http://blogs.news.com.au/news/crime/index.php/news/comments/where_were_on_drugs/
Long post but interesting read.
I have been captivated by the huge varience with peoples opinions towards drugs. Comments still raging on. What do you all think?
Where we are on drugs
20 Comments | 0 Trackbacks | Permalink Gotcha Blog
By Gary Hughes
Friday, November 03, 2006 at 12:04am
The Australian Federal Police believes it might be making inroads into drug smuggling into Australia, with its strategy of targeting shipments off-shore beginning to show results. Seizures of almost all categories of drugs coming into the country were down in the past 12 months, compared to the previous year. For instance heroin seizures fell from 183 kilograms in 2004-05 to 24 kilograms in 2005-06. Seizures of MDMA (Ecstasy) were down from 2037 kilograms to just 463 kilograms. And cocaine seizures fell from 183 kilograms to 87 kilograms. “It is plausible that the AFP’s strategic focus on pre-emptive offshore interdictions has had the positive result of reducing the number of seizures within Australia,” the AFP says. Here’s a snapshot of drug smuggling in Australia provided in the AFP’s annual report tabled this week in Federal Parliament:
• Heroin: The Australian heroin market continues to gradually decline. The purity of street-level seizures has remained constant in some states and fallen in others. The number of heroin overdose deaths in recent years has stabilised and is significantly below the 1999 peak. Heroin seizures at the Australian border have been typified by low volume, high-frequency parcel-post importations, offset by
the occasional significant seizure in shipping containers. Importations using the air passenger stream have also continued. Approximately 80 per cent of heroin seized in Australia continues to originate from the Golden Triangle region of South-East Asia, although heroin produced primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan has a potential market in Australia.
• MDMA: MDMA trafficking syndicates continue to attempt to avoid law enforcement scrutiny by shipping the powder and liquid forms of the drug. Seizures in 2005–06 suggest that criminal groups are attempting to introduce high-quality and high-volume laboratory production of MDMA in Australia, as evident from the importation of MDMA precursors and relevant production expertise. Following record MDMA and MDMA precursor seizures in Australia in early 2005, criminal syndicates appear to have diverted their MDMA production efforts away from Australia and towards Indonesia, demonstrated by the detection of a large-scale MDMA (and other amphetamines) laboratory operating in Indonesia in November 2005.
• Amphetamines (other than MDMA): In recent years, there has been a global shift away from opiates towards synthetic drugs, especially amphetamines. This shift has been particularly evident in Australia, where significant reductions in opiate use have taken place concurrently with an exponential increase in synthetic-drug use. After cannabis, amphetamines are the most widely used illicit drugs in Australia. The Australian amphetamines market continues to be largely supplied through domestic clandestine laboratory manufacture of methylamphetamine, supplemented by importation of the higher purity crystal methamphetamine (commonly referred to as ‘ice’). Amphetamine seizures at the Australian border
have increasingly involved ice. AFP investigations have not only identified ongoing attempts to import ice but also increasing attempts at domestic manufacture. In April 2006, the AFP discovered and successfully dismantled a sophisticated clandestine laboratory in NSW. This laboratory used a method of amphetamine manufacture not previously seen in Australia. This method, which requires specialist equipment and different chemicals, is more commonly associated with commercial scale laboratories detected overseas, rather than in the characteristic small-scale production Australian laboratories. This combination of production method and unusual scale is a significant development in domestic amphetamine manufacture.
• Cocaine: Eradication efforts in South America have forced a shift in cocaine-growing regions, displacing coca production from Colombia to neighbouring countries, such as Bolivia and Peru. Nevertheless, international cocaine production has remained high, with Colombia remaining the largest coca grower in the world. Colombian crime groups continue to export multi-tonne shipments of cocaine from South America. These shipments are received and repackaged into smaller amounts by other criminal groups for distribution to drug consuming nations. Criminal groups have established effective cocaine trafficking routes out of South America into Africa and Asia. These regions then act as staging posts for distribution of the cocaine to countries such as Australia.
Have Your SayYour Comments Show Oldest | Newest first Page 1 of 1 Posted by Michael of Liverpool on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 02:50am
While I’ll happily applaud individual officers for their efforts and comittment I don’t believe this. It reads like a press release. All these efforts are like trying to plug a leak in the Titanic. There is just too many billions of dollars to be made by gangsters running the trade and too many low level couriers who can be sacrificied to the cops. They were saying this 5 years ago, 10 years and 20 years ago. Wake me up when it’s all over.
Posted by David Daniel Ball of Carramar/Sydney on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 06:14am
It means a lot to me that drugs don’t make it to young ones. Right thinking dopes who believe that drugs are ok don’t see the tragedy of how drugs twist and destroy lives.
I’m particularly concerned by parents who have an attitude that drugs are ok. Kids don’t get to be better for drug use.
I remember, long ago, a teen mum who used to make her baby smoke dope. I believe that to be child abuse.
Posted by pat of brisbane on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 08:17am
Except for heroin (where I have no idea) the price of all the drugs mentioned have decreased in the last 12 months, particularly cocaine and mdma while purity has either remained stable or increased. The police efforts have no effect on supply or demand, fluctuations in price/puity ratio are determined by market forces - Australian dollar remains strong which makes drugs for importation more profitable and Australia a bigger target.
Legalisation is not about a “solution” to drug abuse, it is about ending a stupid, pointless and immoral campaign that can never be won and results in more harm to society as a whole. Anyone who wants drugs in Australia can get them (even you DDBall). It won’t take you long to find them, and after the first time it only gets easier. Most european countries have dicriminalised drug for personal use, you would never be subject to police searches on the streets with dogs and yet we in Australia use more drugs, more often and start earlier than our counterparts overseas (this is true for MDMA, amphets and cannabis). The difference? our drugs cost marginally more. This result is pathetic, and the article above is more bulls*#t from the feds to justify an ever increasing budget.
Posted by Cheungy of Normanhurst on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:07am
Whilst policing drug traffickers is a very serious role and is a necessary evil, I personally believe that hole is too large to plug and the best we can do is discourage them, but to completely stop them, would be impossible.
End of the day, the business exists because there is demand. We have taken very extreme marketing and advertising to stop cigarette smoking. And I think more of the same needs to be done for drugs but targetting the younger demographic.
Drugs education should start at home and at school from an early age.
Posted by Old and Grumpy of Albany on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:49am
What a no brainer Pat of Brisbane, We have governments trying to encourage children to not take up smoking, and adults to give up, and you want to legalise more drugs. Typical of many people today take the easy way out, and make it easy for all the people to obtain drugs
Posted by SM of Sydney on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:56am
Penalties, penalties, penalties. Due to our soft judicial sentencing approach no realistic deterrent exists within this country. Suppliers and users need to be appropriately punished. Life in jail for supply and decent jail terms for use. In addition, the three strikes and you’re out method needs to be adopted for users. An individual prosecuted three times for drug use should be removed from society permanently. I realise some will consider my solution harsh; however, serious societal problems require severe measures. Although I am not necessarily a proponent of capital punishment for drug related crime, I am aware that Singapore enjoys an almost crime-free environment due to this countries zero tolerance for illegal drugs.
Posted by Stabby of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:59am
I agree with pat of brisbane, drugs are easily accessible to anyone.
So instead of focusing so much on trying to I agree with pat of Brisbane, drugs are easy to get to and anyone can get them.
You can never win the war of drugs and the more pressure the governments put on the dealers, the more expensive drugs will become. Manufacturers, dealers, runners and anyone else associated in the business will start looking at higher prices to compensate for the growing risk factor, and that worries me. The higher the street price the more desperate users will become when they realise they can no longer afford a hit.
So, at the end of the day who will suffer the most, the junkie, the dealer or society (you and me)? I’d say society. Meaning, my property, my possession and perhaps my life become more at stake because of the totalitarianism laws that is supposed to protect the public from drugs and their abusers.
And just to make myself clear, I am not a drug advocate. I do not support drug abuse or even use of “hard drugs”. I do not care if people choose to take acid, shrooms or ecstasy on the weekends to improve their night if they are able to do it safely. It is your own choice if you want to get high. My concern is the mounting police pressure (raids, searches, sniffer dogs), which is putting these users at risk. More police presence around nightclubs, raves and concerts will not stop people from bringing drugs in, it will only force them to consume the entire lot in one hit, which could potentially be fatal.
Posted by Jonsey on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:07am
I am so sick of hearing the “drugs don’t hurt anyone and it’s my choice to take them or not” stance by some people! You self-absorbed twats! Your liberal attitudes to drugs are related only to your own selfish needs and sense of “freedom”. Well guess what people, the world is bigger than you are! You want to see the real drug problem? Then visit South America, Colombia and see the suffering that the producers of Cocaine inflict on innocents! Drug gangs murder hundreds of people a year in Colombia all fuelled by the European/ Australian/ American’s stupid belief that they aren’t hurting anyone other than themselves!
You see the drug problem isn’t just about “rec use” and junkies - it’s about innocent people (children!) in far away placed that you will never meet who have no freedom. Who end up slaughtered on their bus into town by drug cartel heavy men with a machine gun and a grudge! It doesn’t just happen in the movies you know! But of course most drug users would be too ignorant to actually realise that (Hey I guess you know the person who sold it to you and they’re alright - yah?)
While I applaud the AFP’s tactics - what would be better is if some small minded - selfish - ignorant people looked beyond their “wannabe” desires and removed the demand for the drugs themselves.
Posted by Mexican Ninja of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:15am
And the ‘War on Drugs’ is working so well isn’t it?
“The Australian Federal Police believes it might be making inroads into drug smuggling into Australia”. The AFP can say whatever they want but the fact is that drugs are just as easy to get now as they ever have been. It’s ridiculous to think that you can stop the drug problem with prohibition. Just look around at the amount of drugs available to see that it isn’t working.
Posted by roh of castle hill on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:23am
This is not a war that is winnable. Your not just dealing with the pushers and supplyers, your dealing with the demand aswell, probably to a more degree than the actual peddling of the drug.
We (humans) have been seeking out altered conciousness for milennia.
I urge everyone to read up on the “drugs & alchihol” forum at newscientist.com to gain more info about “drug use” through our history.
There is always going to be a demand, unless the government can gain absolute control of our mind in the future (scary), so the government needs to crawl out of this hole of denial that they have nicely positioned themselves in and to think about some ways in which they can make the activity of altered conciousness a safe and enjoyable one.
Posted by The Blogbuster of Drummoyne on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:31am
It means a lot to me that drugs don’t make it to young ones.
That’s why the authorities need to get serious about drugs and do something positive, because it is obvious what they are doing is a TOTAL waist of time and effort not to mention the billions of dollars down the drain and crime syndicates going from strength to strength.
Posted by Criminologist on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:41am
What makes you think that if you legalise it you will solve the problem?
The price does not matter, even if you sell it cheaply, the junkie on the other end of the needle will spend all of his money on it and still want more. They will continue to commit crimes then to further feed their habit.
As I said the other day, who will be the first parents to push their kids forward to become junkies. Will you be happy with that decision?
Posted by pat of brisbane on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:44am
Jonesy: No-one has stated that drugs don’t hurt anyone, only that the war on drugs causes the majority of the pain involved. You mention children being hurt, what about the kids getting regular sprayings of agent orange to (unsuccesfully) irradicate the coca fields? The fact that certain products are illegal in some western countries deprives decent folks of what should be a perfectly legitimate income from a cash crop, and funds huge criminal enterprises for not so decent folk. Your shrill cries of “think of the children” are just typical of the reactionary and irrational pro drug-war arguments we read in this blog. The drug war does not work, it makes all the problems associated with addiction and problem usage worse. If you actually cared about people affected by drugs you would support the ending of this rediculous program and the funnelling of that wasted money into treatment centres for addicts.
Out of curiosity do you think prostitution and gambling should be illegal too?
And SM: I’m glad you support the gaoling of up to 50% of our population, please write a check for several billion dollars so we can hunt them down and throw them in cells yet to be built. By the way, the death penalty doesn’t seem to deter people in our neighbouring countries from using drugs, perhaps we should consider torture?
Posted by Criminologist on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:44am
If you do legalise it, the same ‘billions of dollars’ will be handed straight to the Health Services to cope with the tsunami of health issues that arise from legalised drugs.
Posted by Mexican Ninja of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:51am
"visit South America, Colombia and see the suffering that the producers of Cocaine inflict on innocents”.
If drugs weren’t subject to prohibition the industry could be regulated, much like the tobacco and alcohol industries are, instead of being run by organised crime gangs and drug cartels.
Is this your argument against all drugs? Because I fail to see how someone smoking marijuana grown in Adelaide contributes to drug gangs murdering hundreds of people a year in Colombia.
Posted by Jonsey on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:07am
Also, any excuses about drug use having gone on throughout history and therefore being impossible to stop is a defeatist notion - isn’t society supposed to evolve?
Posted by Matt Damon of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:26am
Helping people to do drugs safely by providing correct information on drugs couldn’t hurt. If someone makes the descision to do drugs they will do it regardless of the penalty. If they are going to do it (which they are) it would help them to make a more informed decision instead of what the government and media put out about dying and getting holes in your brain. Yes people die on drugs, but i think less people would die if they knew more about what they where doing. It’s like putting someone who doesn’t know how to drive behind the wheel of a car...all bad.
Posted by SECRET SOCIETY on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:26am
LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT THIS COUNTRY (AND ALMOST THE ENTIRE PLANET) IS RUN BY THE BIGGEST MAFIOSO-TYPE GROUP THAT HAS EVER EXISTED. THESE PEOPLE HAVE CONTACTS AND ASSOCIATES IN POLITICS,LAW,EVERYWHERE. THESE DRUGS WILL ALWAYS GET THROUGH. BELIEVE IT. I KNOW PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIED AND I HAVE HAD TO PULL MY HEAD IN.
Posted by hmm on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:30am
dammit mr.ball!
how did you manage to see through my guise and reveal to unsuspecting society my plan for world domination whose first step included a legion of dope-fiend babies and their reefer mums!?
whilst at times, i feel that my analogies, etc are pushing it, are on the margins, etc, i cant help but think youre clutching at straws with that case.
btw, is that to say that all women that drink would expose their kid to alcohol in utero? ah...uh huh!uh huh!
Posted by sensible debate of logicville on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:33am
I think the public MUST realise that there are responsible drug users and irresponsible drug users. It’s the latter that you always hear about in the media.
Mr Joe Public who holds a high paying full-time job but likes to dabble in the odd narcotic once a month will NEVER be talked about in the media. It’s the un-educated tracksuit-wearing junkies that the media likes to focus on....
Long post but interesting read.
I have been captivated by the huge varience with peoples opinions towards drugs. Comments still raging on. What do you all think?
Where we are on drugs
20 Comments | 0 Trackbacks | Permalink Gotcha Blog
By Gary Hughes
Friday, November 03, 2006 at 12:04am
The Australian Federal Police believes it might be making inroads into drug smuggling into Australia, with its strategy of targeting shipments off-shore beginning to show results. Seizures of almost all categories of drugs coming into the country were down in the past 12 months, compared to the previous year. For instance heroin seizures fell from 183 kilograms in 2004-05 to 24 kilograms in 2005-06. Seizures of MDMA (Ecstasy) were down from 2037 kilograms to just 463 kilograms. And cocaine seizures fell from 183 kilograms to 87 kilograms. “It is plausible that the AFP’s strategic focus on pre-emptive offshore interdictions has had the positive result of reducing the number of seizures within Australia,” the AFP says. Here’s a snapshot of drug smuggling in Australia provided in the AFP’s annual report tabled this week in Federal Parliament:
• Heroin: The Australian heroin market continues to gradually decline. The purity of street-level seizures has remained constant in some states and fallen in others. The number of heroin overdose deaths in recent years has stabilised and is significantly below the 1999 peak. Heroin seizures at the Australian border have been typified by low volume, high-frequency parcel-post importations, offset by
the occasional significant seizure in shipping containers. Importations using the air passenger stream have also continued. Approximately 80 per cent of heroin seized in Australia continues to originate from the Golden Triangle region of South-East Asia, although heroin produced primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan has a potential market in Australia.
• MDMA: MDMA trafficking syndicates continue to attempt to avoid law enforcement scrutiny by shipping the powder and liquid forms of the drug. Seizures in 2005–06 suggest that criminal groups are attempting to introduce high-quality and high-volume laboratory production of MDMA in Australia, as evident from the importation of MDMA precursors and relevant production expertise. Following record MDMA and MDMA precursor seizures in Australia in early 2005, criminal syndicates appear to have diverted their MDMA production efforts away from Australia and towards Indonesia, demonstrated by the detection of a large-scale MDMA (and other amphetamines) laboratory operating in Indonesia in November 2005.
• Amphetamines (other than MDMA): In recent years, there has been a global shift away from opiates towards synthetic drugs, especially amphetamines. This shift has been particularly evident in Australia, where significant reductions in opiate use have taken place concurrently with an exponential increase in synthetic-drug use. After cannabis, amphetamines are the most widely used illicit drugs in Australia. The Australian amphetamines market continues to be largely supplied through domestic clandestine laboratory manufacture of methylamphetamine, supplemented by importation of the higher purity crystal methamphetamine (commonly referred to as ‘ice’). Amphetamine seizures at the Australian border
have increasingly involved ice. AFP investigations have not only identified ongoing attempts to import ice but also increasing attempts at domestic manufacture. In April 2006, the AFP discovered and successfully dismantled a sophisticated clandestine laboratory in NSW. This laboratory used a method of amphetamine manufacture not previously seen in Australia. This method, which requires specialist equipment and different chemicals, is more commonly associated with commercial scale laboratories detected overseas, rather than in the characteristic small-scale production Australian laboratories. This combination of production method and unusual scale is a significant development in domestic amphetamine manufacture.
• Cocaine: Eradication efforts in South America have forced a shift in cocaine-growing regions, displacing coca production from Colombia to neighbouring countries, such as Bolivia and Peru. Nevertheless, international cocaine production has remained high, with Colombia remaining the largest coca grower in the world. Colombian crime groups continue to export multi-tonne shipments of cocaine from South America. These shipments are received and repackaged into smaller amounts by other criminal groups for distribution to drug consuming nations. Criminal groups have established effective cocaine trafficking routes out of South America into Africa and Asia. These regions then act as staging posts for distribution of the cocaine to countries such as Australia.
Have Your SayYour Comments Show Oldest | Newest first Page 1 of 1 Posted by Michael of Liverpool on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 02:50am
While I’ll happily applaud individual officers for their efforts and comittment I don’t believe this. It reads like a press release. All these efforts are like trying to plug a leak in the Titanic. There is just too many billions of dollars to be made by gangsters running the trade and too many low level couriers who can be sacrificied to the cops. They were saying this 5 years ago, 10 years and 20 years ago. Wake me up when it’s all over.
Posted by David Daniel Ball of Carramar/Sydney on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 06:14am
It means a lot to me that drugs don’t make it to young ones. Right thinking dopes who believe that drugs are ok don’t see the tragedy of how drugs twist and destroy lives.
I’m particularly concerned by parents who have an attitude that drugs are ok. Kids don’t get to be better for drug use.
I remember, long ago, a teen mum who used to make her baby smoke dope. I believe that to be child abuse.
Posted by pat of brisbane on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 08:17am
Except for heroin (where I have no idea) the price of all the drugs mentioned have decreased in the last 12 months, particularly cocaine and mdma while purity has either remained stable or increased. The police efforts have no effect on supply or demand, fluctuations in price/puity ratio are determined by market forces - Australian dollar remains strong which makes drugs for importation more profitable and Australia a bigger target.
Legalisation is not about a “solution” to drug abuse, it is about ending a stupid, pointless and immoral campaign that can never be won and results in more harm to society as a whole. Anyone who wants drugs in Australia can get them (even you DDBall). It won’t take you long to find them, and after the first time it only gets easier. Most european countries have dicriminalised drug for personal use, you would never be subject to police searches on the streets with dogs and yet we in Australia use more drugs, more often and start earlier than our counterparts overseas (this is true for MDMA, amphets and cannabis). The difference? our drugs cost marginally more. This result is pathetic, and the article above is more bulls*#t from the feds to justify an ever increasing budget.
Posted by Cheungy of Normanhurst on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:07am
Whilst policing drug traffickers is a very serious role and is a necessary evil, I personally believe that hole is too large to plug and the best we can do is discourage them, but to completely stop them, would be impossible.
End of the day, the business exists because there is demand. We have taken very extreme marketing and advertising to stop cigarette smoking. And I think more of the same needs to be done for drugs but targetting the younger demographic.
Drugs education should start at home and at school from an early age.
Posted by Old and Grumpy of Albany on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:49am
What a no brainer Pat of Brisbane, We have governments trying to encourage children to not take up smoking, and adults to give up, and you want to legalise more drugs. Typical of many people today take the easy way out, and make it easy for all the people to obtain drugs
Posted by SM of Sydney on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:56am
Penalties, penalties, penalties. Due to our soft judicial sentencing approach no realistic deterrent exists within this country. Suppliers and users need to be appropriately punished. Life in jail for supply and decent jail terms for use. In addition, the three strikes and you’re out method needs to be adopted for users. An individual prosecuted three times for drug use should be removed from society permanently. I realise some will consider my solution harsh; however, serious societal problems require severe measures. Although I am not necessarily a proponent of capital punishment for drug related crime, I am aware that Singapore enjoys an almost crime-free environment due to this countries zero tolerance for illegal drugs.
Posted by Stabby of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 09:59am
I agree with pat of brisbane, drugs are easily accessible to anyone.
So instead of focusing so much on trying to I agree with pat of Brisbane, drugs are easy to get to and anyone can get them.
You can never win the war of drugs and the more pressure the governments put on the dealers, the more expensive drugs will become. Manufacturers, dealers, runners and anyone else associated in the business will start looking at higher prices to compensate for the growing risk factor, and that worries me. The higher the street price the more desperate users will become when they realise they can no longer afford a hit.
So, at the end of the day who will suffer the most, the junkie, the dealer or society (you and me)? I’d say society. Meaning, my property, my possession and perhaps my life become more at stake because of the totalitarianism laws that is supposed to protect the public from drugs and their abusers.
And just to make myself clear, I am not a drug advocate. I do not support drug abuse or even use of “hard drugs”. I do not care if people choose to take acid, shrooms or ecstasy on the weekends to improve their night if they are able to do it safely. It is your own choice if you want to get high. My concern is the mounting police pressure (raids, searches, sniffer dogs), which is putting these users at risk. More police presence around nightclubs, raves and concerts will not stop people from bringing drugs in, it will only force them to consume the entire lot in one hit, which could potentially be fatal.
Posted by Jonsey on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:07am
I am so sick of hearing the “drugs don’t hurt anyone and it’s my choice to take them or not” stance by some people! You self-absorbed twats! Your liberal attitudes to drugs are related only to your own selfish needs and sense of “freedom”. Well guess what people, the world is bigger than you are! You want to see the real drug problem? Then visit South America, Colombia and see the suffering that the producers of Cocaine inflict on innocents! Drug gangs murder hundreds of people a year in Colombia all fuelled by the European/ Australian/ American’s stupid belief that they aren’t hurting anyone other than themselves!
You see the drug problem isn’t just about “rec use” and junkies - it’s about innocent people (children!) in far away placed that you will never meet who have no freedom. Who end up slaughtered on their bus into town by drug cartel heavy men with a machine gun and a grudge! It doesn’t just happen in the movies you know! But of course most drug users would be too ignorant to actually realise that (Hey I guess you know the person who sold it to you and they’re alright - yah?)
While I applaud the AFP’s tactics - what would be better is if some small minded - selfish - ignorant people looked beyond their “wannabe” desires and removed the demand for the drugs themselves.
Posted by Mexican Ninja of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:15am
And the ‘War on Drugs’ is working so well isn’t it?
“The Australian Federal Police believes it might be making inroads into drug smuggling into Australia”. The AFP can say whatever they want but the fact is that drugs are just as easy to get now as they ever have been. It’s ridiculous to think that you can stop the drug problem with prohibition. Just look around at the amount of drugs available to see that it isn’t working.
Posted by roh of castle hill on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:23am
This is not a war that is winnable. Your not just dealing with the pushers and supplyers, your dealing with the demand aswell, probably to a more degree than the actual peddling of the drug.
We (humans) have been seeking out altered conciousness for milennia.
I urge everyone to read up on the “drugs & alchihol” forum at newscientist.com to gain more info about “drug use” through our history.
There is always going to be a demand, unless the government can gain absolute control of our mind in the future (scary), so the government needs to crawl out of this hole of denial that they have nicely positioned themselves in and to think about some ways in which they can make the activity of altered conciousness a safe and enjoyable one.
Posted by The Blogbuster of Drummoyne on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:31am
It means a lot to me that drugs don’t make it to young ones.
That’s why the authorities need to get serious about drugs and do something positive, because it is obvious what they are doing is a TOTAL waist of time and effort not to mention the billions of dollars down the drain and crime syndicates going from strength to strength.
Posted by Criminologist on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:41am
What makes you think that if you legalise it you will solve the problem?
The price does not matter, even if you sell it cheaply, the junkie on the other end of the needle will spend all of his money on it and still want more. They will continue to commit crimes then to further feed their habit.
As I said the other day, who will be the first parents to push their kids forward to become junkies. Will you be happy with that decision?
Posted by pat of brisbane on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:44am
Jonesy: No-one has stated that drugs don’t hurt anyone, only that the war on drugs causes the majority of the pain involved. You mention children being hurt, what about the kids getting regular sprayings of agent orange to (unsuccesfully) irradicate the coca fields? The fact that certain products are illegal in some western countries deprives decent folks of what should be a perfectly legitimate income from a cash crop, and funds huge criminal enterprises for not so decent folk. Your shrill cries of “think of the children” are just typical of the reactionary and irrational pro drug-war arguments we read in this blog. The drug war does not work, it makes all the problems associated with addiction and problem usage worse. If you actually cared about people affected by drugs you would support the ending of this rediculous program and the funnelling of that wasted money into treatment centres for addicts.
Out of curiosity do you think prostitution and gambling should be illegal too?
And SM: I’m glad you support the gaoling of up to 50% of our population, please write a check for several billion dollars so we can hunt them down and throw them in cells yet to be built. By the way, the death penalty doesn’t seem to deter people in our neighbouring countries from using drugs, perhaps we should consider torture?
Posted by Criminologist on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:44am
If you do legalise it, the same ‘billions of dollars’ will be handed straight to the Health Services to cope with the tsunami of health issues that arise from legalised drugs.
Posted by Mexican Ninja of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 10:51am
"visit South America, Colombia and see the suffering that the producers of Cocaine inflict on innocents”.
If drugs weren’t subject to prohibition the industry could be regulated, much like the tobacco and alcohol industries are, instead of being run by organised crime gangs and drug cartels.
Is this your argument against all drugs? Because I fail to see how someone smoking marijuana grown in Adelaide contributes to drug gangs murdering hundreds of people a year in Colombia.
Posted by Jonsey on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:07am
Also, any excuses about drug use having gone on throughout history and therefore being impossible to stop is a defeatist notion - isn’t society supposed to evolve?
Posted by Matt Damon of Adelaide on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:26am
Helping people to do drugs safely by providing correct information on drugs couldn’t hurt. If someone makes the descision to do drugs they will do it regardless of the penalty. If they are going to do it (which they are) it would help them to make a more informed decision instead of what the government and media put out about dying and getting holes in your brain. Yes people die on drugs, but i think less people would die if they knew more about what they where doing. It’s like putting someone who doesn’t know how to drive behind the wheel of a car...all bad.
Posted by SECRET SOCIETY on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:26am
LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT THIS COUNTRY (AND ALMOST THE ENTIRE PLANET) IS RUN BY THE BIGGEST MAFIOSO-TYPE GROUP THAT HAS EVER EXISTED. THESE PEOPLE HAVE CONTACTS AND ASSOCIATES IN POLITICS,LAW,EVERYWHERE. THESE DRUGS WILL ALWAYS GET THROUGH. BELIEVE IT. I KNOW PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIED AND I HAVE HAD TO PULL MY HEAD IN.
Posted by hmm on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:30am
dammit mr.ball!
how did you manage to see through my guise and reveal to unsuspecting society my plan for world domination whose first step included a legion of dope-fiend babies and their reefer mums!?
whilst at times, i feel that my analogies, etc are pushing it, are on the margins, etc, i cant help but think youre clutching at straws with that case.
btw, is that to say that all women that drink would expose their kid to alcohol in utero? ah...uh huh!uh huh!
Posted by sensible debate of logicville on Fri 03 Nov 06 at 11:33am
I think the public MUST realise that there are responsible drug users and irresponsible drug users. It’s the latter that you always hear about in the media.
Mr Joe Public who holds a high paying full-time job but likes to dabble in the odd narcotic once a month will NEVER be talked about in the media. It’s the un-educated tracksuit-wearing junkies that the media likes to focus on....
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