Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
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MORE than half a tonne of illegal drugs including ice, cocaine, heroin, LSD, steroids and pharmaceuticals have been destroyed by federal authorities this week in Melbourne.
Australian Federal Police disposed of around 630kgs of illegal drugs, which were seized in a handful of operations during the past few months, at a “secure and secret” city location.
Authorities have now destroyed more than three tonnes of illegal drugs with an estimated street value of more than $1 billion since July.
The result comes on the back a successful Victorian-based “Dob in a Dealer” campaign, which has no been rolled out nationally, which led more than 150 per cent rise in community tip-offs anonymously to Crime Stoppers.
Australia’s top drug and alcohol researchers joined international experts in Canberra yesterday to brief politicians at a national drug summit.
Some experts are pushing for Australia to consider decriminalising possession and use of small amounts of illicit drugs on the evidence from countries such as Portugal.
Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the idea decriminalising drugs would somehow solve Australia’s “addiction to the menace” of drugs such as ice was misguided.
“The best way to save lives is to stop illegal drugs coming into this country, stop people domestically manufacturing it, help people off their addiction and prevent people ever taking drugs in the first place,” Mr Keenan told the Herald Sun.
He said last year, in response to the report from the National Ice Taskforce, the Government invested $300 million to reducing demand for illegal drugs by boosting funding for treatment, after care, education, prevention and support.
Mr Keenan said drugs are illegal because they are “dangerous; they end lives, tear apart families and devastate whole communities”.
“No amount of pill testing will ever make illegal drugs ‘safe’ to take at raves or dance parties, and it will never be the case that I will ask law enforcement officials to actually enhance people’s ability to take drugs by supporting such an idea,” he said.
But Professor Simon Lenton from National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University said
Australia needed political leadership to ensure law enforcement and health sectors could facilitate harm prevention initiatives.”.
“Australia should address the barriers to sensible, targeted, micro policy trials, such as drug testing at music festivals,” he said.
Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/la...n/news-story/7b92dbc29f90d5ced617711c46fd0a6f
