AUSTRALIA LEARNING FROM US DRUG PROBLEM

A delegate at the Australasian Drug Strategy Conference in Alice Springs
says experience in the United States shows that the fight against drugs can
be won through preventative programs.

Professor Richard Catalano from the University of Washington says
governments should at least consider preventative programs because of their
economic benefits.

He says studies in the US show that up to four times the monetary
investment in such programs is returned through savings in the cost of
reduced crime by the time a child is 16 years old.

"So I think that's an important critical element but also the kinds of
successes that kids have getting off drugs, completing high school, having
less emotional trauma in their lives," he said.

"These are things again that effect kids' life chances for years to come."