BERWICK
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Thursday, 1 August, 2024
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Confident in church plans despite concerns
Dozens of steel fencing stolen
Toner talent shines through
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SPORT
12687450-JC20-24
Concerns for Nas Recovery Centre’s future
Thousands of trees planted Casey Council held its Create Canopy for Casey tree planting event to commemorate National Tree Day on Sunday 28 July at Troops Creek Wetland in Narre Warren North. City of Casey Manager Sustainability and Waste Michael Jansen said: “Wetlands play an important role in our environment as they not only provide wildlife habitat, but they filter stormwater before it enters rivers, creeks and eventually the bay.” According to Mr Jansen, around 280 residents planted approximately 10,000 trees and shrubs, which will support Casey’s biodiversity and contribute towards increasing tree canopy in the city. FULL STORY PAGE 12
Rodrigo Bardales, 9-year-old Leah, Andrea Bobbio, and 11-year-old Luka. (Ljubica Vrankovic: 421627)
Cannabis use rise By Ethan Benedicto In a recent report by the Penington Institute, both the City of Casey and the City of Greater Dandenong were listed as some of the LGAs with the highest rate of prolific offenders for cannabis possession. The report, titled, Cannabis Regulation in Australia: Community Safety First, detailed that Casey had 2768 offences related to per-
sonal use and possession of cannabis; with a rate of 75.8 per 10,000 residents. Greater Dandenong had 2298 offences for personal use and possession, with a rate of 145.3 per 10,000 residents. However, the report advocates for the regulation of the cannabis market in Australia, with ceo John Ryan saying that the current market and countermeasures to cannabis are both dangerous and “ineffective”.
“The estimate is that there’s $5 billion per year spent on illicit, illegal cannabis; in other words, it’s a massive industry. “If you look at the data in terms of use, more than 40 per cent of adult Australians have used cannabis sometime in their life and about 10 per cent have used it in the last month. “We’ve got this strange contradiction where it’s [cannabis] is illegal and yet it’s readily avail-
able and widely used throughout the community,’ he said. With Casey being second in the state in population and Greater Dandenong at fourth, the report also highlighted that the significant number of cannabis-related arrests equates to a substantial amount of law enforcement resources that have been dedicated to these offences. Continued page 10
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