Drugs war 'not a failed strategy'

By Naomi Mapstone, Health Reporter

Prime Minister John Howard defended his $87.5 million drugs strategy
yesterday against criticism by drug lawreform advocates that it was
modelled on a United Statesstyle approach which had been an unmitigated
disaster.

Mr Howard also said it would be at least three years before the effects of
his crackdown could be evaluated.

Australian Parliamentary Group for Drug Law Reform convener and ACT
Independent MLA Michael Moore said the threeyear plan was trying to
achieve the impossible with its 'zero tolerance' goals.

'It'll make those who are never going to use drugs, who were never involved
in drugs, feel good. But in fact it will have a negative impact on what Mr
Howard calls the front line,' he said.

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak said the
strategy amounted to the Prime Minister trying to extricate himself from
the political fallout of his decision to quash the ACT heroin trial.

'If you look at the fine print on most of the bigticket items you will see
that they are for zero tolerance, they are for 'just say no' programs, they
are for programs that have been tried repeatedly and have failed
repeatedly,' he said.

Mr Howard said Dr Wodak's reaction was entirely predictable.

'There are some people in the community who believe that the answer to the
heroin and drug problem is to remove any taint of criminality, to in
effect say you can never beat criminals and you just go down the path of
decriminalisation. Now, I don't take that view,' he said on ABC Radio.

A spokesman for Mr Howard said yesterday that the document which gave rise
to the strategy would not be not available for public scrutiny, as it was
the work of a subcommittee of Cabinet.

Mr Howard's initial announcement on the matter, in August, was that a task
force headed by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet head Max
MooreWilton would formulate the new drug strategy.

The action on drugs came in the wake of the Government's decision to stop
the ACT heroin trial a move Mr Howard said he did not regret.

Asked if a trial would ever be a consideration, he said, 'Well, not while
I'm Prime Minister, no.'

He said his strategy, widely welcomed by interest groups, had struck a
necessary balance between law enforcement and education and rehabilitation.

The strategy had also given community organisations such as the Salvation
Army and the Ted Noffs Foundation unprecedented support.

'. . . What I have done for the first time at the federal level is really
give to those organisations much greater help than they have had in the
past . . . they understand the personal agony, the difficulty, the family
heartache, the family tension, the personal distress that is involved in so
many people who are hooked on drugs,' he said.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said the package took 'one step forward and
two steps back', offering $80 million in place of $225 million in
government cuts to lawenforcement agencies.