Dickheads in Action - February 2009

A February roundup of Dickheads who oppose common sense, rational thinking and advancing society for the benefit of everyone.

The Tricky SA Government Tightens the Sale of Hydro Equipment
The SA government has tricked us all again. Just when we thought their self imposed, stateside "War on Drugs" couldn’t get any more ridiculous, they decide to toughen laws on purchasing hydroponic equipment. And their great strategy and logic is ... who the hell knows?  I suppose the pot growers will just give up now. What else could they do when the government is this tricky? If they weren’t just dopey pot growers, they might travel interstate to purchase their growing gear or order their equipment online. At least it's good for the Victorian economy. And with tighter controls on buying equipment locally, there will always the trusty old black market. Either way, the only losers are South Australians with the loss of taxable sales, loss of jobs, business closures and police resources being wasted on paperwork, monitoring and check ups. Goddamn that SA government is tricky! 
New laws to target hydroponic trade


DFA celebrating 100 years of prohibition

Drug Free Australia supports the call by the President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Professor Hamid Ghodse, to ensure that we all celebrate 100 years of collaborative effort to prevent and reduce illicit drug supply across the globe.
-Jo Baxter: DrugFree Australia (DFA}

A media release from DFA titled, Call to Celebrate! has had the AOD sector buzzing. DFA have backed the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) calling on the world to celebrate 100 years of “collaborative effort to prevent and reduce illicit drug supply across the globe”. Whilst the INCB and their rabid disciples like DFA continue to deceive us about the success of global drub controls, AOD workers are left to patch up those caught up in the carnage. I’m not sure what sort of celebrations they had in mind but I have a few ideas. A fancy dress ball maybe? Plenty of booze, balloons and a disco ball. Prohibitionists could come dressed up as one of million plus prisoners or dress in a dark suit as one of the million plus deceased. What about your favourite organised crime hero? Scareface or Carl Williams? Then again, many of us could just go as ourselves. How ironic is it that DFA are suggesting we celebrate prohibition. Just as Mexico falls rapidly into a civil war with hundreds dying each month from drug cartel related violence, with drug use peaking at the highest level in history and kids now saying it’s easier to buy drugs than alcohol. Party time!


The War On Drugs Is Being Won - Miranda Devine
Remember Andy Pandy Bolt writing an article that the war in Iraq is over and we won? Five years after the US officially claimed victory, the fighting has not stopped but fringe radical, Andy Bolt made up his own mind and announced the US has prevailed ... again. Now fellow neocon, Ms Miranda Devine has declared, the war on drugs is being won! In the Sydney Morning Herald, staunch anti-drug(except alcohol) mouthpiece, Miranda Devine has once again thrown logic to the wind and written another confusing and inaccurate rant, The War On Drugs Is Being Won. Like Andy Bolt, Devine’s ramblings are often considered self parody and satire but sadly this is not true. Devine believes her own bullshit and has gone to great lengths to squeeze the truth in her article amongst the cherry picked data and diversion tactics. I wonder if she will remove the article like Andy Bolt did when it was pointed out to him that he was delusional?


Fuck Off Libby Trickett
Champion US swimmer, Michael Phelps is guilty of doing what over 120 million other Americans have done - smoked dope. It doesn’t enhance his performance and actually hinders his chances of success if anything. Why would he be penalised at all? And why would Australian Olympic champion, Libby Trickett get so snarly over it?

Personally I think he's extremely lucky and if it had fallen under anti-doping laws, the penalty could have been double and that would have cost him a spot at the worlds. He's got to face up to the responsibilities that come with being a role model and this is simply unacceptable behaviour from someone with his stature and profile in sport. Hopefully he can learn from the mistake and it's a pretty big fall from grace after what he achieved in Beijing. It takes some of the shine off his spectacular performances in Beijing and this behaviour simply isn't OK.
-Libby Trickett. Australian Olympic Swimmer

Michael Phelps's ban too lenient, says Aussie star Libby Trickett


Queensland - Beautiful One Day ... Busted for Drugs the Next
This is not a terror alert or some major riot in Europe but a Friday night in Mooloolaba on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Just after 10pm on Friday night, 60 police officers including the Brisbane dog squad, the State Crime Operations Command and a safety response team, appeared on the Esplanade in Mooloolaba. The police steadily moved along inspecting everyone in their way including diners coming out of restaurants, people waiting in night club queues and pedestrians. Led by a drug sniffer dog, the police approached each person on the street and repeated the warning:

Police drug dog! Don’t touch the dog. If you touch the dog you will be arrested!!!

The results were pitiful. 300 people were searched but only 9 were found with drugs and 2 with drug “utensils”. The police were quick to point out their success as the first Mooloolaba operation over a year ago had produced 48 drug charges.

We are sending a clear message to people that they need to act responsibly in public, even when they are out to have a good time, and the operations appear to be working to reduce drug possession in the Mooloolaba area.
-Police Superintendent Ben Hanbidge. Queensland Police

Success? In reality and without the spin, it either means drug users are hiding their drugs better or the police failed to repeat last year’s arrest rate. Is this really a good way to spend taxpayers money? Were 60 police officers, jack boots, overalls and police dogs really necessary? Who were the real targets? The operation reeks of a publicity stunt using fear as the underlying tactic. I can’t recall the last time a crowd of abusive drug users caused so much trouble that it required the police to attend? I also wonder if the avoidable death of Gemma Thoms and the 2006 NSW government report that criticised sniffer dogs has had any impact on their operation? Gemma Thoms overdosed and died after swallowing a whole days supply of ecstasy pills to avoid police sniffer dogs at The Big Day Out. Somehow I doubt it.
Drug crackdown cleans up Drug blitz shocks clubbers


Vatican Hates Drug Users Too
In an obvious last minute attempt at influencing the upcoming United Nations meeting in March to determine international drug policy, the Vatican issued a public statement that using drugs is "anti-life" and "so-called harm reduction leads to liberalisation of the use of drugs". The Vatican objects to harm reduction strategies like needle exchange programs, safe injecting sites and methadone. Although these strategies save lives and have been very successful, the Vatican selfishly put their ideology first. It shows once again these fundamentalists care more about pushing their stale dogma on society than actually helping people.

By making a statement against harm reduction, the Vatican has indicated that its moral objection to drug use is more important than its commitment to the sanctity of life. If the Vatican is allowed to influence the UN to adopt a naive and ineffective drug policy it will needlessly lead to the increased spread of blood-borne viruses and the death of thousands more people from HIV/AIDS.
-Release: British Drugs And Legal Advice Charity

Vatican imperils lives with drug stance, say critics