IT'S SIMPLY A WASTE OF TIME - RESULTS RIGGED, SAYS COWDERY

Director of Public Prosecutions Nick Cowdery yesterday described the State
Government's Drug Summit as a "waste of time" saying the results of the
gathering were "rigged".

In an extraordinary attack, Mr Cowdery said the only result would be a
"tinkering" around the edges of present drug laws.

Heroin importation should still be illegal, but opium poppies should be
grown in controlled conditions in Tasmania, Mr Cowdery told a NSW Law
Society meeting at Warwick Farm.

Premier Bob Carr last night refused to respond to Mr Cowdery's claims.

The outspoken prosecutor told his audience he "didn't mind " about being
omitted by the Government from the summit's guest list.

"It may have been a waste of time in any event because there are certainly
grounds for suspecting that it is rigged," he said.

Mr Cowdery said there was a chance the summit would "endorse a fairly
steady-as-she-goes course".

He said there was a need for "better education and more treatment and
rehabilitation programs for which, or course, more Commonwealth funding
should be provided".

Mr Cowdery again attacked the State Government's sentencing policy which
includes mandatory life sentences for those convicted of "heinous" crimes
and large-scale drug dealers.

"Mandatory penalties or mandatory minimum penalties achieve nothing, indeed
they simply create additional problems," he said. "They may sound tough but
sounding tough makes no impression on drug addicts and traders.

"Drug users do not stop to think about the possible criminal justice
consequences.

"Imprisonment ... simply makes bad people worse."

The Government did not invite Mr Cowdery to the summit, with Mr Carr saying
the State's top prosecutor's views, including his support for prescribed
heroin for addicts, were "well known".

Mr Cowdery, who has the tenure of a judge and can only be removed by an Act
of Parliament, has been a vocal critic of the Government's law and order
policies since 1995.

In his speech he advocated making heroin available to users from GPs "at a
subsidised rate or free of charge".

"It was available on prescription here until 1953," he said.

"The connection between heroin use and crime must be weakened, if not broken."

He said possession of small quantities of all drugs should be decriminalised.