MAYORS UNITE ON DRUGS STRATEGY

Australia's capital city lord mayors yesterday announced a joint commitment
to a national drugs policy, and several attacked political leaders for
failing to tackle the issue.

The Council of Capital City Lord Mayors met Professor David Penington, who
chaired the Victorian Government's 1996 Drugs Advisory Committee. He will
coordinate a national advisory committee to report to the mayors.

Sydney's Lord Mayor, Cr Frank Sartor, said the three elements of drug
control were enforcement, demand management and innovative education. Money
was better spent on drugs management than on enforcement, he said.
Enforcement is the focus of the Federal Government's drugs initiative.

"It's quite obvious that the political leadership in this country has let
us down significantly," Cr Sartor said. "It's quite obvious that the
current strategies on drugs are not working, will not work, and the capital
cities need to work much harder."

Cr Sartor said local governments were increasingly left with the problems
associated with drugs, which was a health and not a moral issue.

The Adelaide Lord Mayor, Dr Jane LomaxSmith said: "As capital city lord
mayors we recognise we all share the same problem. There has been education
in the past but clearly it's not effective."

She said lord mayors were disappointed with the Howard Cabinet's rejection
of the Canberra heroin trial.

An education campaign will be the focus of the national program.

Melbourne's Lord Mayor, Cr Ivan Deveson, said "more of the same will not
work, and we will be catalysts in promoting a much more informed debate."
He said traffickers should not be tolerated. The lord mayors offered no
support for the use of "shooting galleries".

(c)1997 David Syme & Co Ltd