A top doctor has urged former Australian of the Year Grace Tame to speak out against drugs after she was pictured with a giant bong.
The now-deleted Instagram photo from 2014 showed the then-19-year-old sitting on a couch and smiling with the very large marijuana-smoking apparatus perched at her feet, although there was no suggestion she smoked it.
On Tuesday morning, prominent child psychologist psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said the now-27-year-old should consider using her celebrity status to ‘send a really strong message’ to young people about cannabis.
‘I think she’s done a lot of really good work and I think she’s admired by her generation and this [photo] is all very disturbing, but I would love her to come out now with an anti-drug message,’ Dr Carr-Gregg told Radio 3AW host Neil Mitchell.
Grace Tame, now 27, was pictured sitting next to a giant bong. She was 19 at the time (pictured)
‘I think for some young people it could normalise, glamourise and potentially sanitise the use of marijuana and that is not, obviously, the intention of Grace Tame.’
He said an anti-drug message could be particularly powerful to other victims of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
Ms Tame was awarded Australian of the Year in 2021 for leading a campaign for a legal change that allowed sex abuse survivors to speak out.
She was groomed and molested by her maths teacher when she was just 15.
Ms Tame was awarded Australian of the Year in 2021 for leading a campaign for a legal change that allowed sex abuse survivors to speak out. Pictured speaking at the 2022 Australian of the Year Awards
Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said Ms Tame should use her ‘celebrity’ to speak out against drugs
Shortly after the physiologist’s comments, Ms Tame reposted the photo to Twitter with the caption: ‘Alright, I confess, we were doing a cover of ‘April Sun in Cuba’. On the oboe’.
The caption was a tongue-in-cheek reference to famous Dragon song after Prime Minister Scott Morrison played a ukulele rendition of the 1977 hit during a bizarre pre-election interview on 60 Minutes.
The picture has sparked debate, with many saying the photo showed just how commonplace marijuana was – and that its prohibition should be overturned.
Richard Denniss, a chief economist at the Australia Institute, took to Twitter to share his two cents on the contentious cannabis debate.
Grace Tame responded to her widely-circulated bong photo by using the opportunity to launch yet another attack on Scott Morrison on Twitter (pictured)
Richard Denniss, a chief economist at the Australia Institute, took to Twitter on Monday night to share his two cents on the contentious cannabis debate (pictured)
‘The lack of photos of me smoking bongs at 20 is due only to the high cost of film photography in 1990 rather than any shortage of bongs in my life back then,’ he tweeted on Monday night.
‘While I think private photos should stay private, thanks @TamePunk for leading our debates again. Let’s legalise it #auspol.’
Many other Twitter users agreed with the economist over his calls to make cannabis legal.
‘Good one Richard and @TamePunk. Love it, on so many levels. We are all human, with or without photos to prove it,’ she said.
‘Absolutely – enormous waste of taxpayer resources goes into attempted control through criminal justice system. Great for tax income Colorado earned $432 million in the last year,’ another agreed.
In recent years calls have grown for cannabis to be legalised in Australia in a move that would follow Canada, a suite of European countries and 18 states in America including Colorado, Washington D.C, New York and California.
A 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey revealed a significant minority – over 40 per cent of Australians – believe cannabis should be legalised for personal use.
That compared with 2013 when 25.5 per cent of citizens backed the move.
The number of people who said they had used cannabis at some point in their lives has seen an increase from 33.5 per cent in 2001 to 38.1 per cent in 2019.
In Australia, laws related to cannabis vary significantly across states and territories.
In South Australia, possession of small amounts is subject to fines but is not a criminal offence, similar to parking fines, while in the ACT possession and cultivation of limited amounts is effectively legal.
Elsewhere, possession and cultivation is normally treated with warnings and diversion into drug counselling programs but repeated infractions and large amounts still carry jail terms.
In the legalisation of the drug in 2018, Canada has banned advertising, enforced plain packaging, regulated the display of ingredients and limited the number of stores that can sell cannabis.
The minimum age to purchase the drug is 19, except in two provinces where 18 year-old’s are permitted.
A 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey revealed over 40 per cent of Australians believe cannabis should be legalised for personal use (pictured, a woman smokes in Canada)
Calls have loudened for the psychoactive drug to be legalised in Australia in a move that would follow Canada, a suite of European countries and 18 states in America including Colorado, Washington D.C, New York and California (pictured, a woman smokes in Paris)
Many high-profile personalities were quick to signal their support for Ms Tame when the photo went viral on Monday.
Comedian Wil Anderson was among the most outspoken supporters and posted an old photo of himself pictured with a bong as online debate raged.
‘It’s hard but I forgive Grace,’ he joked in a follow-up tweet.
Anderson echoed the support by others by sharing their tweets, including Australian musician Ben Lee.
‘She just keeps getting better,’ the four-time ARIA award winning singer and songwriter wrote.
The Project host Peter Helliar joked the picture could even get Ms Tame a second nomination for Australian of the Year.
Comedian Wil Anderson (pictured) was among the most outspoken supporters and posted an old photo of himself pictured with a bong as online debate raged
The massive wave of support for Ms Tame (pictured) extended to the world of politics.
The massive wave of support for Ms Tame extended to the world of politics.
‘Putting out photos of the much respected former Australian of the Year partying as a youth is beyond pathetic,’ Darcy Byrne, mayor of Sydney’s Inner West Council wrote.
‘Grace Tame’s manners are fine, it’s the politicians scraping the bottom of the barrel that need to learn about respect.’
But not everyone jumped to Ms Tame’s defence.
‘Good grief this person was Australian of the year, we need to take a long, hard look at how she was selected and who selected her’, a reader commented online.
Another added: ‘Excellent response by the PM’s wife. Grace is really losing her message in her behaviour.’
Grace Tame (right) has come under fire from Scott Morrison’s wife over her frosty exchange with the Prime Minister (left) at an Australian of the Year function at The Lodge
Ms Tame has been consistently been in the news headlines over the past week, after delivering a rousing speech at the National Press Club and throwing her now famous ‘side eye’ at the Prime Minister while greeting him and his wife in Canberra.
Ms Tame was seen giving Mr Morrison a less than friendly handshake with a scowl on her face before throwing him an icy sideways glance.
Of the awkward moment, the PM’s wife Jenny said in a 60 Minutes interview: ‘I just found a little bit disappointing, because we were welcoming her in our home.
‘I just wish the focus had been on all the incredible people coming in. I respect people that want to change things, stand up for their beliefs, and are strong, but I still think there are manners and respect.’
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