IMAGES PROMPT FLOOD OF TEARS

When Mary Lou Palmer saw the image of a fresh-faced, dead-eyed boy
being zipped into a bodybag on the front of The Sunday Age, she burst
into tears.

Her heart panged once again for her son, Ben, who died in 1998, aged
21. He had been addicted to heroin for two years.

It was good for people to be jolted by graphic images, she said,
delighted to see a federal campaign trying to address the drug issue.

"It's very confronting, and I don't believe anybody could not be
affected by it," she said. "It's fantastic, and, unfortunately, really
necessary."

The ads showed that anyone could fall into the drug trap, she said.
"They've done very, very well, because when people see an addict the
perception is they've always been that way."

For the parents of 10 to 12-year-old children, she said, the ads
offered a perfect catalyst for discussing drugs.

"Get to 13, and the race is starting to be run if that's the way it's
going, quite honestly, without parents even being aware."

The worst way to approach children on a sensitive issue like drugs,
she said, was the bail them up in the hallway and demand to have a
chat. That was where the new ads would be really useful, she said,
because they provided parents with an excellent catalyst for a calm
conversation with their children, simply by asking them how the
commercials made them feel.

She hoped the confronting nature of the images would spur people into
action. "They're graphic, but they're not unreal, because that is
exactly what happens ... Whether people like them or not, it doesn't
really matter. They will talk about (them)."