WAR GAMES

I would like to issue a challenge to each of the four "Drug Warriors"
mentioned in today's Herald (June 15).

To the "Political Warrior", Mr John Howard: Please justify to the
Australian people the immense cost of running a discredited US-style war on
drugs instead of spending that public money on health, education and
community infrastructure.

To the "Scientific Warrior", Dr John Anderson: Please provide peer-reviewed
proof of your unsubstantiated claims about the possible harms associated
with cannabis use.

To the "Religious Warrior", Major Brian Watters: Please provide
comprehensive 12-month comparative data (including drop-outs, deaths and
relapses) for drug-dependent people enrolled in abstinence-only programs
versus those in maintenance-therapy programs.

To the "Legal Warrior", Mr Ross Goodridge: Please prove beyond reasonable
doubt that the issue of drug misuse should be the province of the legal and
not the medical profession.

Dr Michael Dawson
Department of Chemistry
Materials and Forensic Science
UTS
Sydney