TIME TO FACE THE FACT THAT WE ARE STILL LOSING THE DRUGS WAR

NEXT Monday will mark the fourth anniversary of the murder of Veronica
Guerin. She was honoured in Boston last week by the Vienna based
International Press Institute, and this prompted an extensive profile in
the Boston Globe on Sunday.

Before her murder ``organised crime was all but ignored and gangland
leaders operated with relative impunity'', the Globe noted. Despite the
tightening of laws dealing with organised crime following her killing, the
reporter noted that today ``Ireland is awash in drugs'' and organised crime
``has never been more profitable''.

In the four years since her death, Veronica has already been the subject of
a biography and a movie based on the latter years of her life - When the
Sky Falls - was released in Ireland and Britain last week. No movie has yet
been made on the life of any of our 10 Taoisigh, and some of them are still
awaiting their first biographer.

Emily O'Reilly's biography of Veronica Guerin was rather hostile. Even if
Veronica ``saw herself as involved in a crusade against dangerous people,
her journalism contributed nothing to their downfall'', according to the
author, who was particularly critical of the almost reckless way in which
Veronica door stepped dangerous criminals for interviews.

Veronica Guerin essentially gambled with her own life in the belief that
the criminals that she was investigating would not dare to kill her because
public opinion would then demand action against them. If those criminals
had any common sense, they would not have killed her, but they were as
stupid as they were avaricious and arrogant.

``We know who killed her -- and he is untouchable,'' the Irish Independent
declared in a front page editorial following the murder. Those sentiments
were effectively echoed by Nora Owen, the Minister for Justice at the time.
``The sad awful reality is that these people feel that they can do this
without any answerability on their part,'' she admitted. Of course, she
promised that the gardai would get the resources they needed to solve this
crime. Earlier that year, however, she had said the Garda Commissioner of
the time had assured her that the gardai were satisfied that they had all
the necessary resources to respond to crime.

If he really said that, I wrote here at the time, he is as out of his
depth, as she is for repeating such nonsense. After Veronica's murder that
government suddenly produced a reform package to tackle organised crime.
Were the garda authorities really so out of touch they did not recognise
the need for those powers until the Guerin murder, or was it that it took
the sense of public outrage to make them face up to their responsibilities?

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) was established and it quickly arrested
the gunman who killed Veronica and the motorcyclist who was driving him.
Both have been convicted and jailed. The man suspected of ordering the
murder has also been arrested and is awaiting trial.

Many of the known drug barons suddenly fled to the Continent, and the CAB
has seized more than pounds 20 million of their ill gotten gains. At least
they are no longer parading around here publicly, flaunting their wealth
and acting as role models for impressionable young people. But now, four
years on, one must ask if the crime scene is really any better.

There have certainly been plenty of hyped drug busts which might lead one
to believe that the gardai are getting to grips with the problem. In his
Boston Globe article on Sunday, however, Kevin Cullen concluded that things
have actually got worse since Veronica's murder. ``The number of heroin
addicts in Dublin has nearly doubled to about 13,000, health officials
say,'' Cullen wrote. ``Drug pushers have slashed the price of heroin and
junkies can get a fix for about $5, the cheapest in Europe.''

He added that ``junkies walk the streets aimlessly or lounge bleary eyed in
city parks and public places. One day last week, a couple of addicts lay
passed out, in an unconscious embrace, on a bench outside the Financial
Services Centre at the mouth of the River Liffey, a temple to Ireland's
booming economy''. Isn't that a great advert for this country? Come to
Dublin for Europe's cheapest heroin! Won't it do wonders for our tourism?
It might even attract a new type of tourist.

Cheap drugs are not only a bonus for the addicts, but they also probably
help keep the crime rate down, because addicts do not have to steal as much
to purchase their fix. Of course, drugs are cheapest for those who are not
addicted, while those who are already hooked have to pay inflated prices to
feed their own habits.

The cheaper the drugs, the more likely the pushers are to hand out free
samples to children in hope of getting them addicted. This is really a
modern form of slavery in which drugs are used to control young people so
that they can be compelled to steal, sell drugs, or go into prostitution to
feed their habits. With the number of drug addicts escalating in Dublin,
the price of drugs should have gone up if the gardai were even holding
their own in the so called war on drugs. But instead prices are down, which
means that there is more heroin available than ever before. How long will
it take people to face the inevitable conclusion that our current drug
policies are a pathetic failure. The problem is getting worse and will
inevitably deteriorate further still if we persist with the current
policies which have failed everywhere.

If there were prizes for stupidity, those who advocate following the
example of the United States would surely sweep the boards. The Americans
have failed dismally in their so called war on organised crime, and they
have the worst drug problems of the developed world. Imitating them is a
recipe for disaster. We should be learning from their mistakes, not seeking
to emulate them.

``Our children are being killed on a weekly basis and nobody cares,'' one
anti drug activist declared at a special showing of the film last week.
``If the government cared the way Veronica Guerin cared, we wouldn't be
having the deaths we're having.'' What will it take to get politicians to
face up to the reality that they are losing the drug war - Sinn Fein to
secure balance of power?

This country is mired in political corruption, yet nobody seemed to expect
the gardai to investigate the bribery and corruption of politicians.
Instead a fortune is being spent on judicial tribunals. What does this say
about public confidence in our police force?

In trying to avoid political involvement, the garda authorities have
actually been ensnared in the worst kind of politics - they have appeared
to funk the investigation crimes committed by politicians. As a result the
investigation has been turned over to lawyers, who are not trained
investigators. And people wonder why we are in such a mess!