Australian judge orders teenage drug user to write essay

A judge has ordered a teenager caught with ecstasy to write a 2000-word essay on the dangers of using drugs.

Nicholas Benjamin Siiankoski, 18, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane to possessing a dangerous drug.

He was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

However, in a bid to hammer home the potential dangers of drugs, Justice George Fryberg also ordered the teenager write a researched essay on the effects of cannabis and ecstasy.

The teenager was given three months to write an essay on the topic: "The harmful effects of using cannabis and ecstasy.''

Justice Fryberg originally ordered a 3000-word essay, but Siiankoski's defence counsel argued it down to 2000 words, saying the teenager had received low grades in Year 12 and would struggle with the longer assignment.