Pubdate: Thu, 06 May 1999 Source: Cairns Post, The (Australia) Contact: DRUG BLINDNESS DESPITE their claims to the contrary, it is short-sighted politicians and religious tub-thumpers like the Rev Fred Nile who are turning the law into a joke, not the organisers of Sydney's illegal heroin shooting gallery. When the law is so completely at odds with reality and has proved impossible to enforce successfully, it is time to change it - not to keep trying to ram it down people's throats. The laws against illegal drug use have proved useless in nation after nation. Prime Minister John Howard may believe the American Federal Bureau of Investigations' zero tolerance approach has merit - but he should remember the United States probably has the world's worst drug problems despite spending billions of wasted dollars a year combating the menace. A similar "zero tolerance" American effort to halt the consumption of alcohol in the 1920s also came to an ignominious end, with the repeal of the laws against it. The only thing the war on alcohol succeeded in doing was to allow organised crime to become well-established and entrenched in the US. Similarly, the war on drugs, both in the US and everywhere else in the world, has served only to build the power of the crime gangs to the point where they pose a direct threat to ordinary civil society because of the great wealth and influence they have accumulated. Nowhere has the war on drugs actually succeeded in reducing overall drug use! Already, the annual turnover from the global illicit drug trade alone - never mind any other form of crime - is estimated to be worth more than $400 billion. Many experts believe this flow of illegal cash now represents a direct threat to national economies and even to the stability of the international financial system. This flow of illegal cash, laundered through numerous outlets, is then re-invested in legitimate businesses and industries - giving organised crime a direct and corrupting stake in the mainstream economy. The ramifications of this process are obvious, with organised crime achieving an increasingly influential and powerful position in society. POINTLESS The war on drugs is pointless. It only helps line the pockets of criminals, corrupts society and breeds a widespread contempt for the law because such a large proportion of the population finds itself on the wrong side of it. Rather than talking to the FBI, Mr Howard should look at the latest, fully-researched reports from Switzerland on that nation's legal heroin trials in cities like Zurich. According to those reports, the trials have resulted in the vastly improved personal health and social adjustment of the addicts involved, as well as achieving major reductions in drug-related crimes in the areas affected, up to 50 per cent and more in most cases. The best way to get the crime out of the drug trade is to legalise it and regulate it like any other industry for quality and consumer protection. Those who wish to be rehabilitated should have access to the appropriate programs. But those who want to continue using the drug of their choice should be able to do so at reasonable cost and without having to descend into the criminal underworld to do it. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck