HIGH IDEALS A DOWNER

THE Victorian police force has adopted a radical approach to drugs which
seems, unfortunately, doomed to failure.

Instead of charging first-time offenders, police will instead issue cautions
ot marijuana users and direct heroin and cocaine users to drug treatment
centres for assessment and treatment.

The theory sounds fine in as much as some low-level drug users will not
automatically find their way into the criminal justice system which seems to
present little protection from the drug culture.

A major concern, however, is that Victorian Police Commissioner Neil Comrie
has acknowledged that he believes the harm minimisation approach to drug use
has become widely accepted.

It all sounds as if he has bought the propaganda pushed by the pro-drug
lobby and that is a catastrophic course to follow.

Harm minimisation in NSW has been accompanied by the softest of anti-drug
messages. Those behind the policy say they don't want to lose touch with
their client audience by appearing too threatening.

Unfortunately, that may be the biggest weakness of the harm minimisation
program. In giving detailed instructions on how best to administer heroin
safely (or as safely as it is possible to expect non-medically trained
individuals to inject intravenously), swallow pills and smoke marijuana, the
minimisationists don't exhaust much energy describing the harm such drugs
can cause.

It is certainly not for lack of evidence. Every culture in the world,
including those in which there has been a degree of ritual drug use, has
created complex taboos to prevent drug abuse.

In some Western societies, however, the message has been politicised and a
no-holds-barred libertarian approach to drugs is advocated.

This is about as smart as giving a teenager the keys to a semi-trailer and
encouraging him or her to ignore all traffic signs.

The Victorian experiment is just that and must be closely watched, but at
this stage it appear to represent a softening of the official approach to
drugs and as such will do little to discourage first-time users.

Cigarette packets offer far greater warnings about the dangers of tobacco
use than do drug pushers about their products.

A better approach may have been to spend more money emphasising the truly
horrific face of drug abuse and to maintain penalties for abuse.

Harm minimisation sends a very dangerous mixed message to young people who
are attempting to stave off peer pressure and experiment.

It is easy for intelligent adults to rationalise the benefits of such an
approach, but unfortunately such people are usually absent when teenagers
and younger people are challenged to take the first puff or hit offered by
an eager pusher.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett