GREENS POLICY IS FOR DOPES

FRESH on the revelation that 43 or more of the minor parties fielding
candidates in the NSW election are to pool preferences comes the
launch of the NSW Greens policy.

What follows is a list of the programs the Greens support on drugs,
but be warned, you may want to sit down before reading further.

The Greens want:

* Removal of all criminal sanctions for personal drug use; * Education
programs for schools and the community; * Health and social programs
aimed at drug users to minimise the adverse impacts on the user and
the spread of disease; * Voluntary detoxification and rehabilitation
for users wishing to control or end their drug use; * Provision of
needle and syringe exchange programs, including wide-bore needles; *
Programs toward controlled availability of heroin and safe injecting
rooms; * Controlled availability of other drugs, such as ecstasy and
speed, under the supervision of medically qualified personnel; *
Removal of all criminal sanctions for the possession of cannabis for
personal use and the growth of cannabis for personal use; *
Introduction of mechanism's for testing the quality. purity and
potency of drugs; * Education programs to reduce the incidence of
tobacco smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol.

One might assume that whoever wrote this ridiculous policy was
operating under the influence of toxic substances under the light of a
Byron Bay full moon.

The immaturity of this approach to the use of drugs is truly
staggering. Even those ancient cultures which incorporated drug use
into their religious rituals demanded extreme controls as to when and
by whom they could be used.

Even the positive effects of drug education, particularly programs
emphasising so-called harm minimisation are questionable as they
rarely canvass abstinence.

An emphasis on practices which minimise adverse effects merely tends
to encourage the view that drugs can be used safely.

In calling for the removal of all criminal sanctions relating to
personal marijuana use and production, the Greens ignore the numbers
of people who currently pass through the criminal courts charged with
extremely violent crimes which they claim are due to cannabis-induced
psychoses.

Perhaps the Greens intend to market a new form of dope, free from
psychosis-inducing compounds.

In the now distant past the Greens attracted votes because of
admirable claims that they were concerned about the environment, now
they are seeking the votes of a constituency that would appear to be
more concerned with the ready availability of heroin and ecstasy.

Maybe the Greens are quietly signalling that they believe their
supporters would have to be well and truly doped-up to vote for them.