Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 Source: West Australian (Australia) Copyright: 2007 West Australian Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.thewest.com.au Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/495 Author: Jessica Strutt CANNABIS TAKES A TRAGIC TOLL The destructive impact of cannabis on indigenous communities was rammed home to Coroner Alastair Hope yesterday as he was confronted with more proof of the squalor endured by Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley. A young Aboriginal man living in a remote community in the Fitzroy Valley told Mr Hope he had been admitted to Graylands Hospital twice because of heavy cannabis use. Kelvin Gordon, 26, said many young people in his community of Yiyili, 180km east of Fitzroy Crossing, smoked the drug. He said he had spent a month in Graylands psychiatric hospital but no longer used cannabis. Mr Hope spent the day visiting indigenous communities on the outskirts of Fitzroy Crossing as part of his inquest into more than 20 indigenous deaths in the Kimberley. He told a meeting of about 50 men, women and children at Yiyili that he was there to listen because he was concerned cannabis was making their young people go "crazy" and do "stupid things". He said he was also worried about alcohol killing them. "I came here so you can tell me what the problems are," he said. As Mr Hope toured the communities, about 80 residents of Fitzroy Crossing took part in a protest march against a controversial ban on almost all takeaway alcohol from the town's main pub, the Crossing Inn. During the meeting at Yiyili, where up to 200 people live, locals told Mr Hope that residents were spending all their welfare money on alcohol and cannabis. Aboriginal woman Marjorie Cox told the coroner it was the reason families were left with no food on the table. A murder-suicide just outside the community is part of Mr Hope's inquest. Residents agreed that alcohol and cannabis were a factor in the tragedy, with one elder, Archie Doherty, telling Mr Hope it "couldn't be anything else". Community leader Wayne Gordon told the meeting that government agencies visited the town only when there was a crisis, then they just "walk away from us". "There's nothing going for the young people out here," he said. Mr Hope asked the meeting if it would support a scheme where vouchers or a card were used to buy essentials, including food and clothes to ensure money was not all spent on alcohol. Mr Doherty told him no one would ever be able to stop the alcohol abuse. "They will get some cash somewhere else," he said. Later in the day, Mr Hope visited the community of Mindi Rardi, which resembled a war zone. It was in the worst state of any of the communities The West Australian has visited with the coroner as part of the inquest. Litter was scattered throughout the community and at the house Mr Hope visited cockroaches crawled over the walls and ran from cupboards. There was no food in the cupboards or the pantry. The kitchen had no fridge and the only furniture in the house was a television on a table. During his tour, Mr Hope was alerted to a broken sewage pump at the back of the community which was causing waste water to soak a large area of the ground. In the distance a group of about 30 people gambled in the dirt. At the front of the house children played happily in the dirt, while old women lay on filthy mattresses drinking soft drink. Other houses looked like cages, with metal grilles around the outside. On Sunday, lawyer John Hammond, who is representing Aboriginal families at the inquest, said the damning and tragic evidence presented so far warranted a royal commission to allow a wider-ranging inquiry. Those involved in yesterday's Fitzroy Crossing protest said their right to drink was being eroded. Imposed following lobbying by local women fed up with bearing the brunt of alcohol fuelled violence, the six-month ban on the sale of all takeaway alcohol except low-strength beer has divided the town. Chanting "What do we want? Alcohol! When do we want it? Now!" the men, women, children and a few dogs marched down the street from the supermarket to the highway and back. Taxi owner Sharyn Morris said locals' right to drink peacefully at home was being eroded. "I recognise there is a problem," Ms Morris said. "But educating people how to live correctly should fix it." Local pilot David Rundle said midstrength beer ought to be allowed. Bobby Dededar and his friends said the low-strength beer made them sick. "No, there's not really a problem," he said of drinking in the town. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart