DRUG BLINDNESS

DESPITE their claims to the contrary, it is short-sighted politicians and
religious tub-thumpers like the Rev Fred Nile who are turning the law into a
joke, not the organisers of Sydney's illegal heroin shooting gallery.

When the law is so completely at odds with reality and has proved impossible
to enforce successfully, it is time to change it - not to keep trying to ram
it down people's throats.

The laws against illegal drug use have proved useless in nation after
nation.

Prime Minister John Howard may believe the American Federal Bureau of
Investigations' zero tolerance approach has merit - but he should remember
the United States probably has the world's worst drug problems despite
spending billions of wasted dollars a year combating the menace.

A similar "zero tolerance" American effort to halt the consumption of
alcohol in the 1920s also came to an ignominious end, with the repeal of the
laws against it.

The only thing the war on alcohol succeeded in doing was to allow organised
crime to become well-established and entrenched in the US.

Similarly, the war on drugs, both in the US and everywhere else in the
world, has served only to build the power of the crime gangs to the point
where they pose a direct threat to ordinary civil society because of the
great wealth and influence they have accumulated.

Nowhere has the war on drugs actually succeeded in reducing overall drug
use!

Already, the annual turnover from the global illicit drug trade alone -
never mind any other form of crime - is estimated to be worth more than $400
billion.

Many experts believe this flow of illegal cash now represents a direct
threat to national economies and even to the stability of the international
financial system.

This flow of illegal cash, laundered through numerous outlets, is then
re-invested in legitimate businesses and industries - giving organised crime
a direct and corrupting stake in the mainstream economy.

The ramifications of this process are obvious, with organised crime
achieving an increasingly influential and powerful position in society.

POINTLESS

The war on drugs is pointless. It only helps line the pockets of criminals,
corrupts society and breeds a widespread contempt for the law because such a
large proportion of the population finds itself on the wrong side of it.

Rather than talking to the FBI, Mr Howard should look at the latest,
fully-researched reports from Switzerland on that nation's legal heroin
trials in cities like Zurich.

According to those reports, the trials have resulted in the vastly improved
personal health and social adjustment of the addicts involved, as well as
achieving major reductions in drug-related crimes in the areas affected, up
to 50 per cent and more in most cases.

The best way to get the crime out of the drug trade is to legalise it and
regulate it like any other industry for quality and consumer protection.

Those who wish to be rehabilitated should have access to the appropriate
programs. But those who want to continue using the drug of their choice
should be able to do so at reasonable cost and without having to descend
into the criminal underworld to do it.