Like many other drugs that are considered dangerous or addictive, medical use of marijuana would need to be tightly controlled. Some may argue that any legalisation could lead to more drug abuse. I think that argument is a moot point as the same could be said about many other drugs that are subject to the same controls, morphine is just one example. To some extent I believe that the medical industry and drug companies themselves are guilty of promoting legal drug abuse  by overprescribing. They are businesses after all and profits must be maintained.

In short, medical use of marijuana can help people. Isn’t that what good medicine is all about?
Tracey Spicer argues for use of medical marijuana | News.com.au.

Message from Peter Spencer’s family | The Australian.

Family financial dispute helped send hunger striker Peter Spencer up the pole | The Australian.

Of course, his history also suggests he has a willingness to seek attention and glory wherever possible. Good luck with that.

The war on farmers – On Line Opinion – 27/1/2006.  However after reading this article which he posted in 2006, I don’t have a lot of sympathy. Recent media reports do not tell the whole story.

Spencer writes that he first purchased the property in the 1990′s while living overseas. He remained overseas for a long period and did not work the property at all.  It is his inaction that allowed the regrowth of native vegetation over the next decade. When he finally returned to Australia he found that local legislation restricted the clearing of native regrowth.  He also stated that he could have applied for permission to clear his property but failed to do so.

His plea for sympathy mentions a number of other problems with his property as well, lack of water during the extended drought, fire risk due to close proximity to a national park, native animals that destroy what pasture he does have. By his very words the property sounds to be a lost cause, unless he can get somebody else to pay for improvements.

In my opinion, that is the crux of Peter Spencers problem. For a long period he allowed the property to be unproductive. It was neglected and became overgrown. Couple this with the long period of drought and you have a large property that is even more unproductive unless large sums of money are spent on improvements. He allowed native regrowth to occur on his property, now he expects a hand out to fix the problem. Sorry Mr Spencer, but I think you have made some poor business decisions and I don’t see why Aussie taxpayers should pay for them

Well it didn’t take Abbott long to start offending Australians. 34% of Australians are non-christian yet this so-called “leader” of the Opposition expects that all Australian children should be Bible readers.

It might surprise Mr Abbot to learn that this country has no state religion. In fact the Australian constitution clearly expresses freedom of religion. Australians are free to follow any religion they choose, or none at all, as long as it’s practices are within the law. Is Mr Abbott planning to change the constitution or is he just being un-Australian?

Mr Abbott, I respect your choice to be a Christian and your faith in the words of the Bible. However you do not have a right to force your belief system on me or my children. My offspring are free to make their own choices. I hope for their sake, that your children will be free to make their choices. Some might call that an expression of free will.

This country has many faiths and traditions much older than Christianity. Perhaps our Australian children could spend more time studying and preserving something of those cultures?

Interesting comments today from Tony Abbott. He plans to resurrect at least parts of the former governments failed WorkChoices policies but will do so under another name. I’m sure that will do wonders for  his popularity.

He goes on to give credit to Paul Keating for the economic success claimed by the previous Liberal government. At least on this issue he is being honest. It’s a nice change from previous Liberal party spin.

Four months ago, Tony Abbott released a book entitled “Battle Lines”. It has been described as a manifesto for the Liberal Party. Somewhat of a guide book that will see them returned to power in the Australian government. At that time he was not Liberal party leader and claimed to have no leadership aspirations. However during several media appearances to launch his tome it did seem obvious that the book revealed directions Tony would like to take if he were to become leader at some point.

One topic particularly stands out, climate change. The Liberal Party has made it clear it will fight tooth and nail to defeat the CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) proposed by the Labor government. The main argument being against an Emmissions Trading Scheme. Tony Abbott and his other senior ministers have described the ETS as a “great big tax on everything”. Even though his party currently has no climate change policy of it’s own, he has vowed not to introduce such a tax burden on Australian families.

Or did he? Within a couple of days he had qualified his statement, saying that there may be scope for a carbon tax at some time in the future. Just four short months ago he was spouting the value of a carbon tax to help reduce levels of carbon pollution. So it would appear that even though the Australian Liberal Party has no plan (or even a policy) for a carbon tax right now, it is likely to propose one at some time in the future.

This is the same political party that once claimed they would never introduce a GST, which could also be described as a “great big tax on everything”. Despite the current denials, another tax on everything would not be a surprise. February is in he future, lets see what what they propose.