WE SHOULD FOLLOW SWEDEN'S LEAD

Contrary to the criticism of the Australian Drug Summit 2000 by the
Rev Bill Crews (Herald, June 13), who claimed that the NSW Drug Summit
last year was a "comprehensive drug summit", it is important when
debating radical new drug policies to investigate successes and
failures from other nations.

As Mr Crews knows, there was not one speaker from Sweden, a nation
that has experimented with a wide range of drug policies.

Summit 2000 is examining drug policies internationally and in all
States, not simply NSW as was the case with last year's drug summit.

Delegates, including MPs, represent Victoria, South Australia,
Queensland, the ACT and Western Australia, as well as Federal Parliament.

Sweden experimented with the "harm minimisation" drug policies that Mr
Crews advocates. The facts are that such policies were a complete
failure. Sweden now has strong drug-harm prevention policies - no free
needles, no injecting rooms, no legal heroin! Compare Australia, where
45 per cent of young people experiment with drugs, with Sweden, where
just 9 per cent try them.

The Rev Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party,
Sydney.