THE PM'S 'SIGNAL' ON DRUGS IS A CALLOUS ONE

I AM tired of hearing the Prime Minister's oft-repeated, facile, trite
excuse, "sending the wrong signal'', whereby he consigns any attempt to deal
with the demand side of the drug equation, including the all-important
harm-minimisation principle, to the secondary sidelines.

He should tell us what the wrong signal says and to whom it is addressed.

I think it says: "We mustn't do anything to upset the US Drug Enforcement
Agency by any act that can be construed as official approval of heroin
distribution or control that might undermine the total prohibition platform
that gets re-iterated whenever the PM talks to the USA.'' I think he has
been brainwashed and threatened with the boycott of the Tasmanian opium
industry.

The signal he sends to me is that a callous political decision has been
taken on a human problem. it is almost as if the interests of the drug
barons and their fellow travellers are driving the Government's attitude.

COLIN P. GLOVER, Canberra City