Pubdate: Fri, 15 Mar 2013
Source: Geelong Advertiser (Australia)
Copyright: 2013 The Geelong Advertiser Pty Ltd
Contact:  http://www.glgadvertiser.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1031
Author: Paul Pottage
Page: 21

Statistics Don't Tell Whole Story

POLICE ACT IN WAR ON DRUGS

LAST week I gave a quick overview of the latest crime trends and I 
purposely left out the drug statistics, mainly because they need some 
discussion.

The area's arrest numbers for possession and use have risen more than 
21 per cent in the past year with trafficking arrests declining.

This is mainly due to . . . well it's due to a lot of inter-related 
things that are common to this state and many other places these days.

The increase is generally due to more police activity and more drugs.

The fall in trafficking arrests is due to more police activity - 
longer investigations - and more drugs. Simple.

The dictionary definition of a drug - any substance used in the 
treatment, prevention or diagnosis of disease; a chemical substance, 
especially a narcotic, taken for the effects it produces.

Phew . . . shiraz doesn't seem to be included, which is a relief for me.

But with my police hat on, alcohol clearly is a drug and deserves to 
be seen as such, along with a range of abused and traded prescription 
drugs and all the others.

The discussion about drugs - alcohol, pharmaceuticals, cannabis and 
everything else that is available today - is often conducted in a 
stifled or polarised environment which, to a large degree, has been 
shaped by what follows in the next paragraph.

The concept of drugs being illegal is historically new and is usually 
accepted as starting after 1925 with the Geneva Opium Convention and 
others in 1931 and 1936 covering manufacturing and trafficking.

For millennia mind- altering drugs, including alcohol, have been used 
socially and ritualistically.

The international conventions which bind most western countries were 
put in place to try to stop addiction (search for "history drug 
conventions" and you will find some neat overviews) but did not 
address the fundamental issue of demand.

Many drugs were made illegal and supply was outlawed but the 
sociomedical issue of why humans want drugs remained, and remains, 
along with the question of what we are to do about it to try and 
reduce the negative impact drugs have on people's lives. So what is 
the impact of drug use? There is a " self health" impact - excessive 
use and abuse of most drugs causes physical and/ or psychological 
addiction and subsequent health issues, which we all pay for.

This is true for alcohol, nicotine and legal and illicit drugs.

There is the injury to others, caused by behaviour issues when under 
the influence and includes crimes such as assault and road trauma or deaths.

There is the serious crime, which includes various types of crime 
committed to gain money to buy drugs or pay off debts.

And then there is the vast and corrupting criminal enterprise 
supporting trafficking, production, money laundering and all sorts of 
corruption and violence.

In the 1980s there was an analogy with alcohol. It was that the 
hopeless burglar heroin addict police dealt with was similar to the 
alcoholic vagrant on the street - highly visible and the worst case, 
but in fact a small percentage of people were using or abusing the substance.

This is probably still the case, although today drug use is 
substantially affecting many more younger lives and becoming 
increasingly difficult to deal with.

The three main aims of the Victoria Police illicit drug strategy are 
disruption, targeting repeat offenders and reducing re-offending - 
all based on the broad harm minimisation concept many Western 
governments have adopted in recent decades.

The present Victorian Government strategy has a 15-point plan 
covering alcohol, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, with a continued 
focus on minimising harm, changing culture, disrupting and 
controlling supply of drugs and strong community-based treatment and 
recovery options.

The demand for all drugs remains high and the impact on our community 
will continue to be great.

Policing and enforcement will control some aspects, but are clearly 
not the entire solution. So please, go to the top of the page and 
slowly re-read it.

Have a think and speak to your family, friends and colleagues.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom