PAROLE OFFICERS BACK HEROIN TRIAL

GOOD on the Lord Mayors for their stance on a heroin trial (Daily
Telegraph, December 15). There is another aspect to the heroin problem
which they have highlighted.

Our members deal with thousands of people who have become the criminal
flotsam and jetsam of prohibition policies.

We are often unable to assist them to live within the law, because of
meagre resources, and have little choice but to bring about their
incarceration or their return to prison when they fail again.

We are filling our jails in NSW faster than they can be built.

There is no hope of stemming the flow of illicit drugs into the country.
People are not safe on the streets and parents mourn their children, dead
or imprisoned. It is a disaster.

We believe all political parties have a moral obligation to stop
politicking on this subject and to introduce an on-going inquiry into how
to combat the use of illicit drugs with emphasis on early intervention,
treatment and harm minimisation. We support a heroin trial.

GREG OATES President, Probation and Parole Officers' Association of NSW

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski