Pubdate: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 Source: Canberra Times (Australia) Contact: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/ Author: Paul Drury US STATISTICS OF NO USE TO US YET WHILE it is easy to see how advocates of drug-law reform in the United States might be concerned with US statistics, it is unlikely that they would pay any attention to the imminent meeting of Australian Premiers on Drug Policy, as suggested by Collis Parrett ("This is how to curb drug-related crime", Letters, 2 April). It seems to me that Collis Parrett is a little premature in crowing over US statistics, since the article he refers to by Will Dunham ("Dramatic drop in US rates of crime", CT, 27 March) attributes the fall in US crime rates to a number of things, including two things which have no direct relevance to drug-law reform: a fall in unemployment and a re-organisation of the "crack'' market. And until the relative contribution of every factor producing a fall in the crime rate is accurately known, it is futile to deduce what action should be taken as a result. Collis Parrett's objection to drug trials is difficult to understand; they might prove him to be right and then we would all agree with him that even more should be done to enforce a policy of total prohibition. PAUL DRURY Giralang - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea