POLICE CAMPAIGN JUST A PAY RISE FOR DRUG DEALERS

Detective Superintendent Ken McKay claims that Sydney police have been
successful in restricting heroin availability, with a doubling of the
street price in the process.

Sydney residents will pay a high price for this success when desperate
addicts increase criminal activity to feed their habits.

The drug war does not fight crime - it fuels crime. Attempts to limit the
supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the
profitability of drug trafficking. Such efforts are tantamount to price
supports for organised crime.

There are cost-effective alternatives to the drug war that do not involve
legalising heroin. The Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug
use by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Separating the hard
and soft drug markets and establishing age controls for marijuana have
proven more effective than zero tolerance.

As the most popular illicit drug in Australia, marijuana provides the black
market contacts that introduce users to hard drugs. This "gateway" is the
direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Given that marijuana is
arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no sense to perpetuate policies
that finance organised crime, and facilitate the use of drugs like heroin.

Robert Sharpe, The Lindesmith Centre-Drug Policy Foundation, Washington,
DC, USA, March 8.