GIVE THEM THE STICK

The State Has To Get Tough On Drug Users Who Do The Wrong Thing

ALL THE confetti has finally been swept away, the wedding video has
become passe and the honeymoon is deftnitely over for Steve Bracks.

Richard Branson sort of killed off the last remnants of the party this
week by deciding to take his Virgin Australia airline operation to
Brisbane, along with his expected 750 Australian employees.

Youch, and this after Steve bad got into Branson’s apparently
receptive ear and told him how wonderful Melbourne was.

Coupled with the sad fact that just about every union in the state has
decided that now would be a good time to up the ante and maybe even
strike, our Stevie doesn’t look quite the wonder be seemed to be a few
short months ago.

And now it’s my turn to put the boots in.

Well, not quite. But it’s the test of any government to recognise the
demands and needs of a community and legislate accordingly.

And just lately an issue has repeatedly raised its ugly head and it’s
about time the State Government (that’s YOU, Steve) decided to do
something about it.

AND no. I’m not talking about that serial bore Peter Hore, although
come to think of it, some sort of State Law to bar serial offenders or
offer a greater prison deterrent would not be a bad idea.

But my beef is with something much more serious, something which has
the capacity to poison the whole drug debate, unless the government
decides to take a proactive step.

The issue of needle disposal may seem incidental, considering the
number of people, young people, who are gripped by our drug culture
and who are dying in our streets.

But it’s not. It’s a big part of the problem. Particularly for the
vast majority of the community. You know, the non-drug users.

I suspect a growing number of the un-drugged are becoming less
sympathetic with the drug-takers.

And it’s not just because they are tired of having their houses
burgled by drug addicts who are often barely punished for their
crimes, or because they see a growing number of addicts committing
awful crimes on the road.

It's because of situations like the one this week when a young rail
commuter got jabbed by a syringe, left sticking upwards between seats
on a train.

This is not such an isolated incident. We're now being told of needles
being placed in the coin slots of parking meters for goodness sake.
Our beaches suddenly are no longer considered fit for organised sport
such as volleyball and Ironman events because of the syringes being
unearthed. And the number of needles careressly dumped in our streets
and public lavatories has already reached epidemic levels.

Yet I do not know of a single person who has been prosecuted for
incorrect disposal of a syringe.

The government has to know it is a two-way street. If it wants public
support for safe injecting rooms and other programs, then it has to be
prepared to act tough on drug users who do the wrong thing.

Leaving a needle in a public place is not a simple case of littering.
It can be life-threatening. The seriousness of the act should be
reflected in new laws for a relatively new crime.

A few weeks ago, while gardening in the neglected wastelands of my
driveway, I discovered an abandoned syringe, at least 15 metres from
the footpath. Which meant someone either wandered up our driveway to
dump it or made like a javelin thrower from the street.

APART from giving me an excuse not to do any more it convinced me that
the problem can' be ignored any more or we will end up having a
community completely divided. I don’t care what state of mind the
addicts are in. They should be prosecuted. For the good of all.

Meanwhile, the government should enforce the idea that a needle
exchange program should be just that, an exchange of needles, not just
a hand-out. And it should look at introducing automatic retractable
syringes.

I’ve got a feeling that is one extra cost the community will not baulk
at.