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NSW To Toughen Cannabis Laws
New South Wales could soon have the harshest cannabis laws in the country.
ABC News Online | 02/03/2006

The State Government is rewriting the laws to increase penalties for possession and cultivation.

The crackdown will include harsher jail sentences including up to 20 years for growing crops of more than 200 plants and 10 years for as few as five plants.

Other proposed changes will giving police the same search warrant powers to raid homes where cannabis is grown as those for heroin and amphetamine operations.

There will also be a range of new offences for exposing children to the cultivation process and up to a year for a first time offence if police find the drug at someone's home.

But the Government says it has no immediate plans to change the cautioning system for cannabis users.

Premier Morris Iemma says the changes are designed to reduce the large scale cultivation of the drug.

He says the existing laws that allow first time offenders on possession charges to receive a caution appear to be working well.

A spokesman for the Premier has confirmed cannabis smokers may also be forced to have counselling sessions to better understand the [tenuous] connection between the drug and mental disorders.

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