HUGE OUTSOURCING DEAL WITH ORGANISED CRIME ON DRUGS

If John Howard can get into such a snit over an ABC interviewer's bungled
question, the following should really knot his knickers.

That $75 million be says he will spend on drug central will be money down a
well-worn rat hole.

The truth is, we - society, government, law enforcement - in fact make no
effort whatsoever to "control" drugs. We don't control their production,
their distribution or their sale.

Instead, we (and this includes most of the world's governments) have done
the biggest outsourcing deal in history and we have done it with organised
crime.

In effect, we have said to the criminal world: "Here, you control the
production, distribution and sale of drugs. You can produce as much as you
want with no safety or quality controls, sell them to whomever you wish for
whatever price you can get, and use as much of your (tax-free!) profits as
it takes to buy as many guns, boats, planes and public officials as you
need to keep your business protected and growing. And we in turn will try
to control you."

The truth is we will never solve the drug problem, no matter how many
millions John Howard or any other politician promises to throw at it, until
one basic principle is recognised: The true control of drugs - their
production, distribution and sale - must be taken out of the hands of
organised crime and placed where it rightfully and logically belongs: in
the hands of organised society.

That is what must be done. The nitty-gritty of how to do it must wait,
however, until our fearless but benighted leaders finally realise that
there are some problems that can't be solved by outsourcing.

Phillip Cohen, Manly, NSW.

Checked-by: Richard Lake