STARTING AGAIN ON DRUG ABUSE

State And Territory Leaders Today Have A Chance
To Set A Fresh Agenda

WHEN state and territory leaders gather today to discuss a national
approach to drug abuse, the last thing any of them needs bring to the
table, as the Victorian Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, has pointed out, is
a closed mind. This meeting is a prelude to next month's Premiers'
Conference, at which drug abuse is also high on the agenda.

Drug abuse has reached the point where it demands a multi-dimensional
approach.

Before that can be achieved, it needs concerted political will on the
part of local, state and federal governments. That will, for the
moment, appears to be sadly lacking.

The time has come for a national approach.

So far the drugs debate has led to the recognition among Australia's
policy-makers that the matter urgently requires new strategies - and
to fundamental disagreement about what those new strategies might be.
Australians must hope that from today their heads of government will
find ways to overcome their fundamental disagreement.

The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, has chosen to back the United
States-inspired approach of ``zero tolerance'': that is, continued
full prohibition. He does so because he believes that heroin trials
and other forms of partial decriminalisation are an endorsement of
drug use. Mr Kennett and others who argue for a more flexible approach
must find the evidence to convince him that this is not the case. The
time has come to acknowledge that the criminal justice system has
largely failed to deal with the problem, and not for want of resources
or will. Australia's political leaders now need the will to try other
solutions.