HOWARD FEARS AN ELECTORAL BACKLASH

SPEAKING in support of his proposal for more safe injecting rooms
Anglican Primate, Dr Peter Carnley, stated that the drug problem was
an extremely complex one for which there was no simple solution and as
such, the community had to look more broadly at the problem.

If intelligent people, such as Dr Carnley, are able to recognise that
the methods currently employed to address this problem are simply not
working, why is our Prime Minister unable to do so?

Perhaps it is because Mr Howard, together with many of our political
leaders, fear an electoral backlash if they are perceived to be soft
on drugs and accordingly do not have the intestinal fortitude to take
a leadership role.

Is it too cynical to suggest that our political leaders would rather
see increasing numbers of our young people incarcerated for crimes
they commit to fund their habits or worse, overdose, than to take
decisions they fear may result in loss of office?

Surely this problem is of such magnitude that a bipartisan approach
needs to be taken in the way the guns issue was handled a number of
year ago.

IAN DE LANDELLES,
Hawker