12:10 AM
Kamahl, if you had the slightest idea what you were prattling on about, you would know that the dope of today is 10 times worse than the relatively harmless drug used in the 60's/early 70's. I've been in hospital casualties when they were admitted & being treated for overdose. Some of those kids were lucky to survive. The drug of today causes major health & psychological problems (particularly schizophrenia), acute panic/anxiety, loss of concentration/motivation, reduced comprehension skills, deep depression, extreme violence & anger, accelerated heartbeat & pulse rate, psychological dependence, social withdrawal, irritability, suicidal tendencies, psychotic behaviour etc. It's definitely not a harmless recreation drugs. The drug of today has the capacity to destroy lives.

Lenny Tuesday 23 March, 2010 - 10:59 PM
To Lenny 15 March & other like minded people, you must be a great gardeners I'd love to see the size mushroom u live under, to suggest that legalizing it would increase the problem is beyond belief, when Derryn is suggesting legalize clean & control the strength of the drug distribution.Revenue raised can be used to help people with problems of drug abuse perhaps government could work with Beyond Blue & such organizations directly put the money for better hospitals more facilities in hospitals cause guess what? the police, ambulance officers, & emergency deptments of hospitals are dealing with these problems daily with less than adequate resources. wake up you people get out from under ur mushrooms & smell the roses, the drug problem is not going away it's here to stay we need to find a realistic solution not an idealic 1 it's a real world out there.
Just for the record I'm not a user I'm 54 I used it for few months in the 70's the feeling of it bored me shitless. I hope you live in good health to the age of 200+ cause there wont be another like you, all the best

Kamahl Haddad Saturday 20 March, 2010 - 10:19 AM
After listening to Paster Danny, our Ministers, and other regulars on 3aw. Legalize it please Derryn. People might actually start making sense, and kick back and think before they speak. Far out, smokers are not as out there, as half of the guests I hear sober on this station.
It's a personal choice, like drinking or smoking. Police waste way too much money and time on being Don Bourke, and at the end of the day if people want it, they will always get it. We must live in the real world and move with the times. Melbourne at present is a lot more dangerous at night, than places where it has been decriminalized. As for hanging a joint smoker, Communism is not cool anymore folks and Hitler is dead.

Ben Wednesday 17 March, 2010 - 3:25 PM