SOARING DRUG USE CHANGES ATTITUDES

Back in 1989, Superintendent Neil Comrie described Victoria as the
amphetamine capital of Australia after a phone-in on drugs reported 1386
alleged offences. If only Victoria's next chief commissioner of police knew
then what was to come.

Mr Comrie made the claim on the basis that there had been just two arrests
for trafficking of amphetamines and less than 40 for possession or use of
the drug. Most of the offences phoned-in related to marijuana.

But in intervening years, Victoria has experienced an explosion of drug use
with one of the most addictive drugs, heroin, widely available on
Melbourne's streets.

Like most of the police who have witnessed the escalation of drug use and
its dramatic effect on families and the crime rate, Mr Comrie has changed
his thinking about how best to deal with it.

In an interview with The Age earlier this year, Mr Comrie said that during
two decades working as a police officer he had been locked into a hardline
approach to drug users.

But he admitted the approach had not worked and ``I have in recent years
changed my mind quite considerably'' with the force throwing its resources
behind catching illicit drug importers, manufacturers and distributors
rather than users.

Mr Comrie's force is backing yesterday's announcement by the Premier, Mr
Jeff Kennett, that first offenders with small amounts of cannabis will not
face charges in Victoria.

The force is also backing a new pilot program in Melbourne's northern
suburbs that will result in people caught with harder drugs, such as
heroin, receiving a caution.

Few Victorians have not suffered directly from the drug epidemic, which the
Victoria Police blames for 70 per cent of all crime in Victoria and for
costing Australia $1.6 billion a year.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the heroin outbreak gripping the state
is the extreme youth of its victims, who are sometimes as young as 11.

Despite the enormity of the problem, drug-law reform has been slow coming
to Victoria. In June 1996 the Kennett Government rejected a proposal by
Professor David Penington, head of the Premier's Drug Advisory Council, for
decriminalisation of minor cannabis use.

Following a long inquiry, the proposal was contained in a report, which
argued strongly that the move would eliminate the waste of police and court
resources and help reach young people at risk of harm from using more
serious drugs such as heroin.

Two years later the Government has signalled it is willing to trial
Professor Penington's approach for first-offence heroin users not to be
taken to court but instead receive an official warning and counselling.

Possession of illicit drugs will remain a criminal offence with the
introduction last year of harsher penalties for drug traffickers and
manufacturers.

Back in 1996 Professor Penington gave a blunt assessment. ``Deaths from
drug overdose in Victoria have risen during the past three years to the
point that they are approaching in number deaths due to road accidents,''
he said.

``Most are heroin related. There is compelling evidence that young people
are being recruited in increasing numbers into the criminal world of
illicit drugs. This is particularly true of heroin, the production of which
is increasing internationally with falling prices ...''

Profesor Penington warned the law could not reduce the demand, which had
been tried and had failed. ``Reducing demand must come from more effective
education,'' he said.

``It must also come from treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug
users rather than sending people to prison. There they are exposed, over a
protracted period, to the culture of crime among fellow prisoners. This is
likely to confirm them in a career of crime rather than to encourage a
fresh start in life with rejection of the drug culture.''

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)