Pubdate: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 Source: Australian Financial Review Contact: Author: Phillip Cohen HUGE OUTSOURCING DEAL WITH ORGANISED CRIME ON DRUGS If John Howard can get into such a snit over an ABC interviewer's bungled question, the following should really knot his knickers. That $75 million be says he will spend on drug central will be money down a well-worn rat hole. The truth is, we - society, government, law enforcement - in fact make no effort whatsoever to "control" drugs. We don't control their production, their distribution or their sale. Instead, we (and this includes most of the world's governments) have done the biggest outsourcing deal in history and we have done it with organised crime. In effect, we have said to the criminal world: "Here, you control the production, distribution and sale of drugs. You can produce as much as you want with no safety or quality controls, sell them to whomever you wish for whatever price you can get, and use as much of your (tax-free!) profits as it takes to buy as many guns, boats, planes and public officials as you need to keep your business protected and growing. And we in turn will try to control you." The truth is we will never solve the drug problem, no matter how many millions John Howard or any other politician promises to throw at it, until one basic principle is recognised: The true control of drugs - their production, distribution and sale - must be taken out of the hands of organised crime and placed where it rightfully and logically belongs: in the hands of organised society. That is what must be done. The nitty-gritty of how to do it must wait, however, until our fearless but benighted leaders finally realise that there are some problems that can't be solved by outsourcing. Phillip Cohen, Manly, NSW. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake