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War on drugs a failure - Foreign Minister Bob Carr

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getyourselfhigh200

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Joined
Oct 23, 2006
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145
I thought I was still dreaming this morning when I read this:

I highly recommend bluelighters comment on the article and vote in the poll, if online news sites get hundreds of comments on the story then they will be highly motivated to do another article on the topic in the near future:

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/po...ilure-that-bred-criminals-20120402-1w8v3.html
http://www.news.com.au/national/its...-war-report-says/story-e6frfkvr-1226316949594
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mo...otics-has-failed/story-fn7x8me2-1226316933387

THE Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, is among a group of prominent Australians who have declared the ''war on drugs'' a failure in the most significant challenge to drug laws in decades.
''The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are letting it happen,'' says a report released today by the group, which includes the former federal police chief Mick Palmer, the former NSW director of public prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery, QC, the former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop, a former Defence Department secretary, Paul Barratt, the former federal health ministers Michael Wooldridge and Peter Baume, and the drug addiction expert Alex Wodak.
Senator Carr, the former NSW premier, agreed to join the campaign before becoming Foreign Affairs Minister. In his contribution to the report he questions whether the pursuit of marijuana users is the best use of police time.
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"The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are letting it happen." ... Bob Carr. Photo: Reuters
''An issue that worried me while I was in NSW politics was the police hitting railway stations with sniffer dogs. It was marijuana that was the focus.''
This was a victimless crime and he would have preferred police ''to do things like make public transport safe and clean up Cabramatta'', he said.
A spokesman for Senator Carr said last night that he supported drug law reform but as a federal minister would be supporting government policy in this area.

Advocate of law reform ... Nicholas Cowdery.
The report was written by the population health expert Emeritus Professor Bob Douglas and a social research consultant, David McDonald, for the think tank Australia21, which held a roundtable at Sydney University in January.
It calls for a fundamental rethink of drug policies and ''an end to the tough on drugs approach''. Last year the Global Commission on Drug Policy said the war on drugs had failed ''with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world''.
Dr Wooldridge, who as health minister supported a heroin trial in the ACT which was blocked by the then prime minister, John Howard, says in the new report: ''The key message is that we have 40 years of experience of a law and order approach to drugs and it has failed.''
Mr Cowdery, a long-time advocate of drug law reform, said the prohibition of drug use created social and health problems, as well as a ''proliferation of crime … and an increase in the corruption of law enforcement''.
He strongly favoured legalising, regulating, controlling and taxing all drugs.
''A first step towards such a regime could be decriminalisation, similar to the approach adopted 10 years ago in Portugal,'' Mr Cowdery said.
''The key as I see it is to try to reduce substantially the profit potentially able to be made by criminal activity in the drug trade and the only way to do that as I see it, ultimately, is to legalise, regulate, control and tax all drugs.''
Mr Cowdery said politicians were reluctant to reopen the debate ''for fear it would be politically disadvantageous''.
''That's why I think we need to have the discussion in the community and … to demonstrate to the politicians that there is a significant proportion of people that want something better.''
But this morning Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said she was sceptical about deregulating Australia's drug laws and said there would need to be a "very high threshold" for change.
"I think we need to tread very, very cautiously in this area," she told ABC radio.
Ms Roxon said she needed to read the report before she suggested any particular action but said that she was open to a debate about drugs.
"As a government we're always interested and happy to engage in debate but there's a pretty high threshold," Ms Roxon said.
"It think it's entirely appropriate for people to look at the difficult social questions that have dogged us for years."
About 15 per cent of Australians used one or more illicit drugs in 2009, the latest statistics published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show. But the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy said in a report last year that 22 per cent of people used illegal drugs in 1998


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/po...d-criminals-20120402-1w8v3.html#ixzz1qvXPSRss
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Here's a template you can use to respond to the Minister, Nicola Roxon. Simply fill in your details and send it to her at http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Contact_Senator_or_Member?MPID=83K

Dear Honourable Nicola Roxon MP,
As a staunch believer in drug law reform I am 100% behind the recently published report on drug law reform made by the Australia 21 Group. The eminent people comprising this group, former health ministers, police chiefs, premiers, and members of the judiciary are, evidently, aware of the issues, and the ways to overcome them.

Zero tolerance has failed. The fear of heavy prison sentences has not deterred organised criminal elements to ply their trade, nor does it stop users from using drugs. A review of any Australian Crime Commission Illicit Drug Report will highlight this.

Drug use, and trade, is a social problem. It should not be treated as a criminal one. As such, focus must shift away from its criminalisation and move towards treating it as a health issue.

In summary, I request that you consider initiating a ministerial working group and begin conversations with the electorate on this pertinent issue.

Yours Faithfully
[Your Name]
 
Its great that we have at least a couple of politicians talking about this. & finaly accepting that the war on drugs is a total failure.
 
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wow! nice result and still 2 days to go on voting. Id suggest all of us here vote
 
It definately is nice to see this issue is getting more attention in the Australian press lately. It can only be a good thing that in a matter of days there has been two articles in support of drug law reform running in two of the biggest newspapers. Hopefully there will be some debate on the issue as a result of this.
 
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One thing I read sums it up nicely. It's not a vote getter. I doubt we'll see much real attention given to this, especially when you consider that the current government have enough problems as it is without making themselves an easy target from the opposition before an election. While it's nice to see more positive attention surrounding the issue, without something like 75%+ public support, no government would touch a "soft on drugs" approach with a 10 foot pole.
 
I saw this article in "The West". It was quite a few pages in after several articles about peoples lives being ruined by drug legislation. A footballer being prosecuted for meth possession, a father taking himself to the desert to "dissappear" after being convicted for cannabis cultivation etc etc
 
Decriminalisation would only reduce the penalties for possession offences which is allright, but as a compromise to the anti drug lobby they will want to raise the penalties for dealing and trafficking which is bad news for people like us.
All these politicians have different goals than drug users who only want legal cheap and strong drugs, where their goal is to stamp out drugs completly.

Even if one day drug laws change it will not be anything close to buying smack and pills from the bottlo, it will be prescribed to addicts or some bullshit.
And as soon as some kid ODs the laws will be reversed.
 
The other side of the argument is in the press now:
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Bob Carr are at odds over the decriminalisation of illegal drugs.

While Ms Gillard wants to continue implementing existing laws, Senator Carr supports "a bit of modest decriminalisation" to free up police time.

Both were responding to a report by the think tank Australia21 which said the so-called war on drugs had been lost and the tough law-and-order approach was doing more harm than good.

The report, written by a group comprising former federal law enforcement officers, health ministers and premiers, including Senator Carr, said the prohibition of the use of certain illicit drugs had failed comprehensively.

By making the supply and use of certain drugs criminal acts, governments had driven their production and consumption underground, it said.

Ms Gillard said she was not in favour of decriminalising any illegal drugs.

"Drugs kill people, they rip families apart, they destroy lives and we want to see less harm done by drug usage," she said in Sydney on Tuesday.

"So we want to make sure we are supporting people to get treatment options and we are getting our police to do what they rightly should be doing, which is policing our laws on drugs."

Senator Carr, whose brother died of a heroin overdose in 1981, is taking a more liberal view based on his time as NSW premier.

"I sponsored a medically supervised injecting room so that people who are hooked on this wretched, addictive white powder ... would have a chance," he said.

"While they were there, you could persuade them to give the stuff up and to enter treatment to get off it."

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said there was insufficient evidence to support the argument that decriminalising drugs would address the problem.

While a parallel was often drawn with alcohol, there was a valid argument that regulation was not working when there were high rates of teenage binge drinking.

"There's a pretty high threshold that they're going to have to get over to convince not just the government, but the community that this would be a positive step," she said.

The Australian Greens say more investment is needed in treatment, rehabilitation and harm-minimisation programs, including medically-supervised injecting rooms.

Greens senator Richard Di Natale said the party backs decriminalisation for personal use, but doesn't want to go down the same road as alcohol.

"We took a product that was illegal and we put it in the hands of big corporations," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"We promoted it, we marketed it, now we have an enormous problem with alcohol dependence in this country."

Former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop said the current law-and-order system of dealing with drugs in Australia was not working, particularly from the perspective of drug users.

More emphasis should be placed on the needs and interests of individual people and to design a system that could help them "rather than make their life a lot harder for them, as we do when we criminalise this issue", he said.

West Australian Police Minister Rob Johnson said the Barnett government will not decriminalise illegal drugs.

Mr Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that when Mr Gallop was premier, he presided over a surge in drug use after his government decriminalised the smoking of small amounts of marijuana.

"We became known as the cannabis capital of Australia and we saw cannabis use grow extensively," Mr Johnson said.

"Drugs are not good for anybody, and if you start decriminalising it, what you see is an increase in use, you see people going from cannabis to harder drugs. You get people with psychotic problems."

Former NSW director of public prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery said he was strongly in favour of legalising, regulating, controlling and taxing all drugs.

"A first step toward such a regime could be decriminalisation, similar to the approach adopted 10 years ago in Portugal," he said at the report's launch in Canberra.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner for crime Graham Ashton said calls for decriminalisation did not take into account the criminal flow-on effects of drug use, such as family violence, road fatalities and assaults.

"Decriminalisation is a simplistic response. It doesn't take into account the community harm that drugs do," he told journalists in Melbourne.

Earlier, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said he had no plans to decriminalise drug use.

Mr Baillieu said he was always interested in anything that would reduce drug use.

"Certainly, as far as we're concerned, we have no intention of decriminalising the use of drugs," he told reporters in Melbourne.
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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8445600/time-to-rethink-war-on-drugs-think-tank
 
Decriminalising drugs will lead to greater drug use and more crime, Victorian police say.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner for crime Graham Ashton said calls for decriminalisation did not take into account the criminal flow-on effects of drug use like family violence, road fatalities and assaults.

"Decriminalisation is a simplistic response. It doesn't take into account the community harm that drugs do," he told journalists in Melbourne.

"Decriminalisation will lead to greater drug use which in our view will lead to greater crime in the community."

A report by think tank Australia21 says the so-called war on drugs has been lost and a tough law-and-order approach is doing more harm than good, but stops short of directly backing decriminalisation.

Mr Ashton said the report's criticism that the war on drugs had failed was a misnomer.

"The battle against drugs or the war on drugs as they call it never ends," he said.

"It's not something that has a defined end date.

"This is an ongoing problem in our society.

"People are suffering everyday from drugs in our community."

He said the majority of police resources did not go into targeting small-time users who were often placed in diversionary programs.

"Most of our resources are spent on targeting drug importers and drug traffickers," he said.

Earlier, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said he had no plans to decriminalise drug use.

Mr Baillieu said he was always interested in anything that would reduce drug use.

"(But) certainly, as far as we're concerned, we have no intention of decriminalising the use of drugs," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"We think there is a huge downside to the use of drugs in mental health and in a range of other areas.

"We will continue to campaign against the use of drugs in every respect."

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said he saw no link between relaxing drug laws and helping addicts and their families.
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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8445918
 
edit: By the way if anyone wants to read the report that Australia 21 published it can be found here. Its quite an interesting read. I think the recent push for decriminlisation by Eddie and Australia 21 is poorly time. Politically speaking its very unlikely that Federal Labour would ever go for this, let alone be able to finish squabbling before the next election cycle. more then likely if there was any movement on drug policy it would be a referendum (which would be promptly ignored by an incoming Abbot government). So yeah poorly timed an no major leader championing.

I got my comments in on SMH

can anyone guess which one it is.....i'll give you a clue, i mean RC's in my post. :)
 
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Well no surprises from Toorak Ted - disappointing the current leader of the state opposition and former parliamentary secretary on health (Daniel Andrews) is similarly non-supportive of drug law reform.
 
Victorian Government rejects legalisation of drugs

Victorian Government rejects legalisation of drugs

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PHOTO: Mr Fuckhead says "hell will freeze over" before he agrees to legalise drugs. (Peter Giafis)
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The Victorian Premier and his deputy say they do not support the decriminalisation of drugs despite a report which declares the war on drugs lost.

The report from a group of eminent Australians, including federal police chief Mike Palmer, concludes Australia should consider legalising some substances.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bog Carr has backed the suggestion, saying policing 'soft' drugs is a waste of time.

However Premier Ted Baillieu disagrees, saying he does not support the idea and has no intention of decriminalising drugs.

"We think there is a huge downside to illicit drugs in mental health and a range of other areas and we will continue the approach we have been taking," he said.

Nationals leader and Deputy Premier Peter Ryan has told Fairfax Radio that he will never agree to decriminalisation.

"I mean hell will freeze over before I agree to do this," he said.

"I think it's more important that we concentrate as much effort and resource as we possibly can in relation to the policing and enforcement of it, although I appreciate there are criticisms about that approach."​

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-03/victorian-government-rejects-legalisation-of-drugs/3930176
 
HEMP backs drug report

HEMP backs drug report

Nimbin's Hemp Embassy is calling on north coast politicians to support the findings of a new report into the war on drugs.

The report for the think tank Australia21 claims the last 40 years of drug policy have been a disaster.

Hemp spokesman Michael Balderstone says he's been saying the same thing for almost as long.

"People just use drugs to feel better, or have less pain," he said.

"If that's not a health issue I don't understand, but what's happening on the street is an increase in crime, and that's definitely related... bad laws erode respect for good laws and authority."

The Federal Attorney General, Nicola Roxon, says the report's authors face a big challenge to convince the Government and the community to legalise some drugs.​

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-03/hemp-reax/3929534
 
NT - Henderson condemns drug law relaxation push

NT - Henderson condemns drug law relaxation push

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The Northern Territory Chief Minister says he will not allow drug laws to be relaxed while he is in charge.

A report by Australia21 argues the war on drugs has been lost and governments should consider decriminalising certain substances.

Former Northern Territory police commissioner Mick Palmer has backed the report.

But the Chief Minister Paul Henderson says there's no safe level of use when it comes to illicit substances.

"I couldn't disagree more with any report," he said.

"Anything that makes illicit drug use more accessible is not going to happen here in the Northern Territory.

"And I make no apology for saying very clearly illicit substances are bad for your health, they are bad for the community, they are bad for society."

Mr Henderson says he knows people directly affected by drug addiction.

"Somebody in my extended family has battled with drugs all their life," he said.

"It has certainly destroyed his life, it has been very difficult on my family.

"I think it's the worst of all possible signals that we can send his children."

The Country Liberals have also voiced their opposition to the Australia21 report, saying they will take a tough stance on drugs should they be elected in August.

"If you go to remote communities now, you'll find those drugs in those remote communities, in spite of all the press releases from Government on how they're fighting drugs in remote communities," the Opposition's justice spokesman John Elferink says.​

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-03/henderson-condemns-drug-law-relaxation-push/3930512
 
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