Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald Contact: GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001 Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492 Website: http://www.smh.com.au/ Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/ Author: Bronwyn Barnard Note: Headline supplied by Newshawk 'IS THAT NOT TOUGH ENOUGH?' That the PM has withdrawn a drug education booklet "based on two years' research and planning" by experts, to replace it with his own rhetoric defies belief. His statement, "Real leadership that upholds community values demands that we get tough on drugs, not tough on the people with the problem", holds no promise of success. I fail to understand how you can be tough on drugs without being tough on the people involved. I know that it is already so tough and so difficult most families are destroyed. Their young people become homeless and more than 1,000 will die each year. Is that not tough enough? Often they end up in jail with serious long-term health issues. How much tougher would he suggest? We need real policies which offer real hope and real intervention, not throwaway lines based on questionable knowledge which make the community at large feel good but don't offer any support to those affected. And we can't wait another decade to get on with it. The time to start is now. Bronwyn Barnard, Kaleen (ACT). - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk