LIBERALS URGE SOFT LINE ON DRUGS

A group of Liberal backbenchers believes Australia should consider
decriminalising illicit drugs including heroin and cocaine, saying the
war on drugs had been a failure.

WA Liberals Mal Washer and Judi Moylan as well as Victorian Liberal
Russell Broadbent all called for a rethink on the way the Federal and
State governments deal with drugs and rehabilitation, saying the "zero
tolerance" approach was wasting billions of dollars and causing more
crime.

"What we are doing is not working and is even less likely to work in
the future," Ms Moylan said.

All three Liberals yesterday attended a presentation in Parliament
House by former ACT Supreme Court Judge Ken Crispin, a vocal critic of
the current approach to tackling drug crime.

Dr Crispin said the vast majority of people in prisons in Australia
were there because of drugs or mental illness. He said most would
reoffend because they had not received proper treatment.

Despite the billions of taxpayer dollars put into combating drugs, the
price of heroin and cocaine had plunged in recent years as supply had
steadily increased.

"If we can't even keep drugs out of our prisons, how can we keep them
off our streets," Dr Crispin said.

He said there was a growing link between drugs and terrorism -
pointing to the current bloodshed in Mexico - and questioned whether
drug dealers might one day get their hands on weapons of mass
destruction.

Dr Washer, who sponsored Dr Crispin's presentation, strongly backed
the call for decriminalisation and mocked the WA Liberal Government's
hardline approach to tackling the drug scourge.

"From a medical point of view, this has been a dismal failure in this
country and a crime against humanity," Dr Washer said.

Ms Moylan said the growing number of suburban drug laboratories was
putting the public at risk. She pointed out that laboratories often
exploded due to the volatile chemicals used.