TAKING THE HABIT OUT OF CRIME

THE somewhat erratic Police Commissioner, Peter Ryan - some of whose
actions in the recent past have smacked of political expediency - has
re-entered the drug debate.

Not with solutions, but with some valid questions.

The approach to the drug crisis has, in recent years, been dominated by
many like Dr Alex Wodak at St Vincent's who have accepted funding from
advocates of liberal drug regimes such as international financier George
Soros. Mr Ryan's views are therefore welcome but by no means to be taken
as definitive.

The Police Commissioner stressed he was not advocating legalisation of
heroin or shooting galleries but said alternatives to methadone clinics
were needed for drug users who had no choice other than to steal to support
their habit.

"If you're on about a $1000 a day habit, and many of them are, where the
heck are you going to get the money? You've got to steal, so we've got to
break that cycle of demand," he said.

"It should be a well-structured program which will be supervised by the
courts and the criminal justice system."

He said 60 to 70 per cent of all crime in NSW was related to drugs.

Mr Ryan noted that Operation Puccini, the highly publicised drug crackdown
in Cabramatta, led to a dramatic decrease in criminal offences but did not
stop the demand for drugs.

"Drug dealers were chased out of the area, but the addicts followed them.
Even though we were arresting 30 to 40 street dealers a day, there were
always thousands more to take their place."

"These programs give them a chance to redeem themselves, rather than if
you're found guilty you've got three months' jail or given some sort of
puny financial penalty, which means they have to go out and steal to pay
their penalty."

The Salvation Army and other anti-drug organisations have been saying much
the same thing for years but have been scorned by those who favour the harm
minimisation route.

Clearly, teaching young people how best to administer drugs safely is not
the answer.

That Mr Ryan is prepared to seek answers that rely on treatment for the
addiction and not merely pander to the addicted should be applauded.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)