NEWS: Daily Telegraph - 04/03/07 'Labor's drug surrender'

[hoptis]

Labor's drug surrender
Exclusive by Kelvin Bissett
March 06, 2007 12:00

Anti-drug campaigner Carly Crutchfield, who was turned away from the Good Vibrations festival. / The Daily Telegraph

A CONTROVERSIAL teen drug caution scheme introduced by the Carr Government is a shambles with the number of cautions issued for possession plummeting to almost zero.

A Daily Telegraph investigation into the state's caution scheme for youths aged up to 17 indicates police are increasingly turning a blind eye to cases of even hard drug use.

Figures released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show not one caution was issued to a young person for possession or use of heroin in 2006 – and there was just one caution for cocaine.

For possession or use of ecstasy there were just 17 cautions last year despite expert assessments that Australia has the highest rate of use anywhere in the world.

Despite an ice epidemic on our streets, police issued a meagre 15 cautions to young people over amphetamines.

The most cautions issued to under 17 year olds were for cannabis use, 559. But this was barely half the 1008 issued in 2001.

The cautioning scheme was introduced into the Young Offenders Act by the State Government in April 2000 with assurances that it was not a softening of drug use.

Anti-drugs campaigner Carly Crutchfield, 25, said last night she was not surprised to learn police are issuing few cautions – despite how widespread drug use has become.

"Young people do not try to hide it and they don't think it is wrong," she said.

A caution applies for a first offence when in possession of less than 1g of heroin, cocaine or amphetamine, 30g of cannabis leaf, 0.25 of ecstasy and 0.0008g of LSD.

For most types of drugs, the number of cautions has fallen sharply between 2001 and 2006.

The Cannabis Cautioning Scheme for adults, introduced at the same time, is also in retreat from lack of police action, figures show.

In 2000, 3715 cautions were issued. In 2006 the number had falled to 2781.

Major Brian Watters, a spokesman for Drug Free Australia, said last night that police were caught in a difficult position by policy makers.

"Police I have spoken to are increasingly saying: what's the point? Why bother with the paperwork," Mr Watters said.

Mr Watters, who slammed the caution scheme in 2000 as a slap on the wrist measure, said the soft approach sent the wrong message to young people.

"It's sad because intervention by the police in a young person's life can really change lives," he said. "It can stop them going down a very sad path."

Long-time drug campaigner Tony Wood said last night he was distressed to see 17 cautions in a single year issued for ecstasy, the drug that killed his 15-year-old daughter Anna in 1995.

A powerful batch of amphetamine, probably presented as ecstasy, is also thought to have killed 20-year-old Annabel Catt last month at the Good Vibrations festival recently.

Mr Wood said: "I bet if I went out with a video camera at one night club venue on a Saturday night I'd catch more than 17 deals on tape."

In response to the figures, the NSW Police Force issued a statement linking the drop in cautions for cannabis to recent research "which shows this type of illicit drug is declining in use".

Rather than abandoning the war on drugs, police have introduced new crime-fighting strategies over the past six years which tackle drug use, possession and supply.

The measures include drug detection dogs and high-visibility policing operations to arrest people regardless of their age.

Police operations targeting drugs were not focused on people's age but "on the prevalence of the use and supply of illicit substances".

Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said families had had enough of "Labor's softly-softly approach" when it comes to drugs, especially when it involves teenagers.

"We need to intervene early, enforce the laws and give our police the resources and powers to do the job," he said.

Bureau of Crime and Research Director Don Weatherburn said it was "impossible" to know for sure why the number of cautions was falling.

Daily Telegraph

 

[hoptis]

Is this Sydney, or Amsterdam?
Comment by Kelvin Bissett
March 06, 2007 12:00

SYDNEY is fast becoming a sunnier verion of doped-out, drug-riddled Amsterdam. And we were never even asked about it.

When the then Carr Government passed its new drug caution scheme for teenagers in 2000, the official spin was that it was about diverting teens to treatment.

Based on a recommendation from the NSW Drug Summit, the amendments to the Young Offenders Act were also said to help youths avoid a scarring confrontation with the legal system. Fair enough.

But the people of NSW were never told that the changes amounted to effective decriminalisation of personal possession of even nasties like cocaine and narcotics.

Because that's what figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime and Research suggest has evolved in the six years since.

The rate of cautions being issued – and number of charges going to court – has plummeted.

Ecstasy has almost tripled since the early 1990s, and Australia is said to have the highest rate of usage in the world.

But police could only find 17 teens with the illicit substance to caution last year.

Ice use is rampant, destroying lives. Yet police issued just 15 cautions to young people last year for use and possession of amphetamines.

While its true that cannabis is declining, the number of cautions for use is also falling too.

The police clearly have heard the message from policy makers that rigorous compliance and enforcement of the law for minor use of drugs is not their priority.

Besides, the paperwork for a worthless caution is hardly worth the effort, so why would officers bother?

So police are diverting resources elsewhere, choosing not to look where they might find minor amounts of illicit substances that can kill or lead to a years of excruciating enslavement.

The sad effect of this, as veteran campaigner Major Brian Watters points out, is that vulnerable youngsters are missing out on the helpful correction that can come from early intervention.

Drug law reform campaigners, who have long peddled their wares in the backrooms at Macquarie St, have engineered another retreat in the war on drugs.

It's their biggest win since the Medically Supervised Injecting Room.

But the decent people of NSW never signed up for drug decriminalisation – and this is what the caution system has become.

Daily Telegraph

 

[Ashley]

I think this whole thing is less of a political issue (at the moment of course it's political) and more of a police issue. Perhaps the cops in the field are not turning a blind eye but realizing that the majority of drug users aren't actually dangerous or harmful to society. The only harm they're inflicting is on themselves.

I also disagree with this statement from the first article:

"Young people do not try to hide it and they don't think it is wrong," she said.

I mean there comes a point where you have to think what more can they do? Start knocking on people's doors and asking "Have you got any illicit drugs in the house?"

"What about your kids? Have they got any illicit drugs in the house?"

 

[lil angel15]

The UNSW Drug Policy Modelling Program currently has a project underway titled 'Drug diversion: Jurisdictional overview'. It will be interesting to read on its completion. An overview of the project is detailed below;

Drug diversion: Jurisdictional overview

Investigator: Caitlin Hughes

Overview:

In Australia there has been a preference to divert minor drug users to drug education and/or treatment instead of applying the traditional criminal justice response. In recent years such a response has become more mainstream particularly after the adoption of the Council Of Australian Governments-Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative, a national agreement to divert minor drug users. Yet with over 25 programs across Australia there are considerable jurisdictional differences which have contributed towards confusion as to the current state of drug diversion in Australia. This is the first component of a project that examines the diversion of drug-related offenders through the criminal justice system to education and treatment. It provides a jurisdictional overview of all drug diversion programs operating in Australia as of January 2007, including programs funded through and outside the COAG agreement. It summarises the program criteria, their target groups, diversionary procedures and legislative basis. This overview should have immediate benefit for policy makers, researchers and states and territories.

Expected Completion: March 2007

UNSW Drug Policy Modelling Program Projects

 

[lil angel15]

Detailed below is the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research media release in regards to the caution scheme.

The full report, 'Reoffending among young people cautioned by police or who participated in a youth justice conference', can be viewed by following the link.

Re-offending by young people cautioned or conferenced
Release date: Wednesday, 3 January 2007

Juveniles who receive a caution or a youth justice conference are less likely to re-offend than those who are referred to the Children’s Court, a new report by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has found.

The Bureau identified a group of young offenders cautioned by police (n = 5,981) or dealt with at a Youth Justice Conference (n = 1,711) in 1999 and tracked their subsequent contacts with the court system over the ensuing five years.

Forty-two per cent of those cautioned and 58 per cent of those dealt with at a youth justice conference had a further offence proved against them in the Children’s Court over the five-year follow-up period. Earlier Bureau research has shown that 65 per cent of those appearing in the Children’s Court are convicted of a further offence within five years.

Only a small proportion of those cautioned (5.2 per cent) or conferenced (10.8 per cent) committed an offence serious enough to warrant a custodial sentence within five years of being cautioned or conferenced.

Commenting on the findings, the Director of the Bureau, Dr Don Weatherburn, cautioned that they should not be interpreted as evidence that the Children’s Court is less effective in reducing juvenile recidivism than Youth Justice Conferences or Police cautions.

‘The Young Offender’s Act establishes a hierarchy of responses to suspected juvenile offending, ranging in order of seriousness from police warnings to police cautions, then to referral to a youth justice conference and, finally, referral to the Children’s Court’.

‘Young offenders deemed by police to be at higher risk of re-offending are more likely to be sent to the Children’s Court. Those who are deemed to be lower risks are more likely to be dealt with via a police caution or referred by police to a youth justice conference,’ he said.

Dr Weatherburn said that there was a strong case for further Government investment in early intervention programs, such as multisystemic therapy1, which is currently being trialled in Western Australia and which has been shown in overseas research to be effective in reducing juvenile re-offending.

‘Effective early intervention programs are expensive but in the long run they pay for themselves through reduced rates of arrest and incarceration’ Dr Weatherburn said.

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Media Release

 

[hoptis]

Debnam slams drug failure
By Clare Masters and Joe Hildebrand
March 07, 2007 12:00

Anti-drug campaigners Matt Noffs and Tony Raeburn with Brendan (centre) yesterday / The Daily Telegraph

STATE Opposition Leader Peter Debnam yesterday said the breakdown of the Government's controversial teen drug caution scheme was proof the ALP's "softly softly approach" had failed.

The Daily Telegraph revealed the downfall of the program, introduced by the Carr government in 2000, with an investigation showing cautions issued for drug possession for teenagers had fallen to almost zero.

Figures showed no cautions were issued for heroin last year, just one for cocaine, 17 for ecstasy and 15 for amphetamines.

Mr Debnam yesterday slammed the State Government's inaction on drugs and reinforced his zero-tolerance approach.

"We need to intervene early, enforce the laws and give our police the resources and powers to do the job," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"NSW can no longer afford Labor's softly softly approach when it comes to drugs – especially when it involves teenagers."

Yesterday Mr Iemma was evasive when asked about the figures, pointing to a decline in the use of drugs such as marijuana.

"One of the major factors is that there has been a reduction in the use of cannabis and a reduction in the use of illicit drugs," he said.

Salvation Army youth services director Paul Moulds said he was surprised by the falling cautions and it was likely to be a resourcing issue for busy police.

"It is a time-consuming process," he said of the scheme, whereby officers bring the offender back to the station to complete paperwork.

Youth worker Matt Noffs from the Ted Noffs Foundation called for the failed system to be converted into a mandatory treatment service.

Mr Noffs is building a street university for disadvantaged youth in Liverpool which he hopes will bring community services together.

One of the street university students is Brendan, a 20-year-old who has been bounced around community services since his father died of a drug overdose when he was 12.

It has been four years since Brendan has had a place to call home.

He has been staying in Salvation Army accommodation and is now working with councillors to encourage other young people not fall into the drug trap that killed his father.

"I don't want to see people go through the same things I've had to," he said.

Daily Telegraph

 

[2sleepy]

As an interesting aside to this article it seems we have thetans on the loose -- Care for a dose of scientology? Perhaps, she was planning on the touch assist method for suspected users?

Drug crusader gets marching orders

IT HAS been a crowded 25 years for Carly Crutchfield, the photogenic anti-drugs campaigner who is opposing the Iemma Government's supposed "soft on drugs" stance.

The last time we saw the self-described "investment specialist, property and finance" and young Scientologist was in Banda Aceh after the 2005 tsunami, carrying out a spot of trauma counselling. Before that she had a cleaning business with Sydney property tyro Libby Selep. Apart from handing out brochures for the Church of Scientology-sponsored Drug Free Ambassadors Australia,Ms Crutchfield is also executive director of My Own Super, part of the Princeton Group, based in Parramatta. She's been running investment education seminars and workshops since 2002 and attendances at her demonstrations have jumped by 500 per cent. She is about to launch the My Own Super brand with a national television and print campaign.

Meanwhile, back on the anti-drug trail, Ms Crutchfield claimed to have been refused entry to the recent Good Vibrations festival, but given her habit of wearing Scientology T-shirts it's unclear if she was banned for proselytising or anti-drug campaigning.

Source:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/state-election-2007/sharpshooter-piccoli-hits-wrong-target/2007/03/06/1173166697611.html

My Own Super: http://www.princetonsecurities.com.au/home.html

Scientology investments?

 

[gher]

Labor have the right idea on the issue but it will probably lose them a lot of votes.

Meanwhile, back on the anti-drug trail, Ms Crutchfield claimed to have been refused entry to the recent Good Vibrations festival, but given her habit of wearing Scientology T-shirts it's unclear if she was banned for proselytising or anti-drug campaigning.

Or perhaps she didn't have a ticket? That's always possible.

 

[lovebrisvegas]

Labor have the right idea on the issue but it will probably lose them a lot of votes.



Or perhaps she didn't have a ticket? That's always possible.

Maybe she was trying to smugle in drugs?