BATTLE WITH HEROIN

PETER Clack has reported Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick
Keelty's belief that the Australian struggle against heroin is being won.

Success has been attributed to the seizures of heroin resulting from
Operation Avian.

Recent extraordinary weather has allegedly decimated raw opium yields and,
consequently, heroin production in both the Golden Crescent and Golden
Triangle.

If true, that would better explain a heroin shortage in Australia.

Drug-war rhetoric will not solve the dangers of drug abuse.

The theory that Operation Avian causes the heroin drought is difficult to
sustain.

PETER WATNEY, Holt