tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54261870532820044672024-02-19T21:00:39.202+11:00The Australian Heroin DiariesThe Writings of an Australian Heroin Addict
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<a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com"><img alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/btn-fave2.png" align="right"></a>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.comBlogger383125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-20559991255581571732014-08-01T15:47:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:30.237+11:00Is Your Neighbour a Functioning Junkie?<div class="Apple-style-span">
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Meet Anna. A wonderful, well balanced professional with a bright future. You probably know of many ordinary people just like Anna and in fact, she might even be your neighbour. </div>
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But there's something that distinguishes Anna from most other people ... a heroin addiction. </div>
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How would you react if you knew your neighbour was shooting up heroin each day? What if your child's teacher, your local pharmacist or a social worker was using heroin? How would you react?</div>
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This is Anna's story.</div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">My name is Anna and I’m 36 years old. I live in metropolitan Sydney after I moved from South Australia over 10 years ago. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">As soon as I came to </span><span style="color: #660000;">Sydney</span><span style="color: #660000;"> it felt like home. It’s eclectic, big, anonymous and pretty much no one stands out if they’re a bit different. The complete opposite to suburban Adelaide.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I live with my partner in a small rental house. We’ve been in the same house for seven years. It’s just a neat little weatherboard. It’s nothing fancy but it’s clean, most things work and it’s close to everything I need. I’ve lived in some horrible places in horrible conditions over the years. Thankfully it’s not like that now. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">There is just us and the cats. No kids. This was a conscious decision. We both like kids but after much thought and discussion, we realised that while it would be great to have them, the desire to not have them is stronger. I don’t think it’s fair to bring a child into the world if it isn’t truly and wholeheartedly wanted. That’s not to say this decision hasn’t had an impact. I’m a major disappointment to my family. To them, that’s just what you do. Find a partner, get married, buy a house, have kids … die. I’m not married either. But I’ve learned to put their judgements aside and focus on what I want. Probably something a lot of users have to do.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">My partner is my age. We met in our 20’s through a mutual friend. We were both with other people at the time but remained friends for the next 5 years, even writing to each other when we were in different states. Eventually we got together and have been so for nearly 10 years. He works part time in a 9 to 5 job then devotes the rest of his time to artwork. There’s not much money in it but it keeps him sane. Plus the nine to fiver solves the money issue. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Both of us being heroin users presents challenges. During the bad times, we’ve been hopeless at supporting each other to get on top of things. I’m sure a lot of people can relate to that feeling of when you’re with someone who also uses and you’re both trying not to. But you manage to convince each other that it will be ok if you do. Or that feeling when you’re both hideously sick and feeling utterly hopeless and using seems the only reasonable response. It can be hard being with someone who is suffering as you are. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Over the years we’ve gotten onto programs and are now on a much more even keel. We are both on the same page when it comes heroin like how much we’re prepared to spend etc. It’s a huge help having my partner with me through this. It makes it feel so much less lonely.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">My work day usually begins at about 6am. I get up, feed the pets and plonk myself in front of the heater..I spend an hour drinking coffee and getting mentally prepared for another day of work. Around 7am I start getting ready.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">These days, I never use before work. Being at work diminishes my experience of using. It’s also not fair on clients or colleagues as I’m not fully focussed at work when I’ve used. That’s not to say I’m out of it when I use. In fact, most people probably wouldn’t even know. That’s what having a huge tolerance and pharmacotherapy will do.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I work full time as a Social Worker. I got my degree a few years ago and have worked in the sector ever since. It took me a few years to get my four year degree but I got there eventually. It’s put me in a position to be able to do work that I actually want to do.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I’ve noticed a lot of users who work in the ‘Human Services’ tend to work in the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) area, but I’m not there. I work in mental health. Naturally a lot of my clients also experience issues with AOD and I can respond to that but it’s not the primary focus of my work.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Around 7.45am I’m out the door. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">A few days a week -if I don’t have a takeaway- I’ll have to go to the chemist to get my dose. You see, I’m on pharmacotherapy (methadone). This is both a blessing and a curse. I suspect I’d be dead or in jail without it and it enables me to keep stable. I am so grateful for that. However it’s restrictive, expensive and something I don’t feel is the best treatment for heroin addiction. However, my thoughts on that would take up too much space here!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">There’s inevitably an unexplained wait as other customers are served before me (who arrived after me). There’s also the added unpleasantness having to go to the very edge of the chemist in a tiny box to get my dose. The box is filthy with blood, mucus, spit and other unknown substances. There is graffiti all over the walls. A gigantic sign reminds me, ‘No Pay No Dose’ just in case I‘d forgotten. It’s generally an unpleasant experience but I know there are places in Australia where people can’t get on programs and chemists are full. In comparison, I’m lucky.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Finally, I can get going to work.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">My work is extremely varied. It can go from helping a client manage their mental illness to supporting clients to access dental services. From testifying in Court on behalf of clients, visiting clients in hospital or prison to writing reports for Government departments. The work keeps me on my toes and every day I feel honoured to be a part of people lives, hopefully making a difference.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Depending of the day of the week e.g. if it’s a pay day for either my partner or I, scoring will be on my mind. It always amazes me the way I can be so focussed on my work but also working out how to score. I think that‘s a skill that functioning heroin addicts have. The ability to compartmentalise, to bring one area of the brain to the forefront and work on the task at hand while also working on something else in your head. It’s probably a skill a lot of people have but I can use this skill to buck society’s general view. That view that every user is a walking disaster; stealing, hocking and unable to do anything except using and scoring.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Another skill I’ve developed is the ability to wait and to endure. I can’t fast forward my day and I can’t 'go home sick’. My job’s too important to me and I want to keep it. It wasn’t always like this. There have been many jobs prior to my degree, that I essentially lost due to unexplained absences and erratic behaviour.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Cravings are part of every day but most of the time I can now manage them. Distraction and keeping busy are the best tools I have but it is still a constant challenge.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">When it’s one of those joyous days that I can use, I have to wait for work to finish. If all goes to plan, my partner -whose works much more flexible and autonomous- will have scored late afternoon and he’ll wait for me to get home so we can use together. But thanks to most dealers being unable to actually do the deal within the time frame discussed and that they seem to be operating in an alternate version of time, I often have to score once I’m home. This involves calling the dealer (who hopefully is on) and having him come around. Occasionally it involves one of us doing some horrible mission but that’s rare these days. In the past I’d go pretty much anywhere for what I needed and tolerate all sorts of crap but now that I’m a regular customer and have a couple of reasonably solid dealers, home delivery is usually the go.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Once he comes I can finally truly relax. I treasure this time. We mix up, have the shot and kick back. It’s soft time. It feels gentle and calm. Other worries slip away, my constant aches and pains minimise to insignificance and the world is good. Of course there’s variation in quality but essentially I get what I need every time. I’ve worked hard to lower my pharmacotherapy dose to the point that I can stay well when I dose but don’t use, but when I do use, it's worth it. Depending on finances, I’ll generally do this once or twice during the week and then perhaps once or twice on the weekend too.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">With finances, it’s a constant balancing act. I’ve been an addict for about 15 years and for the first 6 – 8 years, rent, bills, food and other essentials were secondary to heroin. Naturally this had a destructive impact. It’s hard living like that and I just can’t do it anymore. It’s certainly not easy for me to not spend all my money on junk but it’s also not easy to be homeless, hungry and broke. I’ve learned how to wait and endure much more. I can put off using so my rent is paid and I know I’ll be better off. That’s not to say there aren’t occasional slips ups and it will always be a challenge. But the majority of the time, I manage this juggling act.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Using is what keeps my on an even keel. It gives me such joy and pleasure that I imagine I’ll do it for the rest of my life. It probably sounds odd but it's really what kept me going all these years. There’s a background history of trauma in my life which may be a reason why I started using but in no way do I put the blame completely on that. I take responsibility for what I do.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Heroin has taken a lot from me but not the actual use itself. It’s more about what I’ve needed to do to be able to use when things weren’t stable. I won’t bore you with all that, but don’t worry, I’m not naive. I know what’s been taken from me because of my use. There are people who to this day want nothing to do with me. I’ve never been and never will be rich, my arms are scarred and there have been some very hard and demoralising times. I wish I didn’t have to spend what I do on junk and that I could be truly honest about the things that are important to me. But I cant and that’s that.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I suppose most people think I lead an awful life but I’m actually ok with it all. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am and even though part of my life is not socially acceptable, I’m happy and proud to be who I am.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I have people I love and who love me. I have a great house. I have a job I love and a university education. I have happy and healthy pets. I participate in the community and have a range of interests in life. I’m respected by my colleagues, friends and family.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I’ve heard other people say you can’t be a functioning heroin addict and dream big … I disagree. Really it just depends on your interpretation of a big dream, doesn’t it? Society’s interpretation of big (and acceptable) dreams include things like buying a house, having children, gaining seniority in your work, consuming-consuming, buying-buying-buying etc. But these aren’t my dreams at all. My dreams include a decent place to live, the love of my partner, work I enjoy and a meaningful life. They may not be big dreams but they’re mine and I’m making them a reality every day.</span></div>
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Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-57334138319078411542014-02-13T10:36:00.000+11:002023-01-16T15:46:32.999+11:00WANTED: Functioning Heroin Addicts<div class="Apple-style-span">
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I was contacted by a TV network to help with a show about functioning heroin addicts. Is there anyone interested in telling them about your experiences? You can keep your identity confidential if necessary.</div>
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If so, contact me and I will arrange it.</div>
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Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-9040102994233847222013-08-04T11:23:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:29.257+11:00Poor Smokers<!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?-->
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEsI-XM0qDu7TdxFU8WZPv4Wy7SaemUYvVGxWOM3R3Zy0OqFbFeCgdOA2G3VOPGR4awFaSn1yWtPaz32uKET8M-XsqjC3I0IyZ1riKvJG6ABcFe-xVKtI01IZO-Xotl9NtcHpaKoc4LGg/s1600/smoking05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Massive tax rises on cigarettes will mainly hurt those who will probably never quit" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEsI-XM0qDu7TdxFU8WZPv4Wy7SaemUYvVGxWOM3R3Zy0OqFbFeCgdOA2G3VOPGR4awFaSn1yWtPaz32uKET8M-XsqjC3I0IyZ1riKvJG6ABcFe-xVKtI01IZO-Xotl9NtcHpaKoc4LGg/s640/smoking05.jpg" title="Massive tax rises on cigarettes will mainly hurt those who will probably never quit" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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The Rudd government has just announced that tax on cigarettes will increase by 60% over the next 4 years. Of course, health groups and many others will applaud the government for such a move citing the health benefits from reduced smoking rates. And there are many positive reasons for such a tax. But what about the negative impacts?
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Price has proven to be the most effective tool for reducing smoking levels as we saw with the last major increase in Australia. When Rudd last increased the tobacco tax excise by 25% in 2010, the Department of Finance reported that smoking consumption decreased by a whopping 11%. Conveniently Rudd and co. leave out the fact that rates were already dropping by 6% and the actual affect was a 5% decrease. Still, more increases can only be a good thing, right?
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Well, all is not what it seems. <a href="http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/do-smokers-pay-their-way.html" target="_blank">Research</a> clearly shows that by dying younger we become less of a financial burden on society. Harsh but true. All the burbling about health costs incurred by smokers is just smoke and mirrors. And of course there is the growing black market. In the UK, 27% of cigarettes and 68% of roll-your-own tobacco is bought <a href="http://www.scottishshop.org.uk/latest-news/205-illegal-cigarettes-partnership-must-address-all-aspects-of-black-market" target="_blank">illegally</a>. How big is the black market in Australia? All I know is that it's about to grow.</span></div>
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We all know that nicotine is highly addictive. Some politicians even claim it's more addictive than heroin. So why is this highly addictive substance suddenly so easy to quit? It's hypercritical when governments tout harm and addictiveness when trying to deter smoking but when they want to raise money by increasing prices, addiction is played down. Many, many people find it so difficult to kick their nicotine addiction that they will do almost anything to keep smoking. And there's no magic bullet here, this is the complex world of addiction and the rules are different for each person.
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The one vital question that has evaded this issue so far is not who it will affect but how much it will affect some people. After all, that's the point of this initiative … to affect people. To coax them out of their addiction by causing them financial pain. To put the price of tobacco out of their reach, forcing them to reconsider how they spend their often limited funds. It may sound logical and as a method for reducing smoking, it is largely successful. But elasticity of demand for tobacco is not linear and decreases as the price rises. It should be obvious that those who were going to quit because of price have most likely done so already. Only dedicated smokers, those who were rich enough not to care and the badly addicted soldiered on with their vice. Price hikes are a blunt tool and this new increase will not produce anywhere near the success of that in 2010. The most likely outcome is that it will mainly hurt those who may never quit.
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Let's get some perspective here. Lower income families are already struggling, capriciously living day-to-day in a fragile financial environment. One big utility bill or unexpected expense can throw their lives into chaos, making them homeless or without electricity or gas. Add the costs for a smoker and it becomes even more precarious.
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Lack of money can often be the catalyst for family breakdown resulting in violence, ruined marriages and substance abuse. We see it everyday in this country and it's only going to get worse as cigarettes increase in price. Imagine living below the poverty line, week after week you struggle to make ends meet and one day the people who are supposed to represent you decide to rip your guts out.
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Any new price increase will not force hard core addicts to quit. Instead, it will cause grief, family stress and force smokers into perilous situations. Do we really have to be reminded about the desperation of addicts and the massive cost on society? And it's not like the tiny population of those addicted to illegal drugs. There's 3.5 million smokers who will potentially be seeking alternatives to feed their addiction. It's not going to be pretty.
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So, what does a hardcore smoker do at-the-moment when they don't have enough money? They skip meals or buy cheaper, unhealthy food. They wear shoes with holes in them. Car registrations and other bills are not paid. Then there's the kids. Forget that excursion little Johnny was looking forward to. And let's hope little Carrie likes stale vegemite sandwiches everyday for lunch. The reliance on welfare becomes part of their life. Asking for food vouchers just to feed their children doesn't seem so embarrassing anymore. Buying clothes from the op-shop is necessary. Living below the poverty line becomes a fact of life.
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It's about to get worse.</div>
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Most hardcore smokers will never, ever quit cigarettes and they will do whatever it takes to get by. Some women will turn to casual prostitution. Others will commit opportunistic crimes like petty theft and shoplifting. Defrauding Centrelink will not seem so taboo anymore. Others will turn to violent crime, drug dealing and similar desperate measures. Tension between couples will become explosive as their financial situation becomes untenable. Screaming matches, smashing furniture and divorce will define the new household of a smoker. Sadly, children hiding under beds or in cupboards will go unnoticed as families try to adjust to this new reality. And I mean "reality". This is not a movie or a yarn but real people suffering beyond what most of us can even imagine. Can most of us even comprehend what being evicted really means when you have no alternative? Do we really know what massive stress is when you just have absolutely no way to pay that utility bill? Could you live for a few months without electricity? Go on, try and picture what you and your family would do if you received a final court ordered eviction notice and you have no money. Scary, isn't it.
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Now spare a thought for the single mother staying home to look after her young children. If she smokes and cannot quit, life is basically over for her. Because of another thoughtful Labor government initiative, single parents with children over 8 are forced onto the lower paying New Start scheme. This nasty policy is spun as a caring way to gently "encourage" people into the workforce.
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The government is dressing up brutal financial attacks on those who are the poorest as compassionate policies. I'm simply lost for words here as I'm trying to describe how much it makes me despise the government. It probably best explains why I hate politicians so damn much.</div>
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Let's face it. This is not a health driven issue but a need to plug a massive hole in the government's budget. Any government in power would be faced with this issue whether Labor or Liberal. Revenue is down and the budget needs to be balanced. Most people understand that. What I don't get though is why the government has an insatiable need to be in surplus? And isn't there better ways to raise this cash? As usual, the reasons are purely political and some smokers will have their lives ruined because of it. It's simply not good enough. Most economists agree that Australia can run a deficit like most other countries do. This basic strategy would eliminate all the government's proposed cuts and increased taxes. And then there's the petrol excise that was fixed by Howard in an attempt to win over voters while introducing the GST. A simple realignment would cost drivers only 1.5¢ per litre but would raise about $23 billion over the next four years. </div>
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And as a final "fuck you" to smokers, the government maintains it's ban on electronic cigarettes containing nicotine … the single most <a href="http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/e-cigarettes-nicotine-patches-for.html" target="_blank">effective</a> method to reduce the smoking of carcinogenic cigarettes. It's a stark reminder that anti-drug lobby groups like Quit are just far too influential on government policy. If the government really cared so much about our health, they would ignore the anti-drug/smoking groups and give smokers access to e-cigs.
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If health was really the issue then this policy would have been better thought out. What about making cigarettes only available via prescription? This would stop most new uptakers and be too much trouble for casual smokers. What about age limits so that the price pain is only inflicted on younger, less addicted smokers? Why aren't e-cigs used for treatment? It's just so obvious that this is not about the government's concern for our wellbeing.
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As usual, those with enough money will not be affected. I don't smoke that much anymore so personally it won't really effect me too much. And those I know that still smoke just feel betrayed by Rudd. Not voting for Labor won't be a vote for Mr. Rabbott or The Greens though. They fully support the idea of hammering smokers with increased prices. I dare say we will see a few votes going to The Australian Sex Party, Wikileaks or the Drug Law Reform Party. The main result I can see for Rudd's master plan will less votes for him. Maybe even 3.5 million of them. </div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Related Links:</span><br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/smoking-taxes-what-about-those-who-dont.html">Smoking Taxes - What About Those Who Don’t Quit?</a><br />
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/355372.stm">Smoking and poverty link probe</a> <br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/02/smoking-ban-putting-boot-into-mental.html">Smoking Ban - Putting the Boot into Mental Health Patients</a><br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/05/tobacco-tax-increase-hurts-poor.html">Tobacco Tax Increase Hurts The Poor</a>
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Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-21294048704408136282013-06-17T15:07:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:30.363+11:00The Joys of Being in Recovery<div class="Apple-style-span">
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On rolls another year. And like each year "in recovery", life goes on with an array of challenges, changes and temptations. </div>
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I have not touched anything now for many, many years with the exception of a beer about a year ago, an occasional glass of red wine with dinner and I smoked a bit of ice one sunny day. I have an excellent work contract, a steady relationship and an above average health. But something is missing and I still feel like my life is on hold.</div>
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Each year my life gets better in some aspects but worse in others. Well, not actually worse but more complex and frustrating. It's often said that issues that affect our lives are relative to our current situation. What stresses us out today might be minor compared to a decade ago. And the problems we may see as insurmountable to us are just minute compared to what others have to contend with. I'm sure that even if I was stinking rich, married to the Minogue sisters and healthier than Chuck Norris, I would still be worried out of my mind. Like I said, our problems are relative.</div>
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My daily dose of Slow Release Oral Morphine (SROM) has halved since this time last year. SROM is the magical medication that keeps me away from heroin. It's been a hell ride but overall, I am in a much better position now than anytime since my headlong dive into junkism. But there is a problem and one that is more frustrating than heroin addiction itself … the mess they call recovery.</div>
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Recovery is subjective and depending on who you talk to, it must be done a certain way. Some people insist that cold turkey is the only way out while most recommend substitution treatment like methadone. Others swear by the 12 steps program while a lucky few like myself receive something more practical. And then there's the naltrexone cheer squad who have their own ideas. So who is right? </div>
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Forget the multitude of research showing that each person has unique needs. Forget the constant stories of users relapsing. In fact forget it all. If you're in the system, you are at the mercy of whoever you get burdened with regardless of their knowledge and success rate. For all the talk and money spent on recovery, it seems that our medical system is just not geared up to deal with individual needs. Not once have I been asked what I think is best (for me) or if I feel comfortable proceeding with a particular course. If my doctor and the specialist had it their way, I would be totally clean in a just few short months. Who cares if I relapse or my life becomes unbearable?</div>
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When I first approached the specialist pharmacotherapist to cut my dose nearly two years ago, he came up with a simple plan. Drop 50mgs every two weeks and soon I would be magically opiate free. Even I knew that was a big ask. And after voicing my dismay at such a rapid tapering he told me it would be fine. Of course it wasn't. </div>
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Dropping 50mg every two weeks is just ridiculous. I have been on some form of opioids for nearly 20 years and every forced attempt to drop my dose just resulted in chaos. The upside is that when I initiate the reduction, it works.</div>
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It was me who suggested an initial drop of 100mg then maybe 50mg every month. I knew I was ready to start this long, painful journey and reducing my dose by a whopping 100mgs was a show of good faith that I was serious. Silly me! This enthusiasm was quickly exploited and the "maybe" drop of 50mgs each month became fortnightly. Of course it was a massive failure and after several pleading emails it was changed to monthly reductions.</div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">I stop exercising and put on weight. I smoke more. I stop interacting with my family and hide myself away in my office. I stop contributing to the household (cooking/cleaning/caring for the pets etc.). I neglect family and friends. My focus on work deteriorates which costs me my income and the bills pile up. Even simple tasks such as showering becomes a drag.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><i>-Extract from a letter to my specialist</i></span></div>
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Eventually, the monthly reductions started taking their toll. Dropping my dosage was causing too many problems and heroin was again becoming an attractive alternative.</div>
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The pressure to keep lowering my dose by my largely ignorant doctor and the specialist has been intense. It takes several long winded emails and some major pleading just to keep my dose fixed for another month. Sometimes I wonder if they actually understand that I am on a maintenance dose to keep me stable. If it was methadone, there would be no pressure whatsoever. </div>
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It is a medical fact that forced recovery simply does not work. For some folks the idea of forcing junkies to rapidly drop their maintenance dose is appropriate punishment for being an evil druggy but for doctors it is just not good enough. There is ample research readily available and anyone, including a doctor, can just Google it. So why does my doctor and pharmacotherapist keep insisting that I constantly drop my dose?</div>
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It gets really tiring trying to explain the affects of lowering my dose when I am not ready. I have repeatedly explained to them that just prior to my dose dropping my clinical depression gets worse, I become very anxious and it causes me incredible stress. This falls on deaf ears. Even saying that I fear I may return to heroin isn't enough to reassess my situation. What is that about? You would think this would send off alarm bells. You would think…</div>
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The last 12 months have been pretty scary at times but I have somehow managed to get through. But as I have mention many times, each reduction causes incredible stress and distress. I manage to get through it but now it's proving to be counter-productive.</div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Each month as it comes time for my dose to drop and for weeks afterwards, I become extremely apprehensive and anxious. I feel that every everything is just too daunting and I loose any motivation I may have. It also makes me depressed. Naturally, I want this to stop. When I loose my motivation and feel depressed, everything suffers. At my age, this is not an acceptable situation especially after putting in so much hard work to get this far.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><i>-Extract from a letter to my specialist</i></span></div>
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I can't help but question the reasoning behind the current policies for prescribing opiates. There are no major physical health problems with long term opiate use which only leaves the problem of dependance and any psychological issues. If SROM improves my ability to lead a normal productive life without causing any physical problems then why are the so called experts hell bent on dropping my dosage when I'm not ready? The physical health advantages from having a steady supply of SROM are glaringly obvious; 20-30kgs lighter, a regimented exercise plan, a healthier diet, a massive reduction in smoking and much less back pain. These benefits alone should justify my monthly script. Then, of course there's the huge benefits to my mental health; participating in work, socialising, integrating into the local community, reduced depression and anxiety, increased mental aptitude.</div>
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I wonder why diabetics are not forced to reduce their insulin? What about those on Ritalin or other medications to deal with specific mental health issues? Why are opioids singled out? If these medications help benefit our lives then they should be readily available for recovery as well.</div>
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We all know what causes the extreme paranoia around prescribing opiates and it should not exist in our advanced, modern society. The war on drugs -encouraged by sleazy politicians, the trash media and the anti-drug nutters- is probably the single most destructive policy in modern history. And when it affects the process of recovery you know it has really just gone too far.</div>
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Living life whilst in recovery is not pleasant although it's better than the constant cycle of heroin addiction. I suppose I shouldn't complain but it's hard when I know there's an easier route. I just want to know why those people and governments departments who are supposedly experts in addiction and recovery seem to know so little about addiction and recovery.</div>
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Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-2003616580791107112012-10-25T17:07:00.002+11:002023-01-16T15:46:28.515+11:00One Year On ... Some Things Never Change<div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
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My life has changed somewhat since I officially ended The Australian Heroin Diaries over 12 months ago. And by far, the biggest change has been the amount of free time I now have. I never realised how much time actually went into my website. Just having time to surf the web without sniffing out drug related issues is so refreshing. Now I have some resemblance of a normal life with more time for work and other interests. But the itch to restart The Australian Heroin Diaries has at times been overwhelming especially when I keep getting emails from readers and comments are still being posted on my website.<br />
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For those who may be interested, I no longer use drugs and I'm living a happy, productive life on the NSW coast. My reliance on SROM has dropped to half the dose I was on just over a year ago. I still pinch myself sometimes to see if it's all not just a dream. I feel the last 16 years have been a blur to the point where it's almost surreal. Did all this really happen to me? A confident professional with fantastic friends, a great family, a new house, a successful business and a plan to marry the love of my life? What possibly could have gone wrong? Anyway, that is in the past now and I have much to look forward to. My depression has almost gone and I have someone special in my life. Work is great and I have got back much of what made me who I am.<br />
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Unfortunately, my return for this article is not just a simple update but the scary realisation that we still have a long way to go. On a recent visit to Victoria, I caught a glimpse of the Channel 7 news and up pops that bearded burbler called Hinch. Now I have no real qualms with Hinch but also don't have that much interest either in his self assigned role as our moral saviour. Sure, he has some worthy pet issues (as we all do) but calling himself the human headline probably sums up the style and depth of the journalism he dishes out. But what I heard that night sent shivers down my spine and brought back the bitter distaste I had for drug hysteria, moral crusaders and those who abuse the drug issue for personal gain. I suppose you could drop me into the last category but at least I try to base my ramblings on research and facts. Maybe it's something Hinch might want to try.<br />
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The first surprise with the Hinch story was that he had resurfaced that stale myth called the ice epidemic. I thought that went out of flavour years ago. Maybe it's part genius to once again capitalise on scaring the bajesus out of suburban housewives and the largely ignorant public especially since the issue had faded into drug propaganda history years ago. His claim that ice was going to rewrite history as the greatest drug threat society will ever see waddled off into the pond of obscurity a long time ago. Of course, the ice carnage promised by various drug warriors never materialised and they simply moved on to other critical issues like Korean rap singers and Matthew Newton. So why now Mr. Hinch?<br />
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What did Hunch say that provoked me to write a whole article after being away for so long? Well, if there was a list of every myth and lie that has been said about the so called ice epidemic then Hinch must have it. Super addictive, epidemic proportions, giving users super human strength, our worst drug problem ever etc. etc. According to Hinch, our worst drug problem ever has Ambulance call outs rising by 107% from 136 to 282. Yup, that's 282 ambulance call outs. Hardly a national crisis. If anything, it shows that the recent policy of not charging drug effected people when calling an ambulance is working.<br />
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<span style="color: #660000;">It makes people psychotic. Puts police, emergency services and members of the public at risk. And can give users almost super human strength.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">--Derryn Hinch. Channel 7 News</span><br />
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Like so many anti-drug stories, the lack of research, popular myths and fuzzy facts blur the reality for the sake of ratings. Some bearded buffoon banging on about addicts robbing your house and hulk like, drugged out maniacs attacking members of the public makes for good viewing. I'm sure the fact that most people affected by ice are more likely to cuddle you to death than belting you won't win over any viewers especially when we are constantly bombarded by such ridiculous claims like those by Hinch. The perception that everyone on ice is a raving lunatic wanting to rob or bash you is so far from the truth that it makes me dizzy. Contrary to most media reporting, amphetamines are well known to cause over friendliness, make people talk too much and want to have sex. Sure, there will be some who become violent but not anymore than the national average of drunken youth out on the town. Adding the "psychotic" tag is bound to help garnish up images of frenzied junkies wanting to bash and rob our grandmas. Luckily, it's just junk journalism at it's worst.<br />
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<span style="color: #660000;">“Most methamphetamine users do not become psychotic. There are some people who do, a minority who do, and that's usually related to extended periods of binge using, with people not sleeping, not eating - that sort of thing,"</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">"The vast majority of people use methamphetamine very occasionally recreationally, perhaps on the weekend or something, and they're not going to get to that point."</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">--Annie Madden. AIVL</span><br />
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If there are so many ice "addicts" and it's such an epidemic then why aren't the night clubs actually fight clubs? Where's the reports of frenzied bloodbaths in a club full of drugged out ice users? The fact is that any amphetamine such as ice usually makes you friendly towards others much like low doses of alcohol does. But like Alcohol, too much can have the opposite affect. We tend to forget that alcohol is the single most violent drug on earth and the violence associated with ice is usually because of the copious amounts of booze they consumed while out on the town. Add to that the ability of ice to keep you up for days and you get the nasty combination of sleep deprivation and several days of drinking condensed into a short period. This is where most of trouble occurs.<br />
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<span style="color: #660000;">Because there has been such extensive media coverage of this purported relationship between violence and ice use, what we get now when we talk to service providers, is a reproduction of the messages that the media are portraying. So, when someone walks into the service and they might be agitated or violent, very quickly the service provider says, !!!OOh, they must be on ice.!!! And so, you get this reproduction of the message that is actually communicated in the media, rather than one that is based on evidence and based on good clinical practice. We weren’t receiving news amongst the service providers of high levels of violence related to methamphetamine use five years ago, when the peak of methamphetamine use was occurring in Australia. We are seeing that now.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">--Associate Professor John Fitzgerald, Principal Research Fellow at the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne</span><br />
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Methamphetamine is a dangerous drug when abused. But so is alcohol. It seems a wee bit hypocritical that someone renown for their boozy lunches and capacity to drink several bottles of wine in a single sitting is taking a swipe at ice users. But hypocrisy and stupidity form the basis for most anti-drug stories. Hinch and the police rattle on about ice being responsible for 80% of crime and how violent these druggies are. They even make it point to tell us that desperation drives them to commit serious crimes. Surprise, surprise ... none of these crimes would happen if we had different laws. Boozers don't commit crimes to buy their drug of choice because it's legal and when they have a problem, we give them medical treatment not jail.<br />
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The biggest give away though to expose Hinch's rant as a poorly researched puff piece is that he complains there is no specific treatment for ice abuse and no legal substitute drug like methadone is for heroin addicts. It takes a mere 10 minutes of research to discover that substitution treatment is solely for addictive drugs that cause no physical harm e.g heroin. Amphetamines like alcohol have a devastating effect on you physically and using these drugs daily will not only fry your brain but inflict massive harm to your body. And since amphetamines are not physically addictive but physiologically dependant, substitution treatment would be pointless. It's just sloppy research by Hinch. But who cares? Some media personality with a degree in gravel collecting must know more than the hundreds of experts who spend their lives researching this stuff.<br />
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Although this is a serious issue, there is an amusing side to it. Hinch says that ice can give users almost super human strength. Really?! Super human strength … like Captain America? Pffft. For the record, no drug can instantly give you extra strength. Muscles do not magically grow because you smoke ice. It may boost your adrenaline levels but you still have the same strength with or without ice. Ironically, it's the legal drug, alcohol that causes the aggression and wild thrashing that many blame on ice. You know, the drug that Hinch was once infamous for abusing (or as he so delicately puts it, it was ‘all part of life’s rich tapestry’). The silly argument about street drugs giving users super human strength is as bizarre as believing in the science behind the Hulk. It's pure fiction and was debunked decades ago when PCP was making it's rounds in the 1980s. Do you remember decades ago when reports of drugged out super humans lifting up cars and taking on a dozen police officers were part of the war on drugs? Even a few years ago, there were hospitals being coerced into building "safe rooms" and deploying security guards to protect workers from crazy, iced up supermen? Well, this bizarre claim was dismissed as a media beat up by irresponsible, second rate journalists and simply another attempt by anti-drug nutters to bluff the public. It seems like some things will never change.<br />
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<b>Related Articles</b></div>
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<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/propaganda-files-faces-of-meth.html">The Propaganda Files - The Faces of Meth</a><br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com.au/2008/04/ice-more-drug-myths.html">Ice - More Drug Myths</a><br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com.au/2008/07/ama-pushing-zero-tolerance-ice-more.html">AMA Pushing Zero Tolerance (Ice - More Drug Myths Pt II)</a><br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/ben-cousins-story-experts-vs-bozos.html">The Ben Cousins Story - Experts vs. Bozos</a></div>
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Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-8149247284643915362011-08-28T19:09:00.023+10:002023-01-16T15:46:29.025+11:00And in the End...<div class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">And in the end, the love you take ... is equal to the love you make.</span></div><div class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">-The Beatles</span></div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_ysDoVKRDOsfeBhAeM9fJQmcEKPFjizNMyKj7jNyJVfhOd6Tem6X5yRwoitKKI4gO3OW3yTB1ivnKORHTjETUL0ILYEqY2dcDdT0v4HWQ3J74AhAvdk8p8FsNlTMrKl3nAnkONHK9-Y/s1600/theend01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_ysDoVKRDOsfeBhAeM9fJQmcEKPFjizNMyKj7jNyJVfhOd6Tem6X5yRwoitKKI4gO3OW3yTB1ivnKORHTjETUL0ILYEqY2dcDdT0v4HWQ3J74AhAvdk8p8FsNlTMrKl3nAnkONHK9-Y/s400/theend01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This is the last line from the intended last song on the last album recorded by the Beatles.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">And this is also the end of The Australian Heroin Diaries.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">My journey is over now that I have achieved what I set out to do. I no longer use heroin and have a dwindling interest in our drug policy set out by silly politicians. It is a new chapter in my life that involves a new location, a new attitude, a new start and possible even a new love interest.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">I have learned a lot since I first started this site back in 2007. I have also met some inspirational people who kept me writing day after day. But, in the end, what has changed? </div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">There is a slow but steady change in attitude building throughout the world. The constant barrage of scientific data and quantified research is chipping away at the misconceptions that been pounded into our psyche for the last 100 years. The constant reminder of a failed drug war is taking hold as society starts to question why the problem only ever gets worse. The current scrutiny of the Murdoch empire is finally raising awareness about the incredible power that the trash media can wield, ultimately influencing governments in their drug policies. Ex presidents, ex prime ministers and some brave politicians are starting to take a stand and speak out against the draconian drug laws that are wreaking so much havoc and carnage throughout the world. Social commentators and editorial writers are speaking like never before. Yes, many things have changed and attitudes are still evolving albeit, very slowly.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Unfortunately though, there still remains many groups and individuals who refuse to accept the science and facts. These largely ideologically driven protagonists are often driven by a force much more powerful than facts and research. They formulate many of their views from religious faith which in itself is just a personal conviction with no evidence or facts. Faith has no place in a field like drug policy which is a medical issue and needs to be based on cold, hard evidence. If anything, someone who has faith in a loving god should practice what they preach. Banging up drug addicts in jail or ruining their lives is as hypocritical as it gets.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">I need to thank so many people for a variety of reasons but it would require several pages to list them all. Although I received some criticism and nasty comments, the bulk of readers have offered nothing but support. It has been an emotional journey for me and as corny as it sounds, I could not have gone on for so long without the incredible kindness of so many people. </div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><i>Thanks to:</i></div><div class="Apple-style-span">Paul Gallagher(Firesnake)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Ant Rogenous</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Gledwood</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Bron</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Michael Gormly(Kings Cross Times)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Paul Dessauer</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Puja from Mumbai</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Bob Affenhaus</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Zoot</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Michelle(The Red Pill Survival Guide)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Dave Gaukroger(Dave From Albury/Pure Poison)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Greg Iverson<br />
Tonia Suzanne Zoldosh<br />
Maureen Jo Begley</div><div class="Apple-style-span">The Happy Revolutionary(THR)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Guy Ferguson</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Tory Shepherd</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Mr Ghostface</div><div class="Apple-style-span">John(Pins Grins and Sins)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Naomi(Junky Life Naomi)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Fiona Patten</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Sandra Kanck</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Andrew Bartlett</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Kerry Wolf</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Dr. James Rowe</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Gino Vumbaca</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Tony Trimingham(Family Drug Support )</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Nicholas Cowdery</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Mark O'Brien</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jason</div><div class="Apple-style-span">RV<br />
Clarencegirl</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Long Time Anon Poster</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Reb(Gutter Trash)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Mr. Orange</div><div class="Apple-style-span">SickGirl(Methadone Pretty)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Christians Against Prohibition</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Kieran Bennett<br />
Donna Weiss Kloppenburg</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Ross Sharp (The Wittiest Writer on the blogosphere) </div><div class="Apple-style-span">Ben Pobjie</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Michael Slezak(Good Bad and Bogus)<br />
Grods Corp</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jeremy Sear<br />
Scott Bridges<br />
Bridget Gread</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Cosmic Jester</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Weez(Machinegun Keyboard)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jim Brown(On Probation Blog)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Stonetree Harm Reduction</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Marginalutility (The Virtues Of Vice)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">We Speak Methadone (Forum)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Kat Daley</div><div class="Apple-style-span">James(Australian Drug Blog)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">David Nentwig</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Marion & Brian McConnell(Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Free Schapelle Campaign Group</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Nigel Brunsdon(Injecting Advice)<br />
Matt Gleeson(Stonetree Harm Reduction)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Monica Barratt</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative</div><div class="Apple-style-span">JUNKe Life(Opiated)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Mina</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Roguevert</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jack Dorf<br />
Leon Bertrand</div><div class="Apple-style-span">The Irish Needle Exchange Forum</div><div class="Apple-style-span">William(With Just A Hint Of Mayhem)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Caty</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Donna</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Broken</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Canna Zine News</div><div class="Apple-style-span">My groovy friends at the Bluelight Drug Forums</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Canadian Spades</div><div class="Apple-style-span">New Zealand Drug Foundation</div><div class="Apple-style-span">RMIT</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Why We Protest</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Canna Nation</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jane Shelling</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Leah McLeod</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Sue Miers</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Gary Gahan</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jan Steele</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Annie Madden(AIVL)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Jon Markus</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Rob(Inn@Six)</div><div class="Apple-style-span">Steve Robinson<br />
Rob Marsh<br />
Andy(Slack Bastard)<br />
Ileum(OzPolitik)<br />
Sam Liebelt(AIVL)<br />
The 7pm Project<br />
Blogotariat<br />
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) Australia<br />
Losing In The Lucky Country(blog)<br />
Civil Tongues(blog)<br />
Alan Ide(New Australia)<br />
The National Library of Australia<br />
All Treatment<br />
OZ Stoners(forum)<br />
Johnny Mortgage<br />
Ken Low<br />
Heads Together - The AOD Collective<br />
Rich Bowden(The Angle)<br />
Daniel<br />
Jesus PTY LTD<br />
Gary Toca<br />
Shane(Memoirs of a Heroinhead)<br />
National Library of Australia<br />
New Matilda<br />
Sam Sejavka<br />
Sarah(The Voice of Today's Apathetic Youth)<br />
Mikey(HarrangueMan)<br />
Crikey/Pure Poison<br />
Tobias Ziegler<br />
Toaf<br />
Private Tom<br />
Bruce(Thinkers Podium)<br />
Darryl Mason(The Orstrahyun)<br />
and of course Anonymous who posted so many comments.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">A special thanks to Mrs Wright for putting up with me for so long. I will love this woman forever and she will remain an important part of my life.<br />
<br />
Also, a special thanks to my family, especially my father who encouraged and supported me unconditionally. Thanks Dad.</div><div class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span">If I have left anyone out, you know who you are.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-72301704329067997682011-07-27T22:28:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:34.030+11:00Been BusyHowdy All.<div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div><div><br />
</div><div>Sorry but I have been busy moving.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Back soon.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Terry.</div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-58653267521159412322011-06-28T18:43:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:33.288+11:00Drug Law Reform - NZ Show Australia How it's Done<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBwjm710QvyopTAuGi0ueOtgxXu5JNdaUwNklGT-XTHOB0_T-7njHWgVr1vs6XJwHYgbSRlr12KGhHyPPcOVv5kx5qQbcRZaqWTOhyzx84Z5n-TnQbnQSppnOW830myuNllGC7kdAu_8/s1600/nzreview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBwjm710QvyopTAuGi0ueOtgxXu5JNdaUwNklGT-XTHOB0_T-7njHWgVr1vs6XJwHYgbSRlr12KGhHyPPcOVv5kx5qQbcRZaqWTOhyzx84Z5n-TnQbnQSppnOW830myuNllGC7kdAu_8/s320/nzreview.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It seems that our New Zealand cousins are finally taking some much needed action on drug law reform. Australia should take note of this and consider carefully what they are doing.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Old, antiquated drug laws and policies continue to wreak carnage on society while our government continue to apply the same old failed strategies, hoping for some miraculous turn around. For over 40 years, we have followed in the foot steps of the US which is only now starting to see the damage they have inflicted on their own people. Likewise in Australia, we have ruined so many lives from a "Tough on Drugs" mentality and the laws are causing more problems than drugs themselves.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Why do NZ have a better understanding of this than Australia? SA and WA had started seeing good results from a more sensible approach to cannabis use but decided to ignore the success by reintroducing tougher laws. These acts of arrogance were in complete opposition to the current world trend and in defiance of expert opinion. Even the Australian federal government continues to cherry pick advice from key advisory groups purely to suit their political needs. All this while the evidence keeps pouring in that our drug policies are probably some of the worst decisions ever made by a government. New Zealand is at least doing something about it.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Too many resources are directed into criminalising people rather than providing them with the medical help they most need. Current drug law is 35 years out-of-date and is hurting our families.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Too many resources are directed into criminalising people rather than providing them with the medical help they most need. The Law Commission's report recognises this and seeks to redress it by adopting a harm reduction approach for dealing with personal drug use by adults.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This new approach, if adopted, will actually save money enabling greater resources to be directed into health services for breaking the cycle of drug abuse and addiction. It will also free police to tackle more serious crime.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/greens-welcome-new-drug-report">Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The suggestions made by NZ Law Commission are a good start for a future without drug prohibition ... the single most destructive policy in 100 years. Most of us have never experienced a world where recreational drugs were regulated which makes it hard for the public to imagine how ending drug prohibition would work. We have to gradually introduce recommendations like those from the NZ Law Commission and give them time to take hold. As predicted by the experts, the results will speak for themselves, slowly shifting the public's perception. Well done NZ!</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/project/review-misuse-drugs-act-1975?quicktabs_23=report%23quicktabs-23"><b>Review of Misuse of Drugs Act 1975</b></a></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">NZLC R122 Controlling and Regulating Drugs - A Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Published 3 May 2011</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Law Commission today issued its latest report, Controlling and Regulating Drugs – A Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Among the key proposals contained in the report are:</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A mandatory cautioning scheme for all personal possession and use offences that come to the attention of the police, removing minor drug offenders from the criminal justice system and providing greater opportunities for those in need of treatment to access it.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A full scale review of the current drug classification system which is used to determine restrictiveness of controls and severity of penalties, addressing existing inconsistencies and focusing solely on assessing a drug’s risk of harm, including social harm.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Making separate funding available for the treatment of offenders through the justice sector to support courts when they impose rehabilitative sentences to address alcohol and drug dependence problems;</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Consideration of a pilot drug court, allowing the government to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of deferring sentencing of some offenders until they had undergone court-imposed alcohol and/or drug treatment</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/2011/05/part_1_report_-_controlling_and_regulating_drugs.pdf">NZLC R122- Part 1 Controlling and Regulating Drugs: A Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975</a></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/2011/05/part_2_-_report_controlling_and_regulating_drugs.pdf">NZLC R122 - Part 2 Controlling and Regulating Drugs: A Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>No More Prisons, Says English</b></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/no-more-prisons-says-english-4183616">TVNZ</a> </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">May 2011</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Finance minister Bill English says there will be no more prisons built under his watch as finance minister.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He's called prisons a moral and fiscal failure and there are other ways of dealing with criminals and potential criminals.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Asked by Guyon Espiner on Q A this morning if the government was going to continue building prisons once the 1000-bed facility in the Auckland suburb of Wiri was completed, English said Wiri was likely to be the last.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"They're very, very expensive," English said. "$250,000 a bed, $90,000 a year to run ... when we're tight for money."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He said the aim instead is to reduce recidivism, and prevent young people from entering the system at all.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The public service has done a lot of very smart work on this and, over the next two or three years, we're going to see the need for prison beds drop a bit at least."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But a spokesperson for victims says English is wrong. Sensible Sentencing spokesperson Garth McVicar says it's not the right tactic.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Just as they were starting to bear fruit through the 'tough on crime' message that they were sending out, he capitulates and waves a white flag," McVicar told ONE News.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It just sends the wrong message to criminals. I know people think criminals are dumb but they're quite smart and they'll understand if we're not going to build more prisons out there, then ultimately we're not going to send them to prison."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One advocate for penal reform agrees with English and is certain having more prisons will just breed more criminals.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We could put more prisoners into trades; we could put more prisoners into work on farms," Peter Williams QC told ONE News.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We've got to put more emphasis on rehabilitation, drug programmes, anti-alcohol programmes without just locking these people up in small containers."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">English said the government is committed to building Wiri's prison so that won't change.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"That's well through the process, and we need the extra 1000 beds because it's been part of this government's policy and public pressure for tougher sentences and a safer community," he said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Labour Government built four prisons but National has been saving money by housing some prisoners in purpose-adapted containers.</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-49454007630929799812011-06-11T10:20:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:31.903+11:00Q & A: Nicholas Cowdery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY3lWlIPnFWm4S-Esoqskmw_Oncpj62zFZevGajglF2GpTFZdIc0IAAmNAXWfyH4Bam_RF157mSqts-SXkKEBhU3YXwn5pRQmYYGDcSRtQhQjN0Eynbt4MLU8DFMSPE4VfzFLBsR5Oeg/s1600/nicholascowdery02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY3lWlIPnFWm4S-Esoqskmw_Oncpj62zFZevGajglF2GpTFZdIc0IAAmNAXWfyH4Bam_RF157mSqts-SXkKEBhU3YXwn5pRQmYYGDcSRtQhQjN0Eynbt4MLU8DFMSPE4VfzFLBsR5Oeg/s1600/nicholascowdery02.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Name</b>: Nicholas Cowdery</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Role</b>: Ex. NSW Director of Public Prosecutions (17 years) / President of the International Association of Prosecutors (6 years). </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Date</b>: June 2011</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Criminal law has no business trying to control a market. Can it modify supply and demand? Well, no it can't. It can only clean up after the event.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Nicholas Cowdery - IQ² debate. 2011</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">People like Nicholas Cowdery were once rare but are becoming more common every year. I'm talking about those in very senior positions working for the government, politicians, law enforcement officers, judges, economists etc. who want an end to dangerous global drug laws that cause so much carnage each year. And Nick has been warning us about this for a long time. In 2001, he wrote the book, Getting Justice Wrong: Myths, Media and Crime which clearly exposed the problems we all encounter due to global drug policies.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The book arose, in fact, from a suggestion by the publishers that some papers and articles I had produced be collected and reproduced in book form. The underlying premise of this collection of chapters is the risk to justice – the risk of getting justice wrong – posed by the influence of some sections of the media on policy making and legislating by politicians. I am also concerned, more generally, with policy being based other than on fact and reason. Without careful analysis and a critical assessment of the publications of talkback radio “entertainers” (as they like to be described), the tabloid press and low IQ television, we are at risk of the rule of law being subverted for motives that are irrelevant to the proper process of law-making – essentially, motives of profit for the commentators.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">They are not accountable to the community. They are not concerned with the good government of the people, with what is in the public interest (properly understood) rather than what is of interest to the public. They appeal to the emotions of their audience with partial truths and sweeping generalisations about matters that are topical at the time. They deliberately adopt extreme positions on simple propositions. They perpetuate some of the myths about crime, especially, that are reinforced at every state election.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Nicholas Cowdery - Lecture at the University of New England, Armidale, May 2001</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You really have to respect Nick for his commitment while working under less than ideal conditions. How many people in his position would criticise a strategy that is championed by so many in his industry? But what really makes Nick's views so important is his credibility. Being a QC, receiving an Order of Australia from the Queen, serving as the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions for 17 years and spending six years as President of the International Association of Prosecutors should tell us that his legal views are more than likely correct. The point is, when someone with these credentials constantly tell us that we are making a mistake by following a set of laws that have failed worldwide for 40 years, then maybe we should listen to them. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>About Nicholas Cowdery</b></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Nicholas Richard Cowdery AM QC (born 19 March 1946) was the Director of Public Prosecutions for the Australian state of New South Wales. He held the position from 1994 to 2011.[1] Cowdery also served as President of the International Association of Prosecutors from 1999 to 2005.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cowdery attended Wollongong High School and completed his secondary schooling at the Sydney Grammar School. He graduated in Arts and Law at the University of Sydney where he was a resident of St. Paul's College.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In 1971, he commenced practising as a public defender in Papua New Guinea after admission as a barrister in the same year. Cowdery entered private practice in 1975 where he concentrated in criminal law, common law, administrative law and some commercial law.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1987, served as an Associate Judge of the District Court between 1988-1990. Cowdery was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions for New South Wales in 1994. He was elected President of the International Association of Prosecutors in 1999 and re-elected to a second three-year term in September 2002.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He wrote Getting Justice Wrong: myths, media and crime</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-About Nicholas Cowdery from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Cowdery">Wikipedia</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><i>NOTE: I want to thank Nick for participating in this Q&A. I didn't really expect someone like Nicholas Cowdery to even respond to my email let alone agree to answer some questions. But as usual, I was wrong. Nick responded in 24 hours and said he was happy to participate. Thanks Nick.</i><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>QUESTIONS</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Has being so adamant that the "War on Drugs" has failed been a problem especially since you held such a prominent position as the Director of Public Prosecutions in NSW for nearly 17 years?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No. As DPP it was my duty, which I carried out, to apply and enforce the law with the resources that I had available and within the rules and guidelines that applied. However, in doing so I was confirmed in my view that as a society we could address drug issues better. It is quite possible to apply oneself fully to the operation of a system, yet believe that the system should be changed. Legal training equips one well for such mental gymnastics.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>From your experience, do many others in the legal profession feel the same as you about drug policy?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes, from my experience a very large number in all areas of practice.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>From your experience, do many politicians you know actually believe the hype that the war on drugs is winnable?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No – but their main concern is re-election and they are loath to publicly express their true views unless they can be assured that a substantial portion of the electors will agree.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Did the dispute between you and Attorney-General John Hatzistergos have anything at all to do with your out spoken views on changing drug laws?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>You have publicly criticised the "tough on crime" agenda used by politicians. Do you personally know any politicians who sincerely object to that strategy?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In November 2010 Greg Smith stated publicly that there would not be a “law and order auction” election in March 2011 and there was not. I think many politicians (and I have spoken with a few) see such campaigns as fruitless.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>What are your thoughts on The Greens changing their drug policy to be more in line with the major political parties?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No doubt influenced by other considerations of political alliances, etc.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you feel frustrated by the public’s ignorance regarding drug myths and their willingness to accept misinformation from the government and media outlets?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is not easy to gauge the level of understanding or of ignorance in the community generally. We become aware of these things only when something is published or stated at a meeting, etc. Ignorance about any issue in society can only be addressed by providing as broadly as possible reliable, accurate information. Politicians spread information selectively for their political advancement, as they see it (by and large). The tabloid media create conflict and controversy to sell advertising. The public are more easily exposed to those sources of “information” than to credible sources that may require some extra effort to uncover and to fully comprehend.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you feel it’s someone right to take illicit drugs (or to put whatever they want into their own body?)</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Generally, yes – if they are able to make an informed choice about it. However, members of a society also have a responsibility to obey the laws of that society made in their name and for their benefit.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you or have you used illicit drugs recreationally?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you think a needle exchange program is needed in prisons?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>The support for the proposed safe injecting room in Richmond has surprised many people. Why do you think there has been such a rapid change of attitude considering the recent controversy over the Kings Cross MSIC?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think the controversy over such centres has subsided as the evidence has shown the benefits of such facilities – and that has taken 10 years for the Sydney one. Sydney’s is only one of 91 such centres worldwide – I think they are catching on and for good reason – they work. (But there is still the legal anomaly of requiring people to break the law to obtain their own drugs to bring in to the centre.)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you think Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu will eventually agree to a safe injecting room in Richmond?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I don’t know – but a change of approach by the government has been made more difficult by its earlier flat rejection of the idea.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Other Opiate Maintenance Treatments(OMT) in use or on trial in Europe, Canada and the U.K have had very successful results. Should other forms of OMT be trailed in Australia like slow release oral morphine, injectable hydromorphone, dihydrocodeine, injectable methadone and prescription heroin?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I don’t really know enough about such programs and their experience to be able to comment – but prescription heroin has produced excellent health, social and law enforcement results, for example, in Switzerland and we should certainly trial that.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>A report was just released titled, Randomised controlled trial of dexamphetamine maintenance for the treatment of methamphetamine dependence. As far as I can obtain, it was not a publicly known trial but the results were spectacular. Methamphetamine/amphetamines are not technically addictive but can result in severe physiological dependancy. What are your thoughts on this compared to substitution programs for addictive drugs like opioids/heroin?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is really for a medico to comment on; but I suppose that addiction and dependence, both being health consequences, should be treated, if appropriate, by controlled substitution programs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you have any predictions for the future of Australia’s drug policy over the next 10 years?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Not a prediction, but a hope that, slowly, the public voice will grow strong enough to give politicians the courage to explore alternatives, even on a trial basis in some areas. A Portugal approach could be a good beginning. One of our major difficulties, however, is obeisance to the USA and the interpretation given to some international instruments that are said to prevent us from following a more rational course.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>What are you're thoughts on the story of Jade Lewis at the IQ² debate? Do you feel she actually put forward any valid reasons not to legalise all drugs or was it simply a sad story that luckily had a positive conclusion?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As I said just before she spoke, if our approach had been adopted, then she may not have had to make the journey that she did. She told her story, that’s all. It is a sad story (that many more people could tell in one way or another) but in her case it has had a better conclusion than some others and she is to be praised for the work that she is now doing in community education. But there is nothing in the story that speaks against the decriminalisation, regulation, control and taxation of all drugs. Indeed, she demonstrated just how easy it is to obtain drugs, become addicted to them and stay on them under the regime of prohibition without being able to access proper assistance and treatment. If anything, hers was a strong argument against continuation of the present approach.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Before the IQ² debate started, 32.3% of the audience were undecided on whether all drugs should be legalised. After the debate, only 8% remained undecided. Those against increased by 2.1% while those in favour rose by 22.2% That's a difference of about 10-1 who changed their mind after the debate. Does this surprise you?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No. A rational audience.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>What single factor do you consider to be the most convincing reason to change our drug policy.</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Two factors – the futility and wastefulness of trying to use the criminal law to control or change a well-entrenched market; and the incidental harms that our present policy is causing. Isn’t one description of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result [or something like that]?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Gary Christian from the anti-drug NGO, Drug Free Australia (DFA) regularly states that the government's 2007 household survey shows that 97% of Australians do not want drugs legalised. Do you think that most of the public who naturally reject drug legalisation after constantly being bombarded with most of the media distorting the facts about drugs and politicians pushing their "Tough on Drugs" message might vote differently if they attended the IQ² debate where facts, history and evidence are presented in an intelligent and logical manner?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The answers obtained in surveys are influenced by the way in which the questions are asked, as any pollster well knows. “Legalised” is a word that can mean many different things to different people; but in the mind of the ordinary citizen it may well mean releasing all restraints so as to proliferate the unattractive aspects of drug use that are mostly hidden (or at least suppressed) at present. And there are different requirements for different drugs that would be taken into account in any move to legalisation (or decriminalisation), which was probably not canvassed in the survey.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The answer to your question is yes. People generally are rational beings, open to persuasion by evidence and logical argument – juries act that way every day. The public should not be underestimated and all they need is accurate information on which to base proper conclusions.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>A similar event to the IQ² debate, The Festival of Dangerous Ideas took place at the Sydney Opera House in October 2009 and included the topic, Make All Drug Use Legal. One of the speakers, lawyer, Greg Barns blamed the media for most of the problems associated drugs. Was Greg Barns right to blame the media considering the level of misinformation, drug hysteria and propaganda they produce daily?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I am not quite sure I understand the question. I am not familiar with the Barns presentation or how he put his argument. It is not the media that causes drug problems, it’s the law. But you are right in that much of the tabloid media, especially, misinforms the public.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>What do you think of politicians being labelled “Soft on Drugs” when they suggest alternatives to current drug strategies?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s a childish and simplistic reaction that really says nothing. It’s just a slogan that the user intends to be offensive. This is not a matter of being hard or soft, it’s a question of being smarter and more effective in the way we address a problem in society. The messages that should be sent when alternatives are suggested are that: 1. When we do something that does not produce good outcomes, we should have the sense to admit, on the basis of that experience, that we may be able to do better and to revise our course; 2. When we can see that what we are doing is actually creating harm, we have an obligation to try to prevent that harm and to proceed differently; and 3. Some things are immutable – there will always be a demand by humans for reality-altering substances and there will always be a supply. We need to control that market (and its participants) and remove the incentive for a black market to exist (ie criminal profits).</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Finally, if you were Prime Minister Nicholas Cowdery and you could change one law relating to drug policy or drug treatment, what would it be?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[The party system would probably defeat me] – but changing the present approach requires attention to a whole suite of laws in a coordinated and careful, thorough way, proceeding one step at a time. There would be some trial and error – but progress cannot be achieved in that way unless there is a trial.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles (Q&A)</b></div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/q-kerry-wolf-certified-methadone_14.html">Kerry Wolf - Certified Methadone Advocate (USA)</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/01/q-dr-james-rowe.html">Dr. James Rowe - Lecturer at RMIT, School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2006/01/q-gino-vambucca.html">Gino Vumbaca - Executive Director of the Australian National Council on Drugs</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/04/q-the-hon-sandra-kanck.html">Sandra Kanck - Former South Australian MLC. South Australia spokesperson for Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform (FFDLR)</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/11/q-mr-tony-trimingham.html">Tony Trimingham - Chief Executive Officer, Family Drug Support</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/07/q-andrew-bartlett.html">Andrew Bartlett - Former Leader of the Australian Democrats and the Australian Senate. Candidate for the Greens in the 2010 Federal election.</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/09/q-fiona-patten-leader-of-australian-sex.html">Fiona Patten - Leader of The Australian Sex Party</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2011/05/q-tory-shepherd-journalist.html">Tory Shepherd - Journalist with News Ltd. / Acting Editor - The Punch</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-26007096409515457672011-06-09T16:33:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:30.807+11:00Diary: Suicide and Beyond<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGBP62RCCe4WuZg47BD3czR5r-u1NiBQ67ExbaE6OCq_bO57ePmnSzCDQHFgFMXi3wIqtLCarWIkGGcntZputlXErwuEaQ6y_TbW9jD1sWTGg95PcQVgr-ock6_oceR4AX4MsEaCn_UQ/s1600/suicide01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGBP62RCCe4WuZg47BD3czR5r-u1NiBQ67ExbaE6OCq_bO57ePmnSzCDQHFgFMXi3wIqtLCarWIkGGcntZputlXErwuEaQ6y_TbW9jD1sWTGg95PcQVgr-ock6_oceR4AX4MsEaCn_UQ/s320/suicide01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">DIARY: June 2011</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I tried to kill myself last week. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I failed.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Should I be glad I failed or disappointed? That answer changes from day to day depending on how I feel. The mixed emotions are profound but how the hell do you put it into words? How do you describe a feeling or emotion with simple text? I don't think you can.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have "clinical depression", whatever that is. I always just thought depression was ... well, depression. I assumed there were different levels but apparently there's also different types: clinical depression, chronic depression, dysthymia, bipolar disorder and more. I didn't use to worry too much about it and thought that everyone gets depressed at some time. It's just part of life. Boy, has that changed.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[...] Clinical depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Individuals with clinical depression are unable to function as they used to. Often they have lost interest in activities that were once enjoyable to them, and feel sad and hopeless for extended periods of time. Clinical depression is not the same as feeling sad or depressed for a few days and then feeling better. It can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can change your eating habits, how you feel and think, your ability to work and study, and how you interact with people. People who suffer from clinical depression often report that they "don't feel like themselves anymore."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://uhs.berkeley.edu/lookforthesigns/depressionsuicide.shtml">Berkeley University Health Services</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have to admit I don't feel comfortable writing about this and have only told one person. Since most people I know don't have any idea I write this blog, I am able to open up more here and actually tell it like it is. For over a week, I have spoken to most of my family and some friends and told them I'm not feeling the best and having a bad week but that's as far as I have gone.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The leading cause of death for Australian men under 44 is suicide. The leading cause of death for Australian women under 34 is suicide. And more people die by suicide each year than they do on the road.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.dadsclub.com.au/advice-on-suicide-from-someone-who-knows/?skinned=0">John Brogden - Director of Lifeline Australia</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Strangely, the main reason for not telling my family and feeling hesitant in writing this is that I feel silly. I can't even accomplish something as simple as knocking myself off. I have always thought that those who fail at a suicide attempt didn't really try hard enough and weren't fully committed to ending it all. Is that what I did? Should I have taken more pills and did I purposely take less than what was needed to finish the job? Probably. If I was really serious, why would I worry if I would have enough meds left for the rest of the week? Why didn't I just take them all? At the time, I was convinced I took enough to kill a horse or two but I still had in the back of my mind what would happen if I failed.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Clinical depression is not a sign of personal weakness, or a condition that can be willed away. Clinically depressed people cannot "pull themselves together" and get better. In fact, clinical depression often interferes with a person's ability or wish to get help. Clinical depression is a serious illness that lasts for weeks, months and sometimes years. It may even influence someone to contemplate or attempt suicide.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://uhs.berkeley.edu/lookforthesigns/depressionsuicide.shtml">Berkeley University Health Services</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So what happened in the days following my attempt? Did I feel relief or regret? Did circumstances magically resolve themselves? Did some good news come in or something positive happen that helped me get on with life? Absolutely not. In fact, it was the start of a horrific week which got worse each day. I didn't get paid by a client as promised, I was now short of my daily meds, ex Mrs Wright was home sick all week - constantly angry and demanding - and on it went. I kept remembering the day after trying to escape my shitty existence. Instead of being escorted through some beautiful, ornamented gates by an old man with a white beard or sitting at the bottom of the ocean because I had been reincarnated as a mud crab, I instead woke up as usual to some seriously annoying birds trying to tweet and my dogs by my side. Maybe I would have tried harder if I knew what was yet to come.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Well, it's a new week and most of the pressing issues have been resolved. I am trying harder than normal to stay balanced and get ready for my move to the coast. Unfortunately though, the depression is more severe than normal and each day is really a struggle. I have decided that maybe I do need to see a shrink and explore the possibilities of confronting my depression. My doctor is convinced that seeing a shrink would be pointless for me but what have I got to lose? If there is one thing that I am certain of, that is unless something changes, there will not be a follow up article to my next attempt.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Silence On Suicide Does More Harm Than Good</b></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Silence-on-suicide-does-more-harm-than-good/">The Punch</a></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">by Lainie Anderson</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">June 2011</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In July last year, the South Australian Coroner Mark Johns called for suicide statistics to be published alongside the road toll. Since that time, just over 100 South Australians have died on the state’s roads. More than 180 South Australians have killed themselves.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Despite Mr Johns’ call, suicide statistics remain unpublished. The topic by and large remains taboo. And desperate people keep taking their own lives because their mental illness isn’t properly treated, or because friends and family don’t have the confidence or the skills to raise this most delicate of subjects.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As a community, we’ve got to stop being so squeamish about suicide. It’s the single biggest cause of death for Australian females aged 15-34 and males 15-44. Latest statistics show that 2130 Australians took their own lives in 2009, compared to 1417 road deaths for the year and 1837 from skin cancer.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yet while $7m is spent on mass media advertising to curb SA’s road toll alone, there’s nothing similar to curb the incidence of suicide. So what needs to change?</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Experts like Mr Johns and SA’s Public Advocate John Brayley says the task is two-fold: prevention and awareness.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Around 70 per cent of suicides are associated with depression</b>, so reducing the stigma of mental illness and expanding services are fundamental. <b>Most other suicide victims are in a ‘situational crisis’,</b> so timely access to crisis counseling is also essential.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Family First MLC Robert Brokenshire says SA’s services are simply too haphazard, and this week called for a Suicide Prevention Coordinator to be funded in Thursday’s State Budget.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In response, Health Minister John Hill revealed that his department has for some time been preparing a Suicide Prevention Strategy “to focus our efforts on the things that will have the most impact”.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It will include a new Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee, reporting directly to the Minister on the success (or otherwise) of measures, any gaps in services and ways to better coordinate government agencies.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That’s the first we’ve heard of it – and it’s a welcome initiative. But it still leaves us with the mammoth task of raising awareness and reducing the stigma of suicide in the wider population.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">With church ministers and chaplains dealing with suicide on a weekly basis, the Moderator of the Uniting Church in South Australia, Rev Rob Williams, agrees. He too is calling for urgent action on suicide awareness as well as prevention, and the Uniting Church is now forming its own taskforce to drive the issue forward.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">“There’s got to be more that we can do and we think a good place to start is lifting the lid on the secrecy surrounding suicide. Certainly, a sensitive and gentle shift in the way media look at these issues is something that we are very interested in.”</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Australian Press Council is interested too. It’s currently reviewing its 10-year-old reporting guidelines on suicide and will release the findings later this month.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A major issue, of course, remains the fear of copy-cat suicides. Some still believe that instead of preventing suicides, increased reporting will merely cause more. But with so many Australians taking their own lives, it’s time to mature our thinking on that score.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">People who are truly intent on killing themselves have an abundance of information to make it happen – not least in the online world where traditional media guidelines are ignored with gusto.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The mainstream media has a responsibility to continue treating suicides carefully and sensitively, but surely one way to achieve that is by publishing regular figures (similar to the road toll) to keep the issue high on the public agenda.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As a community, we’re then sending a message that – like road deaths – suicides are preventable and we’re committed to curbing the toll. That’s got to be better than pretending 2000 Australians aren’t killing themselves each year.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Lifeline offers 24 hour crisis support on 13 11 14</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Many Chronic Pain Sufferers Ponder Suicide</b></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/many-chronic-pain-sufferers-ponder-suicide/story-e6frg6nf-1226070527602">The Australian</a></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Verity Edwards</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">June 2011</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A NATIONAL study on chronic pain shows a third of the population suffers from the malady and, of those, <b>20 per cent have considered suicide and 5 per cent have attempted to take their lives</b>.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Chronic Pain Australia president Coralie Wales, who commissioned the study of 2500 people, said most sufferers also felt stigmatised, believing they were perceived as drug addicts or bludgers. "The more stigmatised you feel, the more likely you are to commit suicide," she said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Chronic pain is defined as that which persists for more than three months. It affects about 6.5 million Australians.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A 2007 Access Economics report estimated chronic pain cost the nation $34.3 billion a year in lost productivity and on health service demands.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ms Wales said South Australia treated chronic pain sufferers worse than any other state, because they were forced to collect their medication from the Drug and Alcohol Services, alongside drug addicts.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"In South Australia it seems that anyone who takes an opiate seems to be a suspicious character and you have to be fearful of opiates," she said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ms Wales said the situation was so bad that chronic pain sufferers were forced to move interstate for better access to medication.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Colin Shaw moved from Adelaide to Brisbane a year ago to seek treatment for his cluster headaches. "Collecting medication alongside addicts was one of the most inhumane things. It was soul-destroying," he said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He has attempted suicide four times.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Shaw, 49, has suffered from up to six cluster headaches a day for more than 20 years. He says they are 10 times worse than migraines.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's like you've got a fire hose going through a small tube. It's like you're literally bursting, combined with a knife behind your eye," he said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's just cost me so much. It's cost me my family, my social life, my work as a photographer. Everything is gone."</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles:</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://uhs.berkeley.edu/lookforthesigns/depressionsuicide.shtml">What is Clinical Depression?</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Silence-on-suicide-does-more-harm-than-good/">Silence On Suicide Does More Harm Than Good</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/many-chronic-pain-sufferers-ponder-suicide/story-e6frg6nf-1226070527602">Many Chronic Pain Sufferers Ponder Suicide</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.healthnetwork.com.au/diseases-conditions/clinical-depression.asp">Clinical Depression - The Health Network</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx">Beyond Blue (Australia)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-66914851139152121642011-06-05T18:16:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:33.665+11:00Pollie Waffle<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8G4hw-PAtFVpNX0seW6uD1rRUG4efzGFA9-JS5gH9Q9xPmQqZCaMC9ZCtlDvnmrmB9qoB6uRW2QKFyOpqNA9endjwxll5oVWv0t-RwSgq7sORLrrWDZiKb95n86G_vbO5f7uQNtSFIg/s1600/babble01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8G4hw-PAtFVpNX0seW6uD1rRUG4efzGFA9-JS5gH9Q9xPmQqZCaMC9ZCtlDvnmrmB9qoB6uRW2QKFyOpqNA9endjwxll5oVWv0t-RwSgq7sORLrrWDZiKb95n86G_vbO5f7uQNtSFIg/s400/babble01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blah blah blah ...<br />
<a href="http://petulabloomfield.com/wp/gallery/">Image by Petula Bloomfield </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Have you ever wondered what happens when you send a letter to a politician? Do they read it? Do one of their lackeys reply for them or do they just bin your letter? </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I must admit that I have received some responses from politicians that have been answered personally. In general though, most responses from politicians are stock standard replies that somehow miss the point of your concerns and end up being promotional advertising for their party. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I wrote to the Victorian Minister for Mental Health, The Hon. Mary Wooldridge MP and voiced my concerns that she was a keynote speaker at the 2011 VAADA <a href="http://conference.vaada.org.au/">Conference</a>. (VAADA - The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association Inc.). I thought it was a bit strange for a politician to speak at a conference held for professionals in the AOD industry considering her support for banning drug paraphernalia which most members of VAADA opposed.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My letter to Minister Wooldridge simply asked what her response would be if most of the experts at the VAADA conference either told her and/or presented evidence that the government's proposed banning of drug paraphernalia would do more harm than good. A question that really only has one answer. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>I implore you to ask for the views of those who deal with drug issues on a daily basis. The 2011 VAADA Conference is an ideal event to find out what the professionals think about banning bongs. If anyone has an insight into the issue it’s those attending the conference. They are experts who spend their lives researching and dealing with drugs. </i></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Extract from my letter to Victorian Minister for Mental Health, The Hon. Mary Wooldridge MP</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The theme of the conference was Transitions: people, policy, practice implies change and moving forward and the program will focus on the transitions and movements within the alcohol and other drug (AOD) field as we move towards 2020.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The conference asks the questions:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-What does the next decade hold for alcohol and other drug treatment?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-What are the current strengths and weaknesses of drug treatment?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-How can we reshape public debate about alcohol and drugs?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-How do we build a drug treatment system for the future?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How does Mary Wooldridge MP fit into this? The new Victorian Liberal government (with her support) wants drug paraphernalia banned although there is absolutely no evidence that it will achieve the desired outcome of reducing drug use. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence though that not having access to certain drug using equipment can help cause severe harm to drug users. Why would VAADA choose someone like Mary Wooldridge to be a keynote speaker when the theme of the conference is about moving forward with better drug policies and wiser practices for dealing with drug users?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">First up, here is my letter to the Victorian Minister for Mental Health.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dear Mary</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I notice you are a keynote speaker at the 2011 VAADA Conference. This year’s theme is Transitions: people, policy, practice which implies change and moving forward.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I would like to know your reaction if most of the attendees agree that our current drug policies have failed and need to change. Will you change your decision to ban drug paraphernalia (cannabis smoking equipment) if most of the attendees think it is a mistake? Will you take into account their views if they feel that banning bongs will not deter drug use and may actually cause serious harm or even death to some people? </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most importantly, will you reconsider your position if the latest quantified research clearly shows that what they say is true? Will you base your decision on evidence or anti-drug rhetoric and popular myths? </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The fact is, most of the public do not want bongs banned. Either do most health professionals, drug experts and AOD workers. Although the general public mightn’t solely base their decision on scientific data, health professionals, drug experts and AOD workers do. Your decision on whether to ban bongs, needs to also be based on scientific data and the best available evidence. Currently, the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that removing safe drug taking equipment from sale does not deter drug use at all. Instead, it just encourages users to make homemade equipment that when shared may spread HIV/AIDS/Hep C through cut or burnt lips. Homemade bongs may also produce poisonous chemicals from burning inappropriate materials and cause damage to the health of users. </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Trying to “Send a clear message that cannabis is harmful” by removing the sale of bongs is contradictory. Forcing users to make homemade bongs is already harmful. Removing bongs from sale is also counterproductive. Homemade bongs do not come with warnings or directions on how to get help. But including this information with any legal sale would target the very people you are trying to reach. The legal availability of bongs does not determine whether someone users cannabis or normalises it’s use. There are many factors involved why people use cannabis but the legal sale of bongs is not one of them. Have you considered that like needle exchanges, a bong shop could give health workers direct access to users? An elected official like you must do what’s best for the community and implement evidence based policies regardless of your own personal views or what you may think is popular. </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I implore you to ask for the views of those who deal with drug issues on a daily basis. The 2011 VAADA Conference is an ideal event to find out what the professionals think about banning bongs. If anyone has an insight into the issue it’s those attending the conference. They are experts who spend their lives researching and dealing with drugs. </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Awaiting your reply.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-- </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Regards</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry Wright</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Australian Heroin Diaries</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">On April 13, 2011, a full three months later, I received a response.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">NOTE: Her email contained a scan of a printed letter. I have retyped the contents.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Terry Wright</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Australian Heroin Diaries</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="mailto:terry.wright@optusnet.com.au">terry.wright@optusnet.com.au</a></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dear Mr Wright</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Thank you for your email dated 16 January 2011 regarding the Victorian Government's intention to ban the sale of cannabis smoking paraphernalia (bongs). </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The ban on the sale of bongs was a Coalition election promise made by the Premier, the Hon Ted Baillieu MP in January 2010. This amendment to the Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act would see Victoria's legislation become comprehensive in banning all types of illicit drug paraphernalia, aligning with a ban on the sale of cocaine kits and ice pipes. </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug by young people in Victoria, and amongst regular cannabis users, bongs are the most common method for consumption. There is significant evidence on the risks of cannabis use to physical and mental health, particularly amongst those that commence cannabis use in their adolescence, and who use regularly. </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">By banning the sale of bongs the Government is demonstrating their commitment to preventing uptake and reducing the harms caused by cannabis use. The Government will also provide improved community information and education about the ban and the harmful effects of cannabis.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yours sincerely</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Hon Mary Wooldridge MP</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Minister for Mental Health</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mmmm. Doesn't really answer my questions.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The more I read her response, the more I am convinced that it is a cut and paste job from previous letters.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What are your thoughts?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>2007 Election Letter</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As I was writing this, I remembered about another reply I got years ago. It's a cracker!</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Back in 2007 with only 10 days until the federal election, I wrote to the Shadow Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon MP. Assuming a Labor victory, I asked her if Labor was going to follow on with Howard's "Tough on Drugs" strategy and implement any of the recommendations from The Bishop Report: “The Winnable War on Drugs”?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dear Nicola</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What is the ALP policy on health & drug reform? I did not find any clear indication from the ALP website.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is a new Labor Party government going to follow Howard’s outdated U.S. Lead ‘War on Drugs’ approach or is the Labor Party going to use health & science as their basis for treating drug addicts?</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is your party supporting ‘harm minimisation’ or supporting Bronwyn Bishop’s latest report findings. After Bronwyn Bishop’s report, I read so many negative opinions and nearly every health professional who commented on it, was scathing of the contempt The Prime Minister and Bronwyn Bishop had for harm minimisation.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">All I ask is for Labor to follow the European lead and use science, heath and experts to determine this serious issue of drug addiction and not use fear or morals to enforce a law & order policy. It has not worked for 30 years now and in fact only drives up crime, repression and misery.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry Wright</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What I received was classic Roxon and unadulterated election spin. But what stunned me most was that it was sent only two days short of election day. Read it if you dare.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dear Terry</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Labor strongly condemns illicit drug use and supports a “tough on drugs” approach as a means of protecting Australians from the terrible consequences of drug use and abuse. This is evidenced by a series of recent Labor policy announcements.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Labor has committed to a National Strategy to crack down on methamphetamines or “ice.” This included:</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">a ban on importing ice pipes and other drug paraphernalia; and</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">either further restrictions or a complete ban on sale of pseudoephedrine - a key ingredient of methamphetamine - to minors;</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">work to restrict or ban the sale of pseudoephedrine over the internet; and</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">the extension of the special reference to the Australian Crime Commission to conduct a national investigation into the criminals engaged in the manufacture, sale and use of methamphetamine. </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Labor has also committed to boost Australian Federal Police numbers by 500 including tackling the importation of illicit drugs.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Labor supports the aim of helping those who use illicit drugs become drug free. It must be recognised that illicit drug use and drug addiction in particular can be complex. Despite the best efforts of families, Governments, health professionals and community groups such as churches, a small number of people still engage in drug taking behaviour. This is a tragedy that families across the social spectrum face.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How best to deal with those who are resistant to intervention is not an easy task but society should not give up on trying to engage them in treatments that will see them become drug free and minimise the harm they do to themselves and their families. Labor believes that health professionals need to be able to use a range of prevention and intervention approaches and that these must be seen as part of a continuum that has freedom from drugs as an end goal.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Thank you for writing to Federal Labor about this important issue.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yours sincerely</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Nicola Roxon MP</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Shadow Minister for Heatlh</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes, it's real.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://stonetreeaus.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/tweeting-vaada-2011/">Tweeting VAADA 2011 - Stonetree Harm Reduction</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://conference.vaada.org.au/">VAADA Conference</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-25033486007873744942011-05-24T12:08:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:30.483+11:00Q & A: Tory Shepherd - Journalist<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbSuTaZWFEgqWXyYz2Mkol_SeYIHFhnIlR2eZBFDI8etpgG_COBsEWiBxsIP-ZyxfyiCVD3dtD0P9vbLCDiGnyVFR1O3mrzbSEb6Phyphenhyphen7p3UVN7JnctOCyk5WVcc7Cbxopaf33J2quVEM/s1600/toryshepherd01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbSuTaZWFEgqWXyYz2Mkol_SeYIHFhnIlR2eZBFDI8etpgG_COBsEWiBxsIP-ZyxfyiCVD3dtD0P9vbLCDiGnyVFR1O3mrzbSEb6Phyphenhyphen7p3UVN7JnctOCyk5WVcc7Cbxopaf33J2quVEM/s1600/toryshepherd01.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Tory Shepherd: The Journalist in Thongs</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Name</b>: Tory Shepherd</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Role</b>: Journalist with News Ltd. Acting Editor - The Punch. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Date</b>: May 2011</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I must admit that I read <a href="http://www.thepunch.com.au/">The Punch</a> quite a bit. And in my opinion, Tory Shepherd is the stand out amongst the journalistic team. I suppose it's her health perspective that attracts me to her writing although I find her other topics a tad more credible than her colleagues (I could say that being seriously cute might also have some influence but that would only cheapen this article). It's not often that you find a quality journalist in the tabloids with most of them taking positions in the more mature broadsheets. Tory Shepherd is an exception. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have been chasing Tory for over a year now to be part of this Q&A series so it's a relief to finally get her views on the issue of drugs. Being the ever professional journalist, you may find some of her answers typical for someone who has a boss in the media but all the same, her answers are straight forward and logical. Thanks Tory for taking the time to participate. I can only imagine what sort of time restraints you operate under.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Bio from The Punch:</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Tory Shepherd studied anthropology, then travelled, then studied some more, then travelled, then ended up with a cadetship at The Advertiser in 2006. She covered police rounds, politics, general news and health, while working at The Punch on the side. And doing some more travelling and studying. Now Tory is filling in for the other Tory (Maguire) as editor of The Punch. She is passionate about words, wine, chilli, soccer, and people (even the ones who hate her or keep praying for her soul). Follow her on </span><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/ToryShepherd"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Twitter - @ToryShepherd</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"> </span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7d0000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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</span></span></b></span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>QUESTIONS</b> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b>NOTE</b>:</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">These are Tory Shepherd’s personal views and not the views of her employer.</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>A report was published in the medical journal, The Lancet, where psychiatrists who specialise in addiction and legal/police officials with medical expertise were asked to rank the most dangerous 20 drugs. The factors used were physical harm to the user, addictive potential of the drug and the drug's overall impact on society. Cannabis, LSD and ecstasy didn’t even make the top 10. Does this affect your attitude towards their use?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This doesn’t affect my attitude; this merely reinforces what the science has shown for a long time.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Alcohol came number 5 and tobacco came number 9. Does this surprise you?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes. I would have thought they’d be higher. Most doctors would tell you that alcohol and ice are the main problem in emergency rooms.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you think anti-drug advertisements influence public views on drug use?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Depends which ones.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Should well known sportsmen and sportswomen be tested for non performance enhancing drugs?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think there are many drugs that wouldn’t be considered performance enhancing that might still be used to advantage, so each drug should be judged on its own effects when it comes to testing sportspeople.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>There is now more evidence than ever before that drug addiction is a physical condition and some people are more susceptible to becoming drug addicts. Do you think the public will ever fully understand this?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Nup. I think addiction will forever be a grey area, but that awareness can go a long way to helping non-addicts understand more about addiction.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you feel it’s someone right to take illicit drugs?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No, I don’t think it’s a ‘right’. Just like drinking wine is not a ‘right’.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you or have you used drugs(including alcohol) recreationally?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Should cannabis be legalised or decriminalised?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Should other illicit drugs be legalised or decriminalised?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It depends on the specific drugs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>John Howard wanted to remove Harm Minimisation as Australia’s primary drug strategy and implement a policy of Zero Tolerance. Do you think most Australians understand what Harm Minimisation really is?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think harm minimisation was demonised, but most people I know understand what it is. But I hang out with a weird crowd.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>From your experience, do fellow journalists actually believe the hype that the war on drugs is winnable?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I really can’t speak for anyone else.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>The Greens are often unfairly attacked by other political groups for their “radical” drug policy. Do you have an opinion on this?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think the Greens need to coordinate their message better and continue to refer to the science.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>What are your thoughts on The Greens changing their drug policy to be more in line with the major political parties?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think the Greens are in a position to pressure the major parties to change their drug policies to be more in line with the Greens.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you feel religion affects our drug policy?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Religion affects all policies, as many policymakers are religious.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you think a needle exchange program is needed in prisons?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Absolutely. And support to get off drugs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Results from Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) programs have been very positive overseas and HAT is now more successful than detox, rehab and methadone for long term addicts. Is this program viable for Australia considering John Howard vetoed a HAT trial 11 years ago?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think we should ignore anything vetoed over a decade ago, look at a cost/benefit analysis, and use whichever programs work best.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you think the media in Australia is responsible for much of the public’s views on drug issues.</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I do, but I also think even the mainstream media is much more diverse than it is often given credit for.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Do you feel the government does enough when Australians overseas are given barbaric punishments for drug offences?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think you could often see their stance as hypocritical; but at the same time I’m not privy to the behind-the-scenes negotiations. I strongly believe that they could be more outspoken against our near neighbours’ approach to the death penalty.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>What do you think of politicians being labelled “Soft on Drugs” when they suggest alternatives to current drug strategies?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think it’s easy, lazy, and populist.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Finally, if you were Prime Minister Tory Shepherd and you could change one law relating to drug policy or drug treatment, what would it be?</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I’m not sure this would be one law; but where it’s drugs not evilness that’s the problem, I’d divert drug users away from gaol and into programs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles (Q&A)</b></div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/q-kerry-wolf-certified-methadone_14.html">Kerry Wolf - Certified Methadone Advocate (USA)</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/01/q-dr-james-rowe.html">Dr. James Rowe - Lecturer at RMIT, School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2006/01/q-gino-vambucca.html">Gino Vumbaca - Executive Director of the Australian National Council on Drugs</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/04/q-the-hon-sandra-kanck.html">Sandra Kanck - Former South Australian MLC. South Australia spokesperson for Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform (FFDLR)</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/11/q-mr-tony-trimingham.html">Tony Trimingham - Chief Executive Officer, Family Drug Support</a> </div><div style="color: #505050; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/07/q-andrew-bartlett.html">Andrew Bartlett - Former Leader of the Australian Democrats and the Australian Senate. Candidate for the Greens in the 2010 Federal election.</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/09/q-fiona-patten-leader-of-australian-sex.html">Fiona Patten - Leader of The Australian Sex Party</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-47151796633771283022011-05-20T15:43:00.003+10:002023-01-16T15:46:31.787+11:00Safe Injecting Room Hysteria Hits Victoria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtO5ZxwbnVtLX90RKs0qqA9JDXE_OcYyhc0vAT2N3G4OiEV13ODuj2-d-4ijhY0Kf9AeCbmmbKBAPlKOUJdzXfbc1DQ-Yl1Ee_LrsVqCluvQZ-Qsk6yGTNW2dxS1lgJ28inluh9ZSnLQ/s1600/sic02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtO5ZxwbnVtLX90RKs0qqA9JDXE_OcYyhc0vAT2N3G4OiEV13ODuj2-d-4ijhY0Kf9AeCbmmbKBAPlKOUJdzXfbc1DQ-Yl1Ee_LrsVqCluvQZ-Qsk6yGTNW2dxS1lgJ28inluh9ZSnLQ/s320/sic02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Picture this scenario. A cancer expert proposes a medical clinic that would not only save dozens of lives each year but save $millions in future costs through preventative care. The proposed clinic from the expert is backed up by thousands of highly qualified peers and he even produces evidence from 91 other similar clinics around the world that show how successful they have been. The local council approves the clinic by a massive 6-1 vote while a local radio station quotes dozens of residents supporting the idea. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What would you think if our state premier, in front of the media, told the cancer expert, his peers, the council leaders and supporters that the government won't be allowing the clinic to proceed and that instead, they will rely on extending current programs. No big deal, we have heard it all before at least a dozen times. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What if though, the government' s current programs - the ones they want to expand - have never actually worked? And I'm not just talking about not working in some suburb in Melbourne like Richmond but in every region, in every state and territory in Australia. Not even once has the premier's proposed strategies ever resulted in success in Australia But, what if the premier's suggestion has never even succeeded overseas although it has been the default policy for 40 years in thousands of states, counties and provinces in over 200 countries around the world? Now, that's just ridiculous...</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">OK, so it's not a cancer clinic but the principle is still the same. If it was actually a cancer clinic, the public, the medical profession, the media and the opposition would be demanding the resignation of the premier and his cronies. What leader would ignore thousands of medical experts and hundreds of scientific studies and instead continue on with a policy that has failed for 40 years and annually costs tens of $billions, kills dozens of people, sends thousands of non violent Australians to prison and causes more societal carnage than any other policy in modern history? The answer is simply stunning. No leader would be that irresponsible, reckless and idiotic to ignore the massive amount of scientific and empirical evidence ... unless it has to do with illicit drugs. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Why do governments ignore the scientific research behind illicit drugs? For example, why would Ted Baillieu oppose a safe injecting clinic in Richmond so vehemently when Sydney's MSIC has <a href="http://www.sydneymsic.com/background-and-evaluation">proven</a> itself, again and again through independent, scientific research? If there was ample evidence for a cancer clinic, Uncle Ted wouldn't even hesitate but since it's about drugs, all advice from experts and professionals is simply rejected like a Buck's Fizz CD at a Faith No More concert.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu refuses to approve the state's first heroin injecting centre because he doesn't want to be seen as soft on drugs, a key drugs policy adviser says.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yarra councillors voted 6-1 on Tuesday night for an injecting room to tackle drug-related problems in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Baillieu insists his government won't sanction the establishment of an injection room along the lines of the Sydney facility that has operated in Kings Cross for 10 years.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"I recognise there's a problem and it's one of the reasons why we want to have more police on the streets," he told Fairfax Radio.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We haven't supported injecting rooms, we won't support injecting rooms, and I don't support the normalisation of any of this sort of behaviour."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/baillieu-wont-approve-a-heroin-centre-20110518-1es7k.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of Baillieu's answers was to put more police on the streets. This type of response might have been appropriate in the 1970s/1980s but we have had 40 years of successive failures, hundreds of studies slamming the tactic and no proof whatsoever that the suggestion would help the drug problem. In fact, every single scientific study or research project has shown us that an increased police presence simply moves the problem to neighbouring suburbs or a new location. Relying on brute force tactics like law enforcement is not just lazy politics but ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. Is this really the best solution an elected leader can come up with? Decisions like this would not be tolerated in the private sector so why are they allowed when you're the elected premier? This isn't about profit/loss statements or whether company XYZ should increase their marketing budget for SE Asia. The cold, hard reality from decisions about issues like the proposed safe injecting clinic in Richmond can have an enormous impact on families and those who need help the most.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Prof. David Penington said Mr Baillieu's proposal to solve the problem through law enforcement would not work.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Mr Baillieu is very firmly of the view that everything can be handled by law enforcement," Prof Penington told AAP.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's an instinctive reaction.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's a problem that is not going to go away with law enforcement. It's something that law enforcement has failed to eliminate over the last 50 years.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"They just fear that anything seen as soft on drugs will increase their use, but in fact, if we look at the evidence from other places and the successful program in Sydney, there isn't any evidence of increased use."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/baillieu-wont-approve-a-heroin-centre-20110518-1es7k.html">Professor David Penington, a senior fellow at Melbourne's Grattan Institute</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMunEKQXD1hAFIhkwHOVOCjcruNFIivRu-KFAellq2eTO7VB40OaS3oCIoXbDoqcHUd4lOuF3HsFlq8V7dok0WsMZhm_8ZElL6eD4gx1_MPUn3S1GSHkw5r2YLb22G6LUsHzJ2ZlGLn8s/s1600/sic03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMunEKQXD1hAFIhkwHOVOCjcruNFIivRu-KFAellq2eTO7VB40OaS3oCIoXbDoqcHUd4lOuF3HsFlq8V7dok0WsMZhm_8ZElL6eD4gx1_MPUn3S1GSHkw5r2YLb22G6LUsHzJ2ZlGLn8s/s320/sic03.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>THE CURRENT REALITY</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Our antiquated drug laws are devastating the human race, stockpiling addicts in overcrowded prisons and creating havoc for those with mental disorders. The irony is that although only a very small percentage of society end up with major drug problems, the bulk of drug users never have a health problem and only ever run into trouble when they cross paths with law enforcement. The tiny group of troubled drug users are the focus for most of our public policy, the media's attention and the bulk of police resources. Like alcohol abusers, the problematic drug user require most of the available help but after decades of anti-drug propaganda and politicians taking advantage of the publics misguided views usually force politicians into retaining useless and often dangerous drug policies that mostly just appease nervous parents, conservatives and semi-religious community groups.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Those who do end up with an addiction or a drug problem have become fodder for headline writers and self promoting politicians. Gone are the days when addicts were diagnosed with respect by doctors and treated like any other person with a medical issue. Now they are forced into rancid, run down shooting galleries or laneways, away from emergency services. It's bad enough that most users do not know what's in their stash but denying them a safe place to inject it just adds that extra self loathing and self hatred for having to do things to themselves that many of them still can't fully comprehend. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Being a junkie is as distressful and overwhelming as it gets. And when the despair from your daily ritual to find money also includes being hunted down by military style cops, your dose becomes all that more important. Just try and imagine how knowing there are strangers looking for you, pumped full of hatred because their commander-in-chiefs and our elected leaders publicly insist that you are the scourge of society. Would that affect your state of mind? Why would anyone think that addicts living this life are somehow happy with their situation?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>SHOCKED IN MY JOCKS</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I'm certainly no fan of MTR's Steve Price but what do you say when he writes an article for the Herald-Sun <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/injecting-rooms-are-the-way-to-go/story-e6frfhqf-1226058540682">supporting</a> a Safe Injecting Clinic in Richmond? Maybe this is what happens when an intelligent man starts to read between the lines of the usual anti-drug rubbish put out in the trash media? Maybe this is what happens when you are confronted more often with articles based on evidence and facts? Who knows? Whatever the reason, I have to say to Steve Price, well done for an excellent article.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>PUBLIC LAMBASTING</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I am really getting fed up with trash media like the Murdoch sewerage pit that spends hundreds of hours looking for new ways to degrade drug users, especially those who are addicts or have HIV/AIDS. It's always the same; some nasty, cutting headline based on the warped opinion of some religious nutter, bigoted politician, hate group etc. Or it's meant to shock us about how much some program costs. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Family groups yesterday said they objected to the program.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We are against both the needle exchange and the condom programs," said Terri Kelleher of the Australian Family Association.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"People aren't making the best decision when they are on drugs, and therefore shouldn't be supplied with condoms. There's no guarantee they are going to use them anyway."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/you-pay-100000-bill-for-addicts-sex-and-disease-control/story-fn7x8me2-1226058506278">The Herald Sun - You Pay $100,000 Bill For Addicts' Sex And Disease Control</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Everyday, there's some derogative article that describes drug users/addict-dealers/addicts etc. as a major threat to society. Especially to our precious children. How many times have you read about an innocent 1-2 year old being in the same room as their scum-of-the-earth parents are taking their deadly methadone or even worse, selling drugs? Does a 2 year old really notice these events while they desperately try to turn Ken or Barbie into contortionists? Do kids this age really stop midway through the TellyTubbies to enquire if the drugs for sale are as good as the previous batch from last week?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Will someone please think about the children!</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Helen Lovejoy (Wife of The Reverend Timothy Lovejoy) </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the main targets for criticism are Needle Exchange Programs (NEPs). Never mind the fact that they pay for themselves many times over, some people just cannot cope with the idea of providing clean injecting equipment for drug users. Some groups even object to providing condoms, so there's doom and gloom everywhere. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Crime Victims Support Association's Noel McNamara said it was "disgusting" taxpayers were funding drug use.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We're making it easier for people to go on drugs," he said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's appalling that this money is being spent on drug users rather than on people fighting cancer or diabetes."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/footscray-frankston-hot-spots-fears-on-needles/story-fn7x8me2-1226055870966">Sunday Herald Sun - Needle Exchange Sparks Hot Spot Fears For Footscray And Frankston</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The US under G.W. Bush banned federal funding to any group that provided syringes or condoms (including HIV/AIDS support groups). Healthcare groups had to spend their funding on abstinence only programs following the "Just Say No" style or groups that promoted no sex before marriage. By the end of his term as president, the US had 1000% more people with HIV/AIDS and blood borne diseases than Australia. Obama changed all that and luckily the rate of drug users and sex workers with blood borne diseases is dropping rapidly. Although the federal laws have changed, it is still illegal in some US states to buy syringes without a prescription. Interestingly, John Howard was a big supporter of US style drug policy.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">During the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in 2009, Lawyer, Greg Barns blamed the media for much of the drug hysteria in Australia. And he is dead right. The muck raking might help them sell newspapers and keep silly opinion writers in a job but the end results are deadly. As Barns pointed out, many people get all their information from these media groups and after years of telling the same lies, most people start to believe them as facts. Where's the social responsibility?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Melbourne's 9000 overdoses a year</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/melbournes-9000-overdoses-a-year/story-fn6t2xlc-1226036959151">The Herald Sun - Peter Mickelburough</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How are our elected politicians supposed to introduce sensible, evidence based policies with the media stirring up so much controversy about an issue that has been twisted for at least 40 years? Even before the term "War on Drugs" was coined by US President, Richard Nixon, we had "Reefer Madness" and other silly fairy tales circulating like they were facts. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Shame of our Needle Town</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/shame-of-our-needle-town/story-fn6bfm6w-1226043770408">Sunday Herald Sun - Hamish Heard</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdCnFtTCd2CL3Sw93GTMgfbCUcvSCR9G3FdQ4tw6YLVx5tNsnhzjFK0qwJ6r8gqO2r596XjpNaixnW0t44-lI1CnEn7GYVkiojiR59NoHOQIw9N-foqCbgovwOIpszkpJHk7VMPLOhl0/s1600/sic01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdCnFtTCd2CL3Sw93GTMgfbCUcvSCR9G3FdQ4tw6YLVx5tNsnhzjFK0qwJ6r8gqO2r596XjpNaixnW0t44-lI1CnEn7GYVkiojiR59NoHOQIw9N-foqCbgovwOIpszkpJHk7VMPLOhl0/s320/sic01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But times have changed. Most drug experts now agree that we cannot continue with a "War on Drugs" mentality but it has to start with some brave politicians to risk putting science before popularity. Luckily, tt has actually started albeit slowly. I just hope Ted Baillieu can be mature enough to support evidence based policy and stand his ground against the biggest fear of all ... being called "Soft on Drugs" by opposing politicians. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-30776547118596422282011-05-17T13:28:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:31.054+11:00Once Again, Barnett Proves He is a Liar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Vw3C0vILwgiab8km7QOgW3tHvAKboZyk3RBGtq9Bo9uLTGfwQeS1FQ_5vKh6oF6TPEIkxh_ygGRp85-XUlRN26X95eEsLC1jjhaa78wHU-vVKhBTU6mF8yktxuNExsCZWHmNtyzKXf8/s1600/colinbarnett01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Vw3C0vILwgiab8km7QOgW3tHvAKboZyk3RBGtq9Bo9uLTGfwQeS1FQ_5vKh6oF6TPEIkxh_ygGRp85-XUlRN26X95eEsLC1jjhaa78wHU-vVKhBTU6mF8yktxuNExsCZWHmNtyzKXf8/s400/colinbarnett01.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7d0000;">Colin Barnett has declared the increasing use of illegal drugs - in combination with binge drinking - is at the heart of Perth's record of street violence.</span></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-The West Australian</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Er, sorry Colin but drugs alone rarely cause people to be violent. Booze has officially taken that honour. In fact, alcohol is by far, the most violent drug on earth. Never before in the history of man has a drug proven to cause so much violence, aggression and crime. And to top it off, it's legal, easy to buy and heavily endorsed by celebrities, sports stars and politicians. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How many people do you know who become violent on ecstasy, cannabis or heroin? Even the so called "ice epidemic" causing violence is a <a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/04/ice-more-drug-myths.html">myth</a>.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b>Interviewer</b>: My guests today in Melbourne University Up Close are Associate Professor John Fitzgerald and Dr. Fances Bramwell.</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">So, John, essentially what you are saying is that, in Australia there is no epidemic of ice use.</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b>Associate Professor John Fitzgerald, Principal Research Fellow at the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne</b>: Yeah, and it is not to say that ice use is not problematic.</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">-<a href="http://upclose.unimelb.edu.au/transcript/15">Melbourne University Up Close Episode 15</a></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Alcohol accounts for 97% of all violence whilst under the influence of a substance. Illicit drugs ranks a lowly 3%. And out of that 3%, sleep depravation from amphetamine type drugs is responsible for half of that, not the violent reaction from the drug itself. With less than 1.5% of substance induced violence associated to illicit drugs, it is easy to assume that 99% of those classed as being aggressive are naturally violent regardless of any substance they may have taken. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drinking is not new - and I don't defend or excuse that in any sense. But excessive drinking and combining with drugs is clearly leading to more violent behaviour</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Colin Barnett</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Any drug taker will tell you the simple truth ... drugs cause the opposite reaction of being violent. Many of them bring on confidence, friendship, empathy, sexuality, pleasantness, a need to communicate, feelings of euphoria, camaraderie etc. Other drugs make you drowsy and uninterested in anything confrontational. Others will make you "trip" where everything around you becomes magical and exciting. No drug I know of gives the user any need to be aggressive or violent ... except booze.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But what clearly stands out in this article is the contradictory comments by the premier compared to those who actually patrol the streets - The Police. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">WA Police have emphasised alcohol rather than drugs in the debate about violence in entertainment precincts that has raged after recent tragic incidents in Northbridge and Cottesloe.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Operation Unite commander Supt Scott Higgins said the root of violence was complex but alcohol was a consistent theme.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-The West Australian</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is this because the premier's drug of choice is booze ... A dangerous drug that harms people thousands of times more often than street drugs? </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"With people drinking in parks, homes, in pubs and clubs, whether they're taking drugs or not taking drugs, the consistent thing is alcohol," he said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-The West Australian</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Or is it because the drug he prefers to use causes far more carnage to society than any illicit drug?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What I really want to know is why the opposition and the media has not challenged Barnett to these ludicrous claims? There is no evidence whatsoever or scientific report ever produced that associates the effects of illicit drugs with excessive violence. In fact, there are only two examples of violence resulting from drugs. One is when drugs are used in conjunction with alcohol and the other is in the business side of selling drugs. Ironically, both of these are purely the result of government policy.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I'm sorry Colin but you are once again on record, lying about the issue of illicit drugs. Are you really that arrogant that you think the vast majority of Western Australians don't have the ability to check your claims on the internet? Or are you just so out of touch with reality that you think the internet is just some gizmo from a sc-fi novel? My guess is that you know darn well that the failed policy of drug prohibition has wreaked havoc on society for nearly 50 years but since it continues to win you votes, you will keep pretending to support it. And we wonder why the public thinks that Australian politics has gone to shit?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Premier Says Drugs Have Role In Violence</b></div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/9446742/premier-says-drugs-have-role-in-violence/">The West Australian</a> </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Gareth Parker And Gabrielle Knowles, </div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">May 2011</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Colin Barnett has declared the increasing use of illegal drugs - in combination with binge drinking - is at the heart of Perth's record of street violence.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As WA Police continued to emphasise the role of alcohol amid a weekend crackdown that saw 435 people charged in Operation Unite, the Premier said drinking had always been an issue but the level of illegal drug taking was new.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He also suggested young West Australians' higher incomes relative to the rest of the nation could be fuelling the drug abuse.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"There is no doubt income levels in WA are probably $20,000 more than the rest of the country and there are a lot of people, often young people, who are on high incomes," Mr Barnett said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Many of them might be fly-in, fly-out mine workers who are in Perth in their week off, they have a lot of money to spend and they party too hard.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Drinking is not new - and I don't defend or excuse that in any sense. But excessive drinking and combining with drugs is clearly leading to more violent behaviour."</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">WA Police have emphasised alcohol rather than drugs in the debate about violence in entertainment precincts that has raged after recent tragic incidents in Northbridge and Cottesloe.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Operation Unite commander Supt Scott Higgins said the root of violence was complex but alcohol was a consistent theme.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"With people drinking in parks, homes, in pubs and clubs, whether they're taking drugs or not taking drugs, the consistent thing is alcohol," he said.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">At the weekend, police charged 435 people with 462 offences, including 391 traffic offences, 10 assaults and five assaults on public officers.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Supt Higgins said police were most concerned by the number of motorists drink-driving, with 138 caught driving over the limit, including 18 charged with driving under the influence.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In addition, a Victoria Park man has been charged over a one-punch assault in Northbridge that left a 26-year-old with head injuries.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The man hit his head on the pavement and lost consciousness after he was allegedly king-hit outside the Republic Nightclub in Shafto Lane about 12.30am on Saturday.</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #7d0000; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Police claim the attacker, also 26, was thrown out of the nightclub seconds earlier and allegedly punched the other man after mistaking him for someone else.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>NOTE:</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Colin Barnett was the winner of the 2009 Bucket Head of the Year award. Here it is again just to refresh your memory.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #020f98; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>THE BUCKETHEAD OF THE YEAR - 2009</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The ultimate anti-drug zealot who made a huge impact on the downfall of rational thinking and sensibility in 2009. Unlike the category for Most Dangerous Anti-Drug Campaigner, The Bucket Head of the Year can be literally a “Bucket Head” Think of Rove, Bronwyn Bishop, Daryl Somers etc. They might be dangerous or just plain stupid but they must be worthy of scorn and criticism.</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9R31jN9BGBGV6eOSI4PQ22GFVOulddz1SJ38Q3VEDhqvIC0512haz_8c8fmDk03ucqlI3KeaHxu9TCdtlsa8SaPE3RAnLHApeImCqIAuXV5gyyExx7qBINd7FJAGx65Iwz4N_jz-3ss/s1600/CBarnett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9R31jN9BGBGV6eOSI4PQ22GFVOulddz1SJ38Q3VEDhqvIC0512haz_8c8fmDk03ucqlI3KeaHxu9TCdtlsa8SaPE3RAnLHApeImCqIAuXV5gyyExx7qBINd7FJAGx65Iwz4N_jz-3ss/s320/CBarnett.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Colin Barnett</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">WA Premier (LP)</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Trying to top last year’s winner, Anne Bressington, is not easy but WA premier, Colin Barnett has made a gallant attempt. Introducing new laws infamous for failing globally, to replace existing laws that have been succeeding could be interpreted as brave and insightful. Unfortunately for Colin “Barney Rubble” Barnett, it wasn’t. It was seen for what it really was ... an out-of-touch old man clinging desperately to his stagnant ideology and putting faith into strategies that have failed miserably for the last 40-60 years which are rapidly on their way out. Only a brave man indeed would remove a modern, successful drug policy because of myths like “The Gateway Theory” and other junk science. Someone should point out to Barney that the internet(yes Barney, that TV looking thing on your desk) means politicians can no longer just say what they want and the public have to take it as gospel. </div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Barney is also introducing “Stop and Search” laws, claiming it will cut down on street violence and anti-social behaviour by seeking out those carrying knives or drugs. In certain designated areas, police can stop and search any person without provision of reasonable suspicion. What the hell drugs have to with weapons is yet to quantified.</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Barney is a dying breed which probably sums up the current Liberal Party and some of the Labor Party. It's not that his drug policies are just useless and counter-productive but they are also dangerous. To underplay the deaths and misery caused by these policies for political gain or for personal ideology is disgraceful and should be seen as a criminal act. A “Tough on Drugs” mentality has caused massive damage in every country that adopts this approach and after 100 years of drug prohibition globally, some common sense is finally emerging. Sadly, this doesn’t include Colin Barnett.</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">On a lighter side ... man, is he funny or what? That bloodhound face looking like it was made from plastic. The monotone political rhetoric putting TV viewers to sleep. Walking around Northbridge at night to prove it is family friendly only to be confronted with some druggie asleep in a doorway. But it was an accidental camera pan of several heavyweight body guards that blew his cover as the brave leader walking the streets alone. And of course, the references to old, debunked urban myths about drugs that had much of WA’s youth rolling around the floor in hysterics and experts scratching their heads in bewilderment. Good stuff, Barney.</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I proudly present to you, this years BucketHead of the Year for 2009 ... WA Premier, Colin Barnett.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-another-dickhead-lib-from-wa.html">WHAT?!!! ... Another Dickhead Lib from WA</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/10/wa-do-not-want-tougher-cannabis-laws.html">WA Do Not Want Tougher Cannabis Laws from 1981</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/10/final-proof-colin-barnett-is-dickhead.html">The Final Proof - Colin Barnett is a Dickhead</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/01/liberal-party-on-drugs.html">The Liberal Party on Drugs</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/12/drug-bins-in-wa-brings-out-nutters.html">Drug Bins in WA Brings Out the Nutters</a></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/wa-liberals-drug-policy-blues.html">WA Liberals - Drug Policy Blues</a></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-82545275227187150352011-05-16T18:32:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:34.390+11:00Debate - All Drugs Should Be Legalised<div><b><a href="http://www.iq2oz.com/about/index.php">About Intelligence Squared Australia</a></b></div><div><br />
</div><div><u>The program:</u></div><div>An annual series of provocative and informative live debates on the hot-button concerns of the day.</div><div><br />
</div><div><u>The goals:</u></div><div>The goals of IQ² Australia are to:</div><div><ul><li>raise the level of public discourse on our most challenging issues;</li>
<li>provide a new forum for intelligent discussion, grounded in facts and informed by reasoned analysis;</li>
<li>transcend the toxically emotional and the reflexively ideological; and</li>
<li>encourage recognition that the opposing side has intellectually respectable views.</li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div><div><u>The approach:</u></div><div>To take the traditional 'grammar' of Oxford-style debate seriously, with one side proposing and the other side opposing a sharply-framed motion. Three speakers - leading thinkers and authorities on the issues - argue on each side of the motion.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After the formal arguments, the debate is thrown open to the floor for debate and questions, triggering a lively interchange among the speakers and audience members. A well-known moderator keeps the proceedings orderly.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Each side attempts to persuade the audience to vote their way. This adversarial context is electric, adding drama and excitement. The live audience will vote on the motion both before and after hearing the arguments, so there is a clear measure of how far people have actually been swayed.</div><div><br />
</div><div><u>The where and when:</u></div><div>The debates are held in Sydney at the City Recital Hall Angel Place and in Melbourne at Melbourne Town Hall. Doors open at 6:00pm, the debate begins at 6:30pm 6:45pm and will end promptly at 8:30pm.</div><div><br />
</div><div>As in London and New York, the live audience - including the movers and shakers of Sydney’s media, policy and business worlds - may choose to continue the discussion at some of the city’s fine local restaurants.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b>Note from The Australian Heroin Diaries</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">32.3% of people were undecided before the debate. After the debate, less than 3% of them disagreed while a whopping 22.2% agreed with legalising all drugs. The end result had 69% agreeing with legalising all drugs while only 23% disagreed. 8% were still undecided.</span></span><br />
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</div><h1 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 23px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.iq2oz.com/events/event-details/2011-series-sydney/may.php"><img alt="www.iq2oz.com.gif" height="106" src="webkit-fake-url://538BCC75-6FC8-4B19-9266-48F19DBFB0DF/www.iq2oz.com.gif" width="640" /></a></span> </h1><h1 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 23px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>All drugs should be legalised</strong></h1><div class="details" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="Handcuff encircling the word 'drugs'." src="http://www.iq2oz.com/resources/img/events/2011/01-drugs.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; position: relative;" title="" /><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">10 May 2011 - Sydney</div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The use of mind-altering substances has been part of the human experience for millennia.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">While accepted within the contexts of spirituality and medicine, these drugs have been proscribed regularly when used purely for recreational purposes.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In most cases, prohibition has failed to curb demand and the provision of illicit drugs has become the lucrative trade of organised crime – with the associated ills of corruption, violence and health risks.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some people urge tighter restrictions on all recreational drugs as the cure for social ills linked to their use and abuse. Others argue that all drugs should be legal – subject only to prudent regulation.</div><div class="clearing" style="clear: both; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><h2 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-top: 0.2em;">Poll results</h2><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">At each IQ² debate the audience is polled on the topic, both before and after the debate takes place. Here are the results for this debate:</div><table class="results" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 392px;"><thead>
<tr><th style="padding-bottom: 4px; text-align: center;"></th><th style="padding-bottom: 4px; text-align: center;">Pre-debate poll</th><th style="padding-bottom: 4px; text-align: center;">Post-debate poll</th></tr>
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<tr><td>For:</td><td class="centre" style="text-align: center;">46.8%</td><td class="centre" style="text-align: center;">69%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Undecided:</td><td class="centre" style="text-align: center;">32.3%</td><td class="centre" style="text-align: center;">8%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Against:</td><td class="centre" style="text-align: center;">20.9%</td><td class="centre" style="text-align: center;">23%</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h2 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-top: 0.2em;">Watch the video</h2><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The video for this debate will be availble soon.</div><h2 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-top: 0.2em;">Speakers</h2><h3 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.2em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0.2em;">For:</h3><ul style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 14px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; list-style-type: square !important; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><strong>Nicholas Cowdery</strong> AM QC BA LLB was the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions running the largest prosecuting agency in Australia from 1994 to 2011. He became a Barrister in 1971 and was Public Defender in Papua New Guinea for four years. As a Barrister in private practice in Sydney, he specialised in criminal law appearing in many high profile cases including the prosecutions of the late Justice Lionel Murphy (of the High Court of Australia) and of the late Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (former Premier of the State of Queensland). He is a member of the NSW Sentencing Council and the Advisory Committee, Sydney Institute of Criminology and the National Advisory Committee, Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, University of Wollongong. He is the author of <em>Getting Justice Wrong: myths, media and crime</em>.</li>
<li style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 14px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; list-style-type: square !important; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><strong>Wendy Harmer</strong> is a prominent Australian broadcaster, entertainer and veteran of countless international comedy festivals. She has presented top-rating morning radio and has hosted, written and appeared in a wide variety of TV shows including ABC's <em>Big Gig</em> and <em>In Harmer's Way</em>. Harmer is the author of several books for adults, two plays and a series of children's books. She has also hosted the television Logie Awards and has been a regular newspaper and magazine contributor.</li>
<li style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 14px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; list-style-type: square !important; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><strong>Dr Alex Wodak AM</strong> is a physician and has been Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital since 1982. His major interests include prevention of HIV among injecting drug users, treatment of drug users and drug policy reform. Dr Wodak is President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and was President of the International Harm Reduction Association (1996-2004). He helped establish the first needle syringe program (1986) and the first medically supervised injecting centre (1999) in Australia when both were pre-legal. Dr Wodak helped establish the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (1987) and the Australian needle syringe program annual survey (1995).</li>
</ul><h3 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.2em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0.2em;">Against:</h3><ul style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 14px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; list-style-type: square !important; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><strong>Jade Lewis</strong> is a former drug addict who now campaigns and educates against use of illegal drugs. As a young teenager she was a champion junior athlete who competed internationally, and won the WA Doug Hancy Award, Athlete of the Year and Junior Sportswoman of the Year. Her records remain unbeaten in Western Australia. Her later heroin addiction, criminal behaviour and volatile relationships are recorded in her book, <em>Golden Haze</em>. She now educates at schools on positive relationships and runs a program for women prisoners.</li>
<li style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 14px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; list-style-type: square !important; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><strong>Dr Greg Pike</strong> is the Director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute in Adelaide, South Australia where he focuses primarily on the influence of bioethics on public policy development. He trained as a physiologist with a PhD in muscle electrophysiology, becoming Hospital Research Scientist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in the Department of Surgery. He is the Chairman of the Board of the Australian Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Program and a member of the Institute on Global Drug Policy, has served as a Deputy Member on the SA Council on Reproductive Technology and was a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee for the 2006-09 triennium.</li>
<li style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 14px; list-style-image: initial !important; list-style-position: initial !important; list-style-type: square !important; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><strong>Paul Sheehan</strong> is one of the most thought-provoking commentators in Australia today. A columnist for <em>The Sydney Morning Herald</em>, Sheehan is a prominent writer and has written on the bigger debate about the politics of cultural diversity in contemporary Australia. He is one of Australia's best-selling authors with three best-selling books including, most recently, the number-one best-seller, <em>Girls Like You</em>.</li>
</ul><h3 style="background: inherit; background: inherit; color: #005577; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.2em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0.2em;">Chair:</h3><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>Dr Simon Longstaff</strong> has a PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge. Prior to becoming the inaugural Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre in 1991, Dr Longstaff worked in the Northern Territory in the Safety Department of BHP subsidiary, GEMCO, lectured at Cambridge University and consulted to the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts. His book <em>Hard Cases, Tough Choices</em> was published in 1997. Dr Longstaff was inaugural President of the Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics and is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. He is Chairman of Woolworths Limited Corporate Responsibility Panel and AMP Capital Socially Responsible Investment Advisory Committee and serves as Member on a number of Board Committees.</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-25326120602633241402011-05-10T23:16:00.001+10:002023-01-16T15:46:30.601+11:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we dive into another cracker from Paul Gallagher, I first must congratulate Scott Rush for having his death penalty annulled and the sentence been changed to life. Why the hell any country would want to snuff out the life of a small time drug mule is still as baffling as any puzzle we might ever have to face but I'm taking this as good news.<br />
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And although the poor bastard has had his young life smashed into pieces by a barbaric, intensly corrupt regime, I bet that he will still be expected to be thankful for allowing the state not to murder him. I can just see the comments now from Daily Telegraph / Herald-Sun readers quizzing the Indonesian government on why they let off such a low life like Scott Rush and why wasn't he executed like some rabid animal. I have this clear vision of the blood thirsty Indonesian prosecutors demanding from Rush, a royal kiss on their shapeless hairy arses because they have overturned his death sentence and instead, allowed him to live in sub human conditions until he dies of some slow, nasty disease in one of their dispicable prisons.<br />
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Strangely enough, I can't think of anything more relevant than the Scott Rush situation as a lead in to the next issue.<br />
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<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/54996280/%E2%80%9CALL-DRUGS-SHOULD-BE-LEGALISED%E2%80%9D-IQ-2-LIVE-DEBATE-MAY-10th-2011" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto; text-decoration: underline;" title="View “ALL DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGALISED” IQ ^2 LIVE DEBATE MAY 10th 2011 on Scribd">“ALL DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGALISED” IQ ^2 LIVE DEBATE MAY 10th 2011</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.706697459584296" data-auto-height="true" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_5414" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/54996280/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-2a5mpl0ss0994ft51twp" width="100%"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">
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</script>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-32769633969386281632011-05-09T12:13:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:31.177+11:00Drug Free Australiaʼs Dr. Stuart Reece & Culpable Abuse Of Patients<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
If you're part of the movement that opposes vaccines for kids, a homeopathy witch doctor or one of the dangerous, anti-harm minimisation loon squad, then the chances are you have been targeted sometime by Paul Gallagher. As one of Australia's leading skeptics, Paul Gallagher is especially passionate about those who reinterpret science as some kind of self righteous crusade usually involving their religious beliefs or personal ideology. Read on as Paul uncovers some disturbing truths that feel more akin to a science fiction novel than something that can happen in a so called, advanced society. </div>
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<b>DRUG FREE AUSTRALIAʼS DR. STUART REECE & CULPABLE ABUSE OF PATIENTS</b></div>
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<b>By Paul Gallagher</b></div>
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<i>A critical look at faith based practices and superstition used in the abuse of heroin dependent patients, in conjunction with poorly monitored naltrexone prescription.</i></div>
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<i>Dr. Reece continues to practice today and still claims to hold “a world safety record” in naltrexone prescription, despite over 25 fatalities in 20 months.</i></div>
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<i>He continues to write in the anti-drug, ambitiously named Journal of global drug policy and practice. See final pages.</i></div>
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<i>We begin with publications from just after Dr. Reece found the QLD Medical Tribunal indefinitely adjourned his case.</i></div>
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This easy to access and a pleasure to read, <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/21197619/Focus-Qld-June03"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">embedded PDF</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>of <i>Focus </i>magazine has two relevant stories. On page 1 we meet Graham Preston who was jailed back in June 2003 for pro-life antics. His sole direction was Proverbs 24, verse 11: “Rescue those being led away to death”. Note the bias in how his story is reported and please understand this is an excellent example of using religion to cement tribal cohesion. Now read the story on page 2: Naltrexone Doctor Vindicated and remind yourself of the above proverb. Dr. Reeceʼs “feelings were hurt”. No news on how the 25 corpses are feeling.</div>
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For the record, not only is it entirely irrelevant to launch <a href="http://www.youngausskeptics.com/educational-assets/%23logicalfallacies"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">ad hominem attacks</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>on the application of demonstrably efficacious therapy {MMT}, but the claims made have been followed up and found to be fallacious. These statements simply reinforce that fundamentalist indoctrination and zealotry of such lethal extent is resilient to rehabilitation. Attacking an evidence based therapy indicates his aim was never about <i>adding </i>to the rehabilitation arsenal. It was about a personal vendetta over old funding disagreements and his religious conviction that certain policies are immoral. Science is immoral, evolution is immoral, democracy is immoral... Anything not backed by bible blubbery is of course, immoral.</div>
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In reality the QLD Health Practitioners Tribunal <i>adjourned indefinitely </i>over the 25 deaths at his bastard baptising, demon exorcising, sin stopping, faith healing hands. Letʼs consider a more expansive view, given that he has since claimed multiple times – and before a Parliamentary inquiry – to “hold the world safety record” in administering the very treatment he killed 25 Aussies with. Like most junk scientists his arguments arenʼt about his supporting evidence, as much as about misinforming people about aspects of medicine he considers immoral. Much like homeopathy, Christian fundamentalism as a medical option [christian science] must discredit that which exposes itʼs lies: simple, ordinary evidence. Dr. Reece is the gentleman who coined the term “hedonistic delirium” to describe modern democracies. Or the simply gorgeous: “Sometimes the best way forward, is the way back” in a brave attempt to argue pre-industrial revolution societies were superior.</div>
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Okay – letʼs begin. By 1999 Australia knew <a href="http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/171_1_050799/hall/hall.html"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">naltrexone was far from safe</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>despite “miraculous” stories of recovery. Wodak and Hall discussed the evidence in an editorial in the MJA, that also briefly noted the role of the media in confusing community attitudes. Stuart Reece would never forget this and has “blamed” not only these scientists but <i>projected responsibility </i>for his disgusting conduct onto these very individuals. He has slandered both of these brilliant internationally renowned scientists whilst under Parliamentary protection accusing Hall of “scientific fraud” [<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/20272036/Reece-Bishop"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Page 61/FHS 55</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>]. And he has ignored the Hippocratic oath in his quest to slander and destroy Dr. Wodakʼs reputation.</div>
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In September 1999 after being raided and threatened with closure he claimed the QLD government would have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s54037.htm"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">blood on itʼs hands</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>if he didnʼt get his way. 20 months later, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2001/s307762.htm"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">25 patients were dead</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>because he got exactly what he wanted. He was raided and closed down again, much <a href="http://www.cdp.org.au/fed/mr/2001/010605.asp"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">to the ire of the</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>Christian Democrat Party – whose “federal drug policy” proudly claims individual Aussies have <i>no civil rights </i>in this respect. Biblical love is <span style="color: #1c07a8;">in abundance </span>whenever Dr. Reece is faced with evidence. Three months after claiming 25 “drug addicts” died as “part of a conspiracy”, Reece dropped all pretense and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s1238978.htm"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">did the media circuit</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>as a faith healer. In fact these “patients” earned him thousands of dollars per head only to be prescribed addictive benzodiazapines – later to contribute to cause of death – as the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2008/2221164.htm"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">untrialled and untested</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>naltrexone failed. Had basic support – such as a contact or counseling – been available, heroin overdoses would be highly unlikely. As I noted above, this was never about helping addicts so much as winning a moral argument, and the lucrative contracts that must one day follow.</div>
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In October 2005 Christian conservative <b>Tony Abbott MP Liberal </b>(then Federal Health Minister) funded Drug Free Australia to the tune of $600,000. They breached almost every condition under which they were awarded the funding, ultimately emerging as right wing lobbyists – not therapists – and set about promoting Creationism, Conservatism and Punishment for all. They are devout followers of <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/53172318/Sweden-WHAT-CAN-WE-LEARN-FROM-SWEDEN%2525E2%252580%252599S-DRUG-POLICY-EXPERIENCE"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Swedenʼs zero tolerance policy</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>and the <a href="http://www.dfaf.org/"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">USA hardliners</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>[<a href="http://www.punkerslut.com/critiques/drug_free_america_foundation/open_letter_on_drug_prohibition.html"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">open letter</span></a>] who cling to lucrative contracts and powerful identities. Reece, a supporter of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpabeOOJeoQ"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">biblically driven abstinence</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>and Texas trained fundamentalist was back with backing.</div>
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By April 2007 Dr. Reece was testifying to a Parliamentary Inquiry that the immoral policies that permitted condoms – the real cause behind AIDS – clean needles, opioid therapy for addicts, non-punitive cannabis laws, harm reduction and general tolerance for ill Aussies would be our doom. In utter amazement the Senate Standing Committee stared as this “expert” whoʼd introduced himself by saying “I certainly know the science”, displayed a photo of “the archaeological site of Sodom” and a tree with snakes instead of branches. [<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/20272036/Reece-Bishop"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Page 33/FHS 27</span></a>]. The point to this? “<i>There will be consequences</i>”.</div>
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As <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/05/15/naltrexone-ii-no-trials-just-the-power-of-prayer/"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">reported in Crikey</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>by Ray Moynihan our world expert decided the “disease drugs, sex and rock-n-roll” was the problem at hand. Asked about the safety of naltrexone, Dr. Reece immaturely attacked the internationally renowned scientist, Dr. Wodak [<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/20272036/Reece-Bishop"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Page 59/FHS54</span></a>], who specialiseʼs in blood born viruses and epidemiology – which means he supports condoms, clean syringe access and used syringe collection: dire threats to our very civilisation, claimed Reece. This childish ad hominem approach is common despite the fact entire shires with dozens of dispensaries and hundreds of clients report no methadone deaths. A minority report death, and methadone is one toxic substance on a list of many. It is taken under supervision, immediately after being prepared by a pharmacist. Compared to 25 deaths at the hands of one man in a year and a half, a scattering of deaths across hundreds of outlets in every state, is of no significance. Dr. Albert Stuart Reeceʼs real world record is clearly in reckless fatalities.</div>
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How did Committee Chairperson react to this insanity? Bronwyn Bishop slandered and abused public health scientists yet gushed uncontrollably in support of Dr. Reeceʼs voodoo. A pre-determined agenda in what was billed as the most important family relevant inquiry of Howardʼs government spoke volumes. Bishops final report was rejected nationwide by all but religious fundamentalists and Christian lobbyists. Read my lips. Not one single publically funded treatment or advocacy agency in our nation missed the opportunity to criticise in scathing terms her “report”. Which you may remember from coverage of her wish to “take the children” of drug users with “absolutely no chance” of reunion.</div>
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Gordon Moyes also forgot about Proverbs 24, Verse 11 <a href="http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2007/07/11/the-great-success-of-naltrexone-with-drug-addicts/"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">shouting praise</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>for naltrexone despite the grave concerns of our medical community about it <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/11/25/how-did-naltrexone-slip-through-the-regulatory-net/"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">remaining unregulated</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>– but lucrative for the same people year in, year out. When the <a href="http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/188_08_210408/lin11020_fm.html"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Medical Journal of Australia</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>exposed the fact these same misguided faith healers were not reporting adverse reactions – despite TGA requirements under the Special Access loophole demanding it of them – Dr. Gods team were having none of this “academic stuff”. Drug Free Australia actually published a sorta, kinda rebuttal. And yes, adorning the page is direct reference to Dr. Stuart Reece himself. In deeply offensive mockery boasting how Reece “studies” death rates post treatment they entitled their piece of twaddle, <a href="http://www.drugfree.org.au/newsandevents/news/shownews/article/australia-could-be-the-biggest-loser/"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Australia could be the biggest loser</span></a>.</div>
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I could go on and on, and the above is a cut down sanitised version sparing you Dr. Reeceʼs sickening <a href="http://www.sif.org.au/drstuartreece.doc"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">obsession with</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>teenage and childhood sex and sexual assault, murder, violence... all due to “the depraved advertising industry” which catalysed “the disease sex, drugs and rock-n-roll”. Advertising womenʼs nudity, outside of “a strictly medical context” is, in his ever so wise [and medically qualified] eyes, “incredibly <a href="http://libertus.net/censor/rdocs/candle3.html%23incredible"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">powerful pornography</span></a>.”</div>
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Today, <i>a decade plus </i>since this intellectual repugnance began, Reece is front and centre as a pin up boy for religious fundamentalism. Three years ago he promised Parliament with a blinding flash of Peacock Terminology that his results were “statistically powerful” and “revolutionary”. Of course, there are no results. Itʼs the same certainty that only faith can sustain. If prayer cures homosexuality, addiction is a certainty. His latest work “proves” naltrexone is safer than opioid therapy. As <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1547424.htm"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">reported on ABCʼs 7:30 Report</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>in 2006 multiple disciplinary teams have steadily found naltrexone has a fatality rate <i>over four times </i>that of opioid therapy. Dr. Reece, and others who seek funding and massive contracts seem to have a magic formula no others can find.</div>
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My point to this indulgent diversion is that Australia is no stranger to standing back with folded arms and by not acting as we would expect a just society to act, reinforces the misguided belief that religion is the “untouchable” tool. For over ten years a huge part of our public health system has been exploited in the name of religion. How have we allowed progressively malignant superstition to dictate to us on morality? Given the example set by the USA why are we intentionally expanding and funding fundamentalist religions? Why do we insist that junk Christian science is “harmless” and ones own choice, in the same way we insist alternative medicine is harmless and “an informed choice”?</div>
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Only in recent years has the orchestrated rejection of default respect for religion found a strong voice. We no longer accept in total the authority of those who use God as an `excuse – as we see done above – but we still have a <i>very </i>long way to travel intellectually. I would also argue that we must not be led further astray by those who use the “F Word” – family values – so liberally. The value of any family is much like the <i>institution of marriage</i>. Place it above human rights and human beings will be abused in the name of subjective value judgement.</div>
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So my greatest question is along the lines of concerns already raised: the intentional maligning of science. In its typical tradition, the splintered and fractured divergences of Christianity that stoke the engine furnace of conservative fundamentalism invite steadily more bizarre practices into its protective fold. Only a fool would accept <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/20764544/Gods-Business-Business-Review-Weekly"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">abundant taxation</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>and Equal Opportunity exemption is not exploited and as with all power, will be jealously guarded and <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/20293360/Australian-Xtian-Lobby-media-release-on-religiousfreedom"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">arrogantly inflated</span></a>.</div>
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How long before we as a community demand legislators acknowledge that default cap in hand <i>respect and trust </i>is fraught with risk already evidenced by the abuse of our vulnerable, flagrant law breaches, financial scams, bigotry, insouciant discrimination and, as seen with orchestrated child sexual abuse, an <i>excuse </i>for crushing immorality? What future can we expect if we allow this illusion of god-given elitism to increasingly include rejection of realities that conflict with demonstrably false and absurd beliefs? How long before Equal Opportunity exemption includes rejection of educational standards? Is not <i>freedom of religion </i>at risk of abandoning its duty to community cohesion such that Christians may enjoy an <i>escape from reality?</i></div>
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Already we allow home schooling that is overtly biblical and anti-ʼmodernityʼ. We permit dietary restrictions that run in direct contrast to national daily nutritional intake requirements, never questioning if the children starved of iron and protein this way are simply pawns in their parents deluded vacuum. We allow parental denial of the administration of medical technology that would save a childʼs life: a simple blood transfusion. Anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists promote “conscientious objection”. We fund schools not to educate students but to fill their minds with archaic ideals. Ideals so easily refuted by merely looking around our Fair Go nation that a great deal of supporting intellectualism is spent mocking, discrediting and misinforming on the topic of science.</div>
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The Christian god demands he be loved above and beyond any and all – including family members. Having perhaps not insignificant experience fending off ʻchapter and verseʼ arguments Iʼm reminded by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdJlndZ48FY"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">this video</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q4LWn_296c"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">Part 2</span></a>] of Abraham and Gods test of his loyalty. He was ordered to kill his son on Mount Moriah according to Genesis 22: 1-24. Not until he had bound his son Isaac to a sacrificial alter and held the dagger aloft did good oleʼ god step in and say, “Ho, Ho – just joshing old friend”. Or, words to that effect.</div>
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The final question is perhaps, how many will be abused, exploited, tormented, mocked, slandered and threatened simply because we are yet to demand the burden of proof be met? But to do so in any serious legislative manner is to lose ones political influence. A direct loss of votes. Religious apologetics – even <i>moderate </i>Christian Kevin Ruddʼs “working families” dash to church each week – is steadily cranking that heavy jagged wheel of global superstition.</div>
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And it is our very selves and our species brightest traits that is crushed beneath.</div>
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<b>Comments posted online from a relative and a friend of Reeceʼs patients.</b></div>
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<i>Just Jules </i>says: <a href="https://atheistagearchive.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/dr-god-family-value-malpractioner/%23comment-129"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">June 5, 2010 at 6:01 am</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>Ahhh there is none so blind as those who can not see .. Dr Reece in my eyes is a discusting (sic) human being .. I am the mother of a child he treated .. He also treated my daughter in law and the mother of my first grand child .. If you want to see what his methods leave you with, go see my daughter in law who for the last 11 years has been in a home for the severely brain damaged .. In is own words to me ” they are just reoffending drug addicts”. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing and should of been stopped before he started</div>
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<i>Vicki PS </i>says: <a href="https://atheistagearchive.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/dr-god-family-value-malpractioner/%23comment-130"><span style="color: #1c07a8;">July 5, 2010 at 12:02 pm</span></a><span style="color: #1c07a8;"> </span>I came across this site looking for help for a friend of my daughterʼs. This young woman has been increasingly unhappy with her treatment under Dr Reece. He is treating her addiction with Suboxone, a subutex/naltrexone combination drug. Her big concern is that this unethical, immoral disgrace to the profession reduces her dosage if she has not been to church! This girl is now in early pregnancy and is scared that she could miscarry if this idiot messes around with her medication to suit his pathological world view. I find it frankly incredible that Dr Reece is still permitted to practice.</div>
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<b>Stuart Reece:</b></div>
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<b><i>The Journal Of Global Drug Policy And Practice</i></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.globaldrugpolicy.org/print.php?var=1.4.2">When harm minimization is not harm minimization</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.globaldrugpolicy.org/print.php?var=2.4.2">Cutting the Gordian knot of drug addiction confusion</a></div>
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<b><i>Gordon Moyes - “a Christian voice in politics”:</i></b></div>
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<a href="http://livepage.apple.com/">The Great Success Of Naltrexone With Drug Addicts</a> </div>
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<b><i>House Standing Committee on Family and Human Services: Australian Parliament</i></b></div>
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Inquiry into the impact of illicit drug use on families. Chair: Bronwyn Bishop MP - Liberal Party.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">Final Report - <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fhs/illicitdrugs/report.htm">The Winnable War on Drugs</a></span> <span style="color: black;">- Bronwyn Bishop September 13th, 2007. <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/firesnake/beehiveisland.mp3">Audio of Bishopʼs launch of The Winnable War</a></span> </div>
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"To the crimes against humanity, it is incumbent upon us as oath takers, advocates of neutrality, professionals and ethicists to note one more. The intentionally malignant anthropomorphism of "science". Science is the vehicle that set us free and we owe our global cousins everything we have gained - indeed <b>as </b>we gain.</div>
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To demand that affluent society must now see it as a lumbering, monstrous, "evil" and sentient agent with the single aim of polluting human morale is puerile, ideological, mischievous and markedly in error. We are agents of morality far, far before and because we are agents of evidence."</div>
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- Paul Gallagher. August 2009</div>
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<i>Paul Gallagher. May 5th, 2011 - republished from October 17th 2009. Copyright: All Rights Reserved.</i></div>
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</div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-56528541950701112352011-04-13T14:38:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:32.271+11:00Herald-Sun and It’s Readers Hit a New Low<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">News Ltd. Newspapers like The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and the Adelaide Advertiser are notorious for producing some of the worst journalism in Australia but this week, the Herald-Sun hit a new low. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><iframe frameborder="0" height="335" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://video.heraldsun.com.au/embed/1875820254/Melbournes-drug-crisis?player=narrow" width="330"><p><p><a href="http://video.heraldsun.com.au/1875820254/Melbournes-drug-crisis">VIDEO: Melbourne's drug crisis</a></p></p></iframe><br />
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<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What does a Herald-Sun journalist do when he stumbles across a young overdose victim being cared for by his friends? Chip in and help? Enquire about an ambulance? Pester the friends for a story? </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The victim’s friends were in obvious distress but that didn’t stop Herald-Sun journalist, Aaron Langmaid from getting his story. Like some deranged parrot, he repeatedly quizzed the frantic carers if the victim had taken GHB. Five times in five seconds in fact. Eventually, one person snapped back, “I don’t know!”</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What’s he actually had? Was it G? What else? What else has he had? Has he had G? How much G did he have?</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How long ago did he have it?</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When did you last speak to him … Like in the club? How long ago? Like 20 minutes? </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How old is he?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And on it went. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Langmaid is a disgrace and sadly, typical of the News Ltd ‘ambulance chaser’ mentality. Langmaid, himself described the situation as ‘frantic’ and that ‘a young life hangs in the balance’ but that didn’t stop him from his selfish pursuit of a story. Were his demanding questions appropriate while a man lie dying in front of his friends? Did he really have to push those attending the victim so hard for an immediate answer? And why didn’t he wait until the ambulance arrived before interfering with a potentially fatal overdose? This was appalling behaviour for a journalist with a major newspaper.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Trash media like the Herald-Sun are experts at this style of dog whistle journalism. Stories about street crime, celebrity meltdowns and welfare cheats attracts a certain type of audience and the Murdoch press really know their market. And like a Mecca for rednecks; racists, bogans and right-wing nutters coming running when there’s a chance to spill some vile on those often deemed as “low-lifes” or “oxygen thieves”.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">“Dole bludgers” and “boat people” might be a popular target for most of the Herald-Sun hate squad but the real prize for attracting loonies are drug users and dealers. And nothing highlights this more than the article in question. The reader’s comments section was full of derogative, vile put-downs aimed at the overdose victim and anyone related to drugs. Druggies, as most readers liked to call them were also referred to as ‘idiots’ 27 times. ‘stupid’ 13 times and fools 11 times. Other endearing names include junkies, scum of the earth, the scourge of society, overdosed dogs, drug-addled useless parasites, lowest of the low, indulgent idiots, drop-kicks, excreta, self-inflicted drones, cashed-up tools, brain dead morons, slime balls, ferals[sic] and even buggers.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug addicts are the lowest of the low. They don't deserve any more help than they are already getting. If they can't handle their own situation properly then don't expect assistance from anyone else. I can understand that its ruined people's families but this is getting ridiculous. I'm sick of hearing about these kinds of incidents...its their own faults no one elses.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-ausie29</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s not just the name calling that makes these readers so disgusting but something more sinister. There were literally dozens of comments that proudly called for people overdosing to be left on the street to die. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Just let them OD and die I reckon, less buyers means less demand means less drugs. Simple but effective.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-The Warden of Williamstown</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What sort of person thinks like this? What drives someone to make such malicious comments in a public forum about strangers? Have we, as a society really sunken this low? </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Here's a thought. Leave the overdosed dogs in the gutters where they fall and concentrate on helping good, honest humans.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Serge of Melb</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRo3Gpd29kiXNJPagNvhb7IpAlxOH6XYs1VEgmIHusQDVBGs0Q2djgzoc0Zw-ytEJHez14LoeTGA5jkqPe8uww2qtiRAeO47D7WR11w72ANRw1LkyllWv9hIpAUnFTu1uZd6W6xoXPVI/s1600/redneck02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRo3Gpd29kiXNJPagNvhb7IpAlxOH6XYs1VEgmIHusQDVBGs0Q2djgzoc0Zw-ytEJHez14LoeTGA5jkqPe8uww2qtiRAeO47D7WR11w72ANRw1LkyllWv9hIpAUnFTu1uZd6W6xoXPVI/s320/redneck02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Herald-Sun holds a family day picnic for it’s readers</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>A big part of it seems to be modern conservative ideology. There were plenty of readers blaming a lack of personal responsibility and a diminishing standard of morals. Fine, they are welcome to their views but spewing out hateful demands for people overdosing to be left to die is bordering on derangement. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One quick way to fix this problem is for Ambo's to fail to respond to overdoses. At what point will the wider community accept that these drug users MAKE A CONSCIOUS DECISION to use drugs. Why should it be up to US (again) to be responsible for the actions of others. Police will NEVER stop the drug problem - it's been around for centuries. On top of that USERS don't get charged by Police anymore - Christine Nixon pitted the little darlings, stating a drug OD was a 'medical' problem & Police were instructed not to charge them with 'using' drugs... Let all that OD die from the OD. Then these idiots might thing twice about using - bonus will be the Ambo's can then have time to attend REAL medical emergencies.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Fed Up of Berwick</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What is it with modern conservatives and their lack of compassion? A recent <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VRT-52JV2HC-2&_user=10&_coverDate=04%2F07%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=4666f1d3391f98ba0082699bd8753735&searchtype=a">study</a> from the London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience found that those with strong conservative views have less grey matter in a part of the brain related to understanding complexity than liberal minded people. The study also concluded that a conservative’s brain is bigger in the section linked to fear.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">People living in fear will understandably see more threats everywhere because they are looking for them, and will lash out violently at any provocation while those analyzing the big picture are busy sorting complex details. While slower to retaliate, Liberals are compelled to explore options that might be difficult but necessary.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8749515-liberal-conservative-brains-are-physically-different">Cathy Taibbi: Allvoices</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So, conservatives have a unique brain that can’t process complex matters as well as the general population? And they are fearful of what most people deem fixable. I must say that I’m not really surprised at this information considering the reader’s comments from the Herald-Sun article. Conservative ideology is a destructive force and it unnecessarily divides many communities on important social issues. Throw in some self absorbed religious types and you have a dangerous combination.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I cannot have a lot of sympathy, as a person who has had to deal with the squalor and desperation of drug abuse in people I know. Self respect, my faith and my upbringing helped me to never go down that path (or even contemplate it) but the sorts of morals (yes, social engineers, I know it is a dirty word) approved of today are selfish, Left-wing and all about seeming and self-gratification. mental illness is not treated seriously enough, drug pushers are not dealt with harshly enough, and police are wasted on traffic duties and gay-pride marches. The bulk of the citizenry are being conned by a few do-gooders who want to further aid this deadly trade and the people who choose to use the drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-shebs</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Apart from the standard anti-drug rhetoric, there is a glaring contradiction in the mentioned article. The underlying message from the Herald-Sun is the need for tougher drug laws and and more public messages like, “mmm … drugs are bad … OK”. There is even a loaded poll under the scary heading, Drug Crisis. It asks readers the leading question, Should there be greater policing and tougher penalties to eliminate drugs on our streets? Of course, over 75% of readers voted yes. But the article included several opinions that contradict the newspaper’s position.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You can't win this war. Part of the reason drugs are so popular is because they are illegal. If illicit substances are regulated you create a space where users know what they are getting. Let’s have a discussion about a national drugs policy.'</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.blogger.com/-From%20the%20Article">Australian Lawyers Alliance director Greg Barnes</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Even champions of Zero Tolerance like the Catholic Church chipped in.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Catholic Care chief executive Fr Joe Caddy said drug use had to be treated as a health issue rather than through the criminal justice system. "In some cases we would still need the authority of the courts but part of the solution is teaching users - and their friends and family - how to manage the situation,'' he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/stop-this-city-drugs-scourge/story-e6frf7jo-1226036885623">From the Article</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And of course, Les Twentyman.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He told heraldsun.com.au that law and order was not going to stop the city's soaring drug problems.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[…]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"At the end of the day we can't stop it. Even when the police announce that they are going to be at rock concerts they still take the drug. The law and order part is certainly not a deterrent," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[…]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Twentyman said European schemes where drugs are tested for revellers before they take them should be considered.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"What they do in Europe is when people come in to buy drugs they test the drugs for them so they know exactly what they're getting."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Maybe that needs to be looked at here, it's been a success."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/stop-this-city-drugs-scourge/story-e6frf7jo-1226036885623">From the Article</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If you had accidentally stumbled onto the Herald-Sun article from another country, you may be forgiven for thinking that Australians are nasty, hysterical twats. Just the initial video showing a ruthless, disrespectful reporter should be enough to trigger some serious questions. And then there’s the loaded poll with such a leading question. But it’s the reader’s comments that would leave you with no doubt. For example:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Let these fools die. Death penalty for sellers no matter how big or small. Jail for users.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-JB</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And this.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">People who take so called "recreational drugs" should not be given any treatment. Let them die. Maybe then the message will get through. Why should they be clogging up our health resources and a bonus would be a drop in crime.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-cazy of everywhere</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But there’s always a lighter side to everything.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Apparently, drugs is what it's all about these days. This is what I was told by an inside source. You go to clubs, you do drugs. Just close the clubs down. The fewer places for these dogs to pack in, the better.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Anthony B of Melbourne</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Anthony, thanks to you and your ‘inside source’, for sharing that very important piece of information. Have you informed the Australian Federal Police?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Maybe some readers just have too much time on their hands. Especially in this instance:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Punish all three involved! User first offence, minimum $1k fine, and public humiliation. Publicly name them, and put them in public stocks for 12 hrs a day very wknd for 3 mths, and ban them from drugs & alcohol for 1 yr. Subsequent offences lock them up for min of 3 yrs. in special community service goals, that required manual labour, no concurrent sentencing. Drug dealers, no matter age, should face a minimum 15 years, before eligible for parole, with a maximum of never to be released for third, or subsequent offence. Finally, clubs, organised dance parties, other commercial activities, what ever, a $10k fine for each, and every addict who is, or was found to be on their premises. I say 'was', because the bouncers, rather than move this sick individual to a safe location, put him in a car. The fine should be $250k for each dealer caught, other than those they hand over with suitable proof to Police, and $500k fine if the Police raid, and only find drugs on the floor. Companies running these venues should have to put up a $mill Bond to cover potential fines, and replenish it if used, before being able to do business.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Yasmine</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Some suggest that more education about the consequences of drug use is a possible solution. I agree, we need more education … like basic writing skills.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and while he lies in the gutter with self inflicted wounds,honest people who need an ambulance are waiting,dieing because of his choices,illegal choices.Let a few die,it is their choice to ignor the law and education on drugs.they are just a scourge on decent society</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Eric of Melbourne</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvRdv7UcfSC_iFIVcjOoJQISozmrZxqbNSHMvtQh_QveafNyg2CL8TlGtwA6m_0IUoqKcGfyM9EZoRK9Z5yABQH3gwqJ1cnOwX2hkELbJrgV7vVzXSZERkvF7DP2PlNDs24jlX1T2qgw/s1600/heraldsunreader04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvRdv7UcfSC_iFIVcjOoJQISozmrZxqbNSHMvtQh_QveafNyg2CL8TlGtwA6m_0IUoqKcGfyM9EZoRK9Z5yABQH3gwqJ1cnOwX2hkELbJrgV7vVzXSZERkvF7DP2PlNDs24jlX1T2qgw/s320/heraldsunreader04.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Herald-Sun reader Robynne says ... <br />
"Why woulod a government condone drug taking?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Yes, education might just be the key. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Gillard goes all out to spend millions on anti smoking advertising,tells us what to drink ,what to eat ,BUT GIVES THE GREEN LIGHT TO ILLICIT DRUGS,SUPPLIES SHOOTING GALLERIES SO ADDICTS DON'T OVER DOSE,gives them free methodone,LIQUID HEROIN,WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE ??WHY WOULOD A GOVERNMENT CONDONE DRUG TAKING ??</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-ROBYNNE morton of merrimac</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">See what happens when you leave school before your 12th birthday. BTW, what is a ‘Gillard’? And I might be wrong but did the reader misspell their own name?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But amongst the riff-raff there was a beacon of hope. This from Molly of Melbourne:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For those who don't know, GHB was originally designed as an anaesthetic, thus, falling unconcious from it isn't an "overdose", it's doing what the drug was designed for. Secondly, it's a naturally occurring substance in the body, it's much healthier to have GHB than most other drugs. There is a big problem in Melbourne with people taking too much and clubs calling ambulances, but there is a much bigger Australia wide drinking problem. Where are the stats about how many people die from GHB? The number is minuscule, and it's usually because the user has combined a bunch of drugs, not because of GHB toxicity. The chance of death from it is about the same as it is for someone who's passed out from alcohol, the main reason for death? Choking on vomit, but they don't like to add that factor in. I'm not saying we should ignore the problem, but don't dramatist it, look after your mates, make sure they're in the recovery position if they do "blow out" and try to educate them when they're awake on safe use. You can't stop people taking drugs, but you can help make it safer.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Molly of Melbourne</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The display of ignorance, aggression and malevolence from some readers was almost bordering on schadenfreude. There were so many comments that were just downright nasty and totally unnecessary as well as many opinions based on nothing but limited, misguided views. I can’t help but ask myself if this is the consensus in Australia or is it just the result of dog whistle journalism. Maybe it’s just pack mentality from a small group of uneducated, arrogant rednecks? I like to think of Australia as a fairly accepting society especially considering we like to portray ourselves as a “fair go” nation. Sadly, I think the self imposed image of barracking for the underdog or being the “fair go” nation is championed mostly by the very readers who made many of the horrible comments. I picture many of them being draped in the Australian flag reminiscent of the Cronulla riots in NSW. Hopefully, this is not the real Australia but a country made up of multiple cultures, strong beliefs in equality and a willingness to listen to reason.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And on a final note, you can’t go past this apt comment with it’s compelling advice.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Just for once, people of Melbourne & Australia, can I implore you, just for once in your lives, to refrain from making comment on issues that you know next-to-nothing about. Plus, just because your cousin, ten of your Facebook friends or your co-worker's former nanny had problems with drugs, it doesn't make you an 'expert' - FACT. So now that we have that established, pls click on the link below and begin the process of developing insight: <a href="http://enews.vaada.org.au/news/2011/04/11/media-release-vaada-saving-lives">http://enews.vaada.org.au/news/2011/04/11/media-release-vaada-saving-lives</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Joe</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Overdose Footage Sparks New Drugs Debate</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/stop-this-city-drugs-scourge/story-e6frf7jo-1226036885623">Herald-Sun</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Aaron Langmaid & Anne Wright</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">April 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">HARROWING footage of an overdose victim sprawled on a city footpath in the middle of the day has sparked nationwide debate.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Closing Melbourne's seedy daytime dance clubs and legalising illicit drugs were among suggestions.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Despite campaigning on a plan to clean up Melbourne's streets, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle would not comment on the issue yesterday.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The owner of the nightclub involved said the victim's friends had demanded to be let out of the venue as he lapsed into unconsciousness.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tramp owner Matt Giles said staff urged the group to wait for an ambulance but they were told to carry him on to the street.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We didn't want to let him go,'' he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We told them 'you're not taking him home'.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"But they demanded to be let out.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The 20-year-old had been conscious while inside. It was the first GHB-related case he had seen at the venue in five years.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We judge it case by case but it's tough for us,'' he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Australian Lawyers Alliance director Greg Barnes said it was time to discuss a federal policy of decriminalisation.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"You can't win this war,'' Mr Barnes said. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Part of the reason drugs are so popular is because they are illegal. If illicit substances are regulated you create a space where users know what they are getting,'' he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Let's have a discussion about a national drugs policy.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Catholic Care chief executive Fr Joe Caddy said drug use had to be treated as a health issue rather than through the criminal justice system.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"In some cases we would still need the authority of the courts but part of the solution is teaching users - and their friends and family - how to manage the situation,'' he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The footage captured by the Herald Sun also attracted a huge response from readers.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The fact the (victim) was at a 'night' club at 11 in the morning says it all,'' said Lance, of Melbourne.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Having these places open until this time promotes the use of drugs. How else can someone last the distance without drugs. Open them earlier and close them at 3am.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In graphic scenes, a 20-year-old man is hauled from a nightclub at 11am on Sunday as families stroll past seemingly unaware a young life hangs in the balance.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The video showing paramedics battling to revive him highlights the drugs epidemic, with 9000 overdoses a year putting enormous strain on emergency services.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Premier Ted Baillieu, who viewed the Herald Sun video, said the anti-drugs message was not getting through to young people.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"This is a parent's worst nightmare," Mr Baillieu said. "It is shocking footage, it's real, it's evil."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Friends of the victim are clearly frantic after bouncers carry him unconscious from Tramp bar on King St.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Herald Sun witnessed staff waiting with the man inside the venue door for more than 10 minutes before he was carried across the footpath and into a waiting car.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He remained unconscious until paramedics arrived but his friends confirmed he had taken the liquid drug gammahydroxybutrate, or GHB.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"I don't know how much he's taken or when he took it," one cried.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">An Ambulance Victoria spokesman later confirmed an advance life support team - and even a fire brigade unit - had been called to treat the suspected overdose victim.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Youth worker Les Twentyman said Melbourne's drug problem has been on the rise for some time, and needed to be addressed.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He told heraldsun.com.au that law and order was not going to stop the city's soaring drug problems.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The ambos told me recently that they had noticed they were attending more of these types of incidents," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The scene is just awash with drugs."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Twentyman said the party drug scene appeared to affect middle class youngsters the most because they could afford to be in the clubs and buying drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"At the end of the day we can't stop it. Even when the police announce that they are going to be at rock concerts they still take the drug. The law and order part is certainly not a deterrent," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"They'll just shop around and one day it's heroin, another day it's amphetamines or whatever pills they can get their hands on.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The issue is that they have a whole cocktail of different drugs."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Twentyman said European schemes where drugs are tested for revellers before they take them should be considered.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"What they do in Europe is when people come in to buy drugs they test the drugs for them so they know exactly what they're getting."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Maybe that needs to be looked at here, it's been a success."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Intensive care paramedic Alan Eade said it was a scene with which officers were all too familiar.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We have the highest rate of use of GHB of any city in Australia," Mr Eade said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"In other states and territories usage has dropped, but not here. Melburnians are overwhelmingly stupid.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The greatest education point is this: it's a dangerous drug and people die using it.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"If it goes wrong, it goes wrong to the tune of not breathing," Mr Eade said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But he said the youths involved in Sunday's incident had done the right thing: "They got help. Some others probably wouldn't have."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Baillieu said the message wasn't getting through.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's turning young people's lives upside down. It's wasting lives, turning kids into vegetables in hospitals - it's madness."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Nightclub Owners' Association spokesman David Button said the use of GHB in clubs was prevalent.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The victim was taken to the Royal Melbourne hospital and later discharged.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the Force was committed to reducing the supply of illicit drugs in the community.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"(This includes) the use of so called 'party drugs' in nightclubs," she said in a statement. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"If information is received regarding trafficking at licensed premises or within the community, Victoria Police responds accordingly.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The Drug Task Force and Regional police members continue to conduct a number of successful operations aimed at reducing the manufacture and supply of illicit drugs."</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-5027290466344849952011-04-10T08:04:00.002+10:002023-01-16T15:46:28.791+11:00Dairy: Waiting for Your Drug Dealer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhim4Ft4OTOE_lakROApdU_yJ-ItmHYZAlF3uTgkMGTwyL3FcaoVphMQ0e552OD7l3dCP-ews8fEvdKIPZBXvmCD2lfOdVxTYA2SOjUTcwZebu_KRfJBhHzvBCkTt6r5On9B6q6BaNKIXs/s1600/waiting.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhim4Ft4OTOE_lakROApdU_yJ-ItmHYZAlF3uTgkMGTwyL3FcaoVphMQ0e552OD7l3dCP-ews8fEvdKIPZBXvmCD2lfOdVxTYA2SOjUTcwZebu_KRfJBhHzvBCkTt6r5On9B6q6BaNKIXs/s320/waiting.gif" width="286" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When you are hanging out or wanting to score, nothing bothers a drug user more than waiting. Most readers here have probably scored at sometime in their lives so you probably know what I’m talking about. But when you’re an addict and the drug involved is heroin, the stakes are raised by at least ten fold. The combination of anticipation and withdrawal creates an uneasy mix that most addicts would encounter on a regular basis. And the question that crosses everyone’s mind when waiting to score is why the fuck is my dealer late ... again! Surely a heroin dealer - who is most likely addicted as well - knows how much angst is caused by waiting for drugs. They too had to score like the rest of us at one stage and know what’s involved. So why are drug dealers always late?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Low level dealers also have to score except now they wait for a bigger dealer. This must keep them familiar with the concept of waiting. But for some reason - one which I have never been able to establish - they are always late. They all do it but unfortunately, my dealer is the worst. Let me give you some examples.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My dealer’s name is Tan. A decent chap who I have known for over ten years. He is mostly fair with the size of his deals and will even provide credit if he can. But he has a problem ... a major problem. Tan has no concept of time. I’m not talking about the “sorry. I’m late ... the traffic!” excuse. Nor am I not talking about your grandfather who might sometimes mutter, “<i>jeepers, is it that time already?”</i>. No, this is unpredictable, inconceivable, unbelievable and totally unnecessary bad time mismanagement. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A few months back I rang Tan around midday and asked to see him. I was told that he had to go to the city to refresh his supplies and his estimated return was going to be “an hour or so”. This is where the alarm bells should have gone off.<br />
<br />
Tan’s not a big dealer and services a small but steady customer base. It’s more of an informal arrangement than a business and most of his ‘clients' have know him for years. But one thing we as clients have all learned is to never rely on him to be on time. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Normally on a week day, a trip to the city takes 40-45 minutes with peak hour adding about 30 minutes to the trip. With the added time for conducting his business, there was no way he was getting back within “an hour or so”. But this is where a little known scientific fact kicks in. Waiting for drugs can alter the time-space continuum. That’s right; many years of statistical research and scientific analysis has shown that the calculated period for drugs to arrive is distorted by the degree of hanging out. It’s calculated like this: 15 minutes before Tan leaves plus 45 minutes to the city plus 30 minutes to make the transaction plus 45 minutes to return home plus 15 minutes for me to get to Tan’s house equals - “an hour or so”.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The junkie waiting equation (aka “an hour or so”):</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">15 + (45 x 2) + 30 = 60</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As usual, the wait was excruciating. And in case you weren’t aware, every drug minute takes three normal non-drug minutes(another little known scientific fact). Anyway, it was finally “an hour or so” since I first rang Tan so I called to see if he was ready. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry: “Can I come over now?”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tan: “Soon ... we are just about to leave”</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">WTF!!! He hadn’t even left yet! Remember, I had rang him at midday and he was supposed to back by now. I can’t remember the exact words I used after I hung up but they weren’t family orientated. That I know for sure. My day was not off to a good start.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Eventually, it hit 2:00pm but I decided to give it an extra 10 minutes. It had been two whole hours since I had first rang so he was due back any moment and giving it an extra 10 minutes should accommodate any unforeseen delays. Somehow though, I knew in the back of my mind that it was not enough so I bravely waited another 5 minutes. Then another 5. Finally I gave in at 2:30pm. Two and half hours after the initial call should surely be enough time.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry: “Can I come over now?”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tan: “Soon, we’re on the way”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry: “on the way back?”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tan: “No, just on the way”</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You must be starting to understand why I hate Tan so much. How hard is it to drive somewhere and come back again within an agreed timeframe?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Why is this happening today? I had skipped my scheduled meds for this and was now starting to suffer withdrawals. I was in pain and Tan’s simple task of driving to the city and back was the key to stopping it. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">By 3:30pm I was sure my time had come. After all, I had rang at midday and the estimated “hour or so” was now 3 and a half hours. Tan couldn’t possibly be that useless.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Just to add some background to the story. I had originally told Tan that my partner needed the car at 3:00pm. I asked him specifically if he was going to be back before then because I couldn’t come over after 3:00pm. Of course, Tan had assured me he would be “an hour or so”. Again at 2:30pm I told him about the urgency of the situation but he assured me he wouldn’t be long.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s now 3:30 and Mrs Wright is going apeshit on the phone for not having the car. I tossed up whether to ring Tan or just head on over to his house. Surely he was back by now - it was over 3 and a half hours since I first called.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">From years of experience I had learnt a few rules that helped to keep me sane. First of all, always double the expected time. Ten minutes is at least 20 minutes and half an hour means an hour or more. Secondly, never ask Tan to hurry if I have a set timeframe. He just doesn’t have the ability to grasp deadlines.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">3:30pm</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry: “Can I come over now?”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tan: “Soon”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Terry: “Where are you?”</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tan: “I have just arrived to pick up. I’ll be back home in an hour or so”</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Arrrgghhhhh!!! #@$##%$%</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I finally caught up with Tan at 5:30pm. Five and half hours after the first call. The longest “an hour or so” in history.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This was just one example of how useless my drug dealer is. The last time I scored I told him I had only 30 minutes to get to his house, have a fix and get home. Again, my partner needed the car for work. “Yup, come on over“ Tan said. I leapt into the car, stopped at a ATM for cash and got to Tan’s house within 15 minutes. I knocked on his door and waited impatiently. Five minutes goes extremely slow when you have 15 minutes to fix then get home before your partner murders you. What the hell is he doing? I knocked again, yelling out that I’m in a goddamn hurry. Finally, Tan appears and says that he will be back shortly ... he has to go and get it first. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then there’s the time that I wanted to use without Mrs Wright knowing. She had gone out for an hour so I rang and asked if Tan could come over straight away. “Yup, I’ll be over in 10 minutes”, he said. I emphasised that I had less than an hour and if he turned up after that, the deal was off. I asked him to tell me now if he couldn’t make it and I would see him later instead. He assured me he would be there in time.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">30 minutes later and no Tan. Feeling slightly panicky, I rang to see how far away he was. He told me he was just about to leave. I waited for 15 more minutes and knew that this was my last hope before Mrs Wright appeared. So I rang Tan again and said Mrs Wright was due home in less than 15 minutes. He then explains, “I can’t come over. I don’t have a car at the moment”. Seriously … what do you say to that?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have searched the pages of many medical journals on the internet looking for a time disorder that affects drug dealers. There doesn’t seem to be one. So what the hell does Tan have? What could make someone so oblivious to the concept of time? Apparently though, there are many drug dealers who suffer this infliction. Considering the carnage caused by this terrible disorder, I am seriously thinking about starting a charitable foundation for them. Does anyone want to recommend a name for the foundation because I have a few suggestions.</div><div><br />
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</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-54008886259243067912011-04-03T15:22:00.000+10:002023-01-16T15:46:32.146+11:00Even the Truth About Drugs are Illegal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFhDVjZuFl853Eo76C2S9qoCEZXzN4D-ZNPo0yuFkj57ntiiKkuWvpPjC3mpAFOYXCQORJzXHgA-VEaWLW3GezfV9IvmNK30iyZmN3XDbcdeNFIX8oQjtSvxCrx0TuCrxvPP28t5h4DU/s1600/shelbypd02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFhDVjZuFl853Eo76C2S9qoCEZXzN4D-ZNPo0yuFkj57ntiiKkuWvpPjC3mpAFOYXCQORJzXHgA-VEaWLW3GezfV9IvmNK30iyZmN3XDbcdeNFIX8oQjtSvxCrx0TuCrxvPP28t5h4DU/s320/shelbypd02.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The more I read about this story, the more bizarre it becomes. Seriously, how clueless are these simpleminded people?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Shelby Considers Drug Charges Against Lisa Ling, Crew</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/article/20110329/NEWS01/103290305/Shelby-considers-drug-charges-against-Lisa-Ling-crew">Bucyrus Telegraph Forum</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jami Kinton </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">March 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">SHELBY -- Local authorities are considering charges after a recent Oprah Winfrey Network broadcast displayed extensive drug use in and around Richland County.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Shelby Police Department filed a general offense report Monday morning, with offenses including "corrupting another with drugs," "drug abuse" and "child endangerment."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The offenders?</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">National news correspondent Lisa Ling, the production crew and all subjects involved in a recent episode of "Our America."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The report, along with a recommendation for misdemeanor and felony charges, will be presented to the Richland County Prosecutor's Office today.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For months, Ling and her crew filmed in Mansfield, Shelby, Plymouth and beyond to detail the heroin problem in Richland County.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When the episode aired on TV on March 22, Shelby police Chief Charlie Roub said he was shocked by what he saw.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"There were people using drugs, talking about using drugs and in one scene, you've got people using drugs with a 1-year-old present," Roub said. "The 1-year-old was also in the back of a van with his parents on their way to purchase drugs."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Spokespeople from the Oprah Winfrey Network have not responded to requests for comment from the News Journal.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Sometimes it's hard to tell where the drugs are being used at, like when the subjects are in the van, but some places are easily identified as Richland County," Roub said. "Even if you start to commit a crime here and you end in another location, you can still say it started here."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The show, according to the chief, depicts several people injecting themselves and others with drugs. Some were minors at the time, he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"What happens from here will be up to the prosecutor to determine, but even if a counterfeit drug was offered, that's a crime, too," Roub said. "If you present it as a drug, it's a drug."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One family involved still lives in the Shelby area.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"I know these people," Roub said. "I've known them for a long time. I just didn't appreciate the whole thing. The show gives this area a bad name. You pick on an area like Richland County, and it makes us look like we're the worst there is in the country.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Simply not true.”</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Hiding the Truth About Drugs Won’t Make Them Go Away</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">At first, I thought the article was a satire on how midwest America over reacts to drug related issues and it took a few minutes before it sunk in. Then I realised that some elected whackjobs were actually contemplating whether to lay charges on a film crew for reporting on the local drug problem. And these are not just simple misdemeanours but full-on felony charges. Accusing the film crew of “corrupting another with drugs”, "drug abuse" and "child endangerment" is not for the light hearted. This is serious stuff.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It seems that if you expose the uncomfortable truth about illicit drugs, the authorities become obsessed with proving that this information is dangerous to the public. Any diversion from the usual government’s tough line on drugs leaves authorities vulnerable to those pesky facts whipped up by researchers and truth seeking journalists. This sends our leaders into a spin as they go scurrying for their rule books on drug policy and protocol. Never mind that the drug policies they so fervently support are at the root of the problem. Never mind that the laws they insist on cause more carnage, death and misery than drugs ever will. Do they realise that drug policy has been the biggest government failure in history? Why are they so scared of the truth?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Remember Professor David Nutt, head of the UK government’s The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)? He was sacked by the Home Secretary for simply providing facts to the public. Prof. Nutt made worldwide headlines when he stated that ecstasy and cannabis were not as harmful as the authorities claimed and should be reclassified along with an overhaul of the countries’ drug scheduling system. His comments incensed the government, horrified the anti-drug nut-jobs and sent the tabloid press into a frenzy. The dilemma though was that the Professor was right. And although he may have had scientific research and evidence on his side, government policy isn’t always about the facts. Especially when it comes to drug policy. His offence was described by the Home Secretary as creating “confusion between scientific advice and policy” which says a lot about how the government implements those policies. If important government policies are not based on facts, evidence and science then what the hell are they based on?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">How can Shelby Police justify filing charges for airing a documentary? The reporters and film crew were just showing the world how some people live. Documenting the harsh reality of drug abuse on public TV isn’t creating the situation but merely exposing a major problem. Whether the subjects were committing a crime or not, it would have occurred regardless of a TV crew being present. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There were people using drugs, talking about using drugs and in one scene, you've got people using drugs with a 1-year-old present. The 1-year-old was also in the back of a van with his parents on their way to purchase drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--A shocked Shelby Police Chief, Charlie Roub</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That poor 1-year old, being confronted with drug use and van rides at his age. And how dare those ruthless addicts talk about drugs let alone using them. Really? Is this the level of behaviour we expect from an elected Police Chief? There were no violent crimes committed or dangerous behaviour that harmed the community. The footage was simply of people inflicted with an addiction which by-the-way, is still technically a medial issue. And Charlie Roub is not winning any awards for rational thinking by comparing addicts who are using drugs to dangerous criminals like bank robbers.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Let me give you an example. If camera crews followed around bank robbers and aired it on national television, would you not use that footage as evidence? If we did nothing, people would ask, 'Well why didn't you do anything?</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--Shelby Police Chief, Charlie Roub</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The actions of the Shelby Police Chief, wreaks of an elected official trying to cover his own arse. Why is it alright for Roub to appear on TV in front of confiscated contraband whilst sprucing the successes of his dedicated officers but it’s not okay to show the associated problems? His outrage just doesn’t pass the logic test.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I know these people. I’ve known them for a long time. I just didn't appreciate the whole thing. The show gives this area a bad name. You pick on an area like Richland County, and it makes us look like we're the worst there is in the country.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--Shelby Police Chief, Charlie Roub</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>METRICH</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s interesting to note or even ironic, that the Shelby Police Department is part of <a href="http://www.metrich.com/">METRICH</a>. They are a drug fighting collective, originally formed in 1986 to service Richland County but have since grown to include several nearby jurisdictions. To get an idea how an METRICH operates - the organisation that dictates Shelby’s anti-drug strategies - I checked out their website only to discover that the last update was in 2007. Hmm. Digging deeper, I noticed that the News section has an amazing collection of two articles! One from 2005 and the other from 2004. I suggest you read the 2004 article, <a href="http://www.thecourier.com/issues/2005/sep/091905.asp#story3">14 Arrested On Drug Charges At Ripplefest</a>. Another interesting feature is the section called “<a href="http://www.metrich.com/drug_look.php">What Drugs Look Like</a>”. But I hope they don’t use this for new officers doing field work because the page is blank. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Best of all though, is their incredible <a href="http://www.metrich.com/drug_slang_a.php">dictionary</a> of drug terms. I have to say that every possible combination of street slang for drugs is included. Did you know that “Pot” is street talk for marijuana? Or “Agonies” means withdrawal symptoms and when you’re “Totally Spent”, you have a MDMA hangover. Oh, and “Garbage” is what they call inferior quality drugs. My personal favourite is, Zoinked - intoxicated on drugs to the point of uselessness. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">More obscure terms include:</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Chestbonz - the one who takes the biggest bong hit</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Witch - heroin</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tampon - a fat joint</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Zig Zag Man - LSD; marijuana; marijuana rolling papers</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Galloping Horse - heroin</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ghost Busting - smoking cocaine; searching for white particles in the belief that they are crack</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Go into a Sewer - to inject a drug</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Balling - vaginally implanted cocaine</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Interplanetary Mission - travel from one crackhouse to another in search of crack</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Queen Ann's Lace - marijuana</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Up Against The Stem - addicted to smoking marijuana</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And in case you didn’t already know, there’s the term, “Thing” - heroin; cocaine; main drug interest at the moment. I imagine it would be used in a sentence like this: “Where’s my thing” or “Bring that thing over here” or “Is this thing for me?”. I’m glad they cleared that one up.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Growing Concerns</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Since the news broke about the Shelby Police Department filing charges, two nearby counties, the Shelby Mayor and some community leaders have publicly given their support. This is a worry. Not only do they have some redneck Police Chief living in his own delusional world but there’s a queue forming of equally disturbed people, willing to join him. Incredibly, most of them hold positions of power.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Filing these charges raises some interesting issues. Does this mean that documentary makers filming the horrors of war can be charged for showing crimes against humanity? Is the Shelby Police Chief simply embarrassed because civilians can find people using heroin but his officers can’t? Does the documentary show the community to have a bigger drug problem than the Police Chief likes to admit? </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If there’s one truth to be learnt from all this, it’s that only the "War on Drugs" could produce a scenario like this.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Charges Against TV Crew Garner Support In Shelby</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/article/20110330/NEWS01/103300311">Bucyrus Telegraph Forum</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jami Kinton </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">March 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">SHELBY -- A pending decision to charge local residents and crew members who took part in a recent episode of "Our America" has won the support of local officials.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">On Monday, the Shelby Police Department filed a general offense report -- the initial police document generated upon a complaint -- that included the offenses of "corrupting another with drugs," "drug abuse" and "child endangerment."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Shelby Police Chief Charlie Roub said he would be also be looking into filing charges against national news correspondent Lisa Ling, the production crew and others involved in the episode that aired March 22 on the Oprah Winfrey Network.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A media representative from the network declined to comment on a possible lawsuit.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The recent hour-long program was a sequel to a show that aired on "Oprah" in 2008.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Shelby police report his been forwarded to the Richland County Prosecutor's office.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Assistant Richland County Prosecutor Brent Robinson has not returned calls to the media.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Local resident included in the episode -- from Plymouth, Shelby and Mansfield -- were seen allegedly injecting themselves with heroin, sometimes in the presence of a toddler.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Richland County Children Services is aware of the situation.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Plymouth Police Chief Charlie Doan said he, too, was angered by the footage. Doan said his department was actively involved in the taping of the initial episode, allowing the crew to shoot at the Plymouth department and assigning officers to tag along on taping that took place inside the village.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When the first episode aired showing Plymouth residents consuming drugs, Doan said he was livid.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"I was on the phone that same night with the network," he said. "I was hot. They never filmed that stuff when we were around. When I called them they basically said, 'We were trying to shoot a show.' I do think that the crew should still be held accountable, but that's where the prosecutor comes in."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Doan said he had many questions after viewing the footage.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Anyone who supplies drugs should be charged, but it's a matter of proving who did what," he said. "They show (a woman) shooting up, but there's a lot we didn't see. Where do you think that money came from? I doubt they stole it with the presence of the TV crew there. Hopefully, the crew didn't watch them steal it, too."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Although two of the people on the show live in Plymouth, Doan said it didn't appear any criminal activity took place within his jurisdiction.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"If it did, I would pursue charges, too," Doan said. "If (Roub) can get something from this, he won't lack support from me."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon said he spoke with Roub on Tuesday morning about the issue. Sheldon said he couldn't speculate on whether or not the county would decide to join forces.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Two hundred things could happen from here," he said. "We're waiting to see what the prosecutor says."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In response to some angry community members, Roub stressed that Shelby Police are not pursuing a lawsuit.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"It's a criminal act, not a civil act," he said. "There is evidence that a crime was committed, but a lot can happen from here."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Roub said the time criminal actions took place also will be considered.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As police chief, Roub said he has an obligation to address the situation.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Let me give you an example," Roub said. "If camera crews followed around bank robbers and aired it on national television, would you not use that footage as evidence? If we did nothing, people would ask, 'Well why didn't you do anything?'"</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Shelby Mayor Marilyn John found no fault in Roub's efforts.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"If illegal activity has taken place anywhere in the county, it is up to law enforcement to pursue it," she said. "If it happened during the filming, then it's up to them to investigate it and address it."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Doan is exasperated.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"I was sick after the first show, and didn't even watch all of the second," he said. "It seemed like it was done more for entertainment than anything else. It just didn't end up being what I imagined.”</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/article/20110330/NEWS01/103300311">Charges Against TV Crew Garner Support In Shelby</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.centralohio.com/article/B7/20110322/NEWS01/103220304/Oprah-network-checks-in-on-Richland-County-drug-users">Oprah Network Checks In On Richland County Drug Users</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.centralohio.com/article/B7/20110330/NEWS01/103300302/Shelby-officials-back-drug-probe-after-Our-America-episode">Shelby Officials Back Drug Probe After 'Our America' Episode</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.centralohio.com/article/B7/20110323/NEWS01/103230302/Shelby-family-disgruntled-by-local-reaction-to-Oprah-network-show">Shelby Family Disgruntled By Local Reaction To Oprah Network Show</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-52803116743659757542011-03-24T15:04:00.000+11:002023-01-16T15:46:32.025+11:00Soft on Drugs? ... Soft in the Head!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_S0qv49ZrMQPDUMSSIw5OPHgk2w0KwXxqaYKinAVFL07kw3asCTehMNxMPW8oplKA5TsGE3DmvPSdg11dIqCYbH_sSLYWzqgniR0j1DsRaK9JaCvRSPHuBhUbyMWbtuc6FP1ArK9PjE/s1600/darrenmarton03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_S0qv49ZrMQPDUMSSIw5OPHgk2w0KwXxqaYKinAVFL07kw3asCTehMNxMPW8oplKA5TsGE3DmvPSdg11dIqCYbH_sSLYWzqgniR0j1DsRaK9JaCvRSPHuBhUbyMWbtuc6FP1ArK9PjE/s320/darrenmarton03.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Darren “Maaaate” Marton</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Today, in the <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/soft-on-drugs-simply-say-no/story-e6frezz0-1226026946293">The Daily Telegraph</a>, Darren Marton wrote. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I AM not an expert in the drug and alcohol field. I am a layman who has learned his lessons through life experience.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And he is dead right. He is not an expert on drugs and forms his views from empirical data (his own experience). Certainly not worthy of consideration for a national or state drug policy.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But it’s more than that. Like most anti-harm minimisation zealots, Marton’s use of the truth, is dubious at best. It’s this willingness to lie along with a mix of fanaticism - in opposition to harm minimisation - that makes people like Darren Marton so dangerous.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Marton’s recent piece in <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/soft-on-drugs-simply-say-no/story-e6frezz0-1226026946293">The Daily Telegraph</a>(below) is a prime example of how anti-drug rhetoric from <a href="http://www.darrenmarton.com/">politicians</a> can be misconstrued as some wise, righteous advice that can only benefit the community. But lying about the facts is not helping anyone, especially the families of drug users who have suffered the consequences from decades of propaganda. Marton’s message is just an extension of that propaganda, hurting the very people he is supposed to care so much about.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Claiming we have never had a "War on Drugs" is an insult to the millions of people incarcerated around the globe who have done nothing wrong but suffer an addiction. Imagine how do African-Americans and Latinos in the US feel when someone denies that they are victims of a largely racist policy? Although African-Americans make up 12.2 percent of the population and 13% of regular drug users in the US, they account for 74% of all Americans sent to prison for drug possession crimes. In other words, African-Americans were sent to state prisons for drug offences 13 times more often than other races. It’s a similar story for Latinos. How can Darren Marton possibly defend a Zero Tolerance policy when it causes results like this? Look at the crack-cocaine disparity laws in the US. During his reign as US President, Ronald Reagan - whose strategies form the basis for Marton’s suggestions e.g. “Just Say No” campaign, tough drug laws etc. - increased penalties for crack possession, 100 times that of powder cocaine. Of course, crack is widely used in poorer suburbs largely populated with minorities like African-Americans and Latinos whilst cocaine powder was then exclusively for the richer, white middle-upper classes. This is the reality of Marton’s suggestions. The fact is, simple slogan campaigns like “Just Say No” or his own “<a href="http://www.thenowaycampaign.com/">No Way</a>” don’t work and never have. They might appease nervous parents or posturing politicians but history and research have ruled them out as ineffective.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Australia minorities are not exempt from the harsh reality of the "War on Drugs" either. Tough drug laws inflict much more damage to poorer families than the middle-upper class. For example, most drug dealers are addicts on low incomes who fund their addiction by selling to other addicts and friends. This “crime” is non violent and between consenting adults yet it is the focus of a Zero Tolerance policy championed by those who are far removed from this world. At the other end of the scale are the largely hidden, middle-upper class addicts who often have the means to fund their addiction albeit, only for a while. They often can afford clever solicitors, have family support and let’s face it, scrub up better in a court room.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Denying we have ever had a "War on Drugs" is disingenuous and to suggest that we are somehow too liberal with our drug policy is wrong. What Marton fails to tell us is that our official policy of Harm Minimisation has never been properly implemented. Anti-drug zealots love to rattle on about harm reduction programs like needle exchanges, methadone etc. but it is only one pillar of the Harm Minimisation policy. The other two pillars are Supply Reduction(law enforcement) and Demand Reduction(education). If you believe people like Marton, harm minimisation is all about an easy ride for users and taking away resources for prevention and law enforcement. But Harm Reduction only receives 3% of the drug budget whilst law enforcement(Supply Reduction) gets a whopping 56%. Education(Demand Reduction) gets 23% while treatment gets a measly 17%. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In other words, your taxes mop up the mess. It is a social experiment policy, and a reactive one at that.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Those who oppose Harm Minimisation universally favour Zero Tolerance. What they fail to explain though, is that most drug policies in reality are based on Zero Tolerance with smatterings of Harm Minimisation programs. Not exactly the “<span style="color: #870c05;">social experiment policy</span>” that Marton claims. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I ask the question: What kind of future do we want to leave our children and our grandchildren? If it's one that protects our young, strengthens families, and provides safer communities, then let's do it.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Apart from being poorly written, Marton’s piece is pure hyperbole. Exaggerated sound bites, warnings of a doomed future and conspiracy theories tossed together in a disjointed, mess of ideas. But this is the level of competence expected from crusaders like Darren Marton. A far cry from carefully researched studies by qualified experts with decades of experience. I can’t help but think of that famous quote from The Simpsons - <i>Won’t someone please think of the children!</i> And maybe we should. In the US, African-American children were nearly nine times more likely to have a parent incarcerated than white children and Latino children were three times more likely to have a parent incarcerated than white children. Another success for Marton’s Zero Tolerance strategy.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery QC, called at The Daily Telegraph's People's Parliament debate for the decriminalisation of some drug offences. This is outrageous.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In his article, Marton also mentions “The Daily Telegraph's People's Parliament debate for the decriminalisation of some drug offences” and how “outrageous” it is that former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery QC wants a change to our drug laws. Maybe if Marton looked a bit closer he would have noticed that yesterday, several Liberal Party members attended a <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp/9063906/liberals-urge-soft-line-on-drugs/">presentation</a> in Parliament House by former ACT Supreme Court Judge Ken Crispin who warned us about the problems with our current approach to tackling drug crime. Dr Crispin said that the majority of Australians in jail were there because of drugs or mental illness and most would reoffend because they had not received proper treatment. He added that despite the billions spent on combating drugs, the price of heroin and cocaine had dropped but supply had steadily increased. The Libs who attended, fully support the idea of drug law reform and praised the ex judge’s suggestions. Surely a blow for Marton who relies so heavily on the anti-drug rhetoric of political parties, especially the Libs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In summary, Darren Marton’s baseless article should concern all of us. With no support from professionals and experts, Marton and co. are left with the only option available ... to play on public ignorance and emotions. If Darren Marton actually spent some time researching the topic of drug policy and the effect on society he might come to a different conclusion. Instead, like so many other anti-drug crusaders, he keeps reiterating the same old, debunked suggestions that are rejected by most professionals in the AOD industry, researchers, scientists, welfare workers, doctors, economists and drug experts. And as history has shown, these suggestions when put into practice are not only dangerous but cause far more damage than drugs ever will. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Soft On Drugs? Simply Say No</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/soft-on-drugs-simply-say-no/story-e6frezz0-1226026946293">The Daily Telegraph </a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Darren Marton</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">March 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I AM not an expert in the drug and alcohol field. I am a layman who has learned his lessons through life experience.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is of serious concern to me that proponents of harm minimisation favour the legalisation for personal use of some prohibited drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery QC, called at The Daily Telegraph's People's Parliament debate for the decriminalisation of some drug offences. This is outrageous.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For a number of years now it has been claimed that we have lost the war on drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But we have never had a war on drugs. For some, moving to a second phase of harm-minimisation - legalisation - was always the final objective.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But I don't believe Australians are the type of people to wave the white flag.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The NSW drug and alcohol budget in 2009/10 was $140 million. In addition to the services that funding provides, the NSW Government also provides funding for treatment services.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In other words, your taxes mop up the mess. It is a social experiment policy, and a reactive one at that.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Kids as young as 11 have been calling for better drug education with the nation's largest youth survey revealing they feel "ill equipped" to deal with drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When are we going to start listening to the most vulnerable people in the community?</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is far easier to build a young boy or girl than to repair a man or woman.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So it is imperative that we protect our most vulnerable with a focus or prevention and early intervention.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I ask the question: What kind of future do we want to leave our children and our grandchildren?</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If it's one that protects our young, strengthens families, and provides safer communities, then let's do it.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Darren Marton is Director of The No-Way Campaign</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp/9063906/liberals-urge-soft-line-on-drugs/">Liberals Urge Soft Line On Drugs</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/communities/race/">Race and the Drug War</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://revolutionarypolitics.com/?p=4968">The Drug War Is In Part Responsible For So Much Economic Disparity And Suffering Of The Black Population In The U.S.</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.lifesentencesblog.com/?p=1826">New Report Details Racially Disparate Impact of Facially Neutral Criminal-Justice Policies</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/01/darren-marton-no-way.html">Darren Marton - No Way!</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/02/bucket-head-of-year-awards-2009.html">Bucket Head of the Year Awards - 2009</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2011/03/bucket-head-of-year-awards-2010.html">Bucket Head of the Year Awards - 2010</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-19373142001629643642011-03-18T15:06:00.000+11:002023-01-16T15:46:29.994+11:00Drug Hysteria & The Great Doctor Witch Hunt <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #870c05; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">DOCTORS are writing thousands of suspect prescriptions for a pharmaceutical variation of heroin, much of it destined for the black market, forcing the federal government to investigate the actions of 50 medical practitioners.</span><br />
<div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/legal-heroin-sold-to-addicts-20110305-1bipy.html">Legal 'Heroin' Sold To Addicts (Sydney Morning Herald)</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The headline says, ‘Legal Heroin’. Seriously … Who writes this crap? OxyContin and MS-Contin are NOT a<span style="color: #870c05;"> ‘pharmaceutical variation of heroin’</span>. Heroin is a pharmaceutical variation of morphine. MS-Contin is just slow release morphine and OxyContin is similar except the active ingredient is oxycondone - a synthetic variation of morphine. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptytkFGk8Kk8JJkB6t2HU1iFs60h5BD2Iy1RhIp-2yemiFRVMIVfmfFT6X9XnjJGAjnBJIRGI73J-QuLpgUIusGEsGeUYCIy2XxH7rYieZA0aWhgNWADScedAg4zLvznYUmj6EqepjPA/s1600/drughysteria01.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptytkFGk8Kk8JJkB6t2HU1iFs60h5BD2Iy1RhIp-2yemiFRVMIVfmfFT6X9XnjJGAjnBJIRGI73J-QuLpgUIusGEsGeUYCIy2XxH7rYieZA0aWhgNWADScedAg4zLvznYUmj6EqepjPA/s200/drughysteria01.gif" width="178" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Drug Hysteria </b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is this type of trash journalism that helps fuel the drug hysteria that we have become so accustom to. With help from the media, we have managed to demonise drugs to the point where the mere mention of heroin or amphetamines fills our head with images of needle littered alleyways infested with strung out junkies. We may not realise it but virtually no one alive today has experienced life without drug prohibition or the constant drum of anti-drug campaigns. Is it any wonder that so many people fear drugs without knowing the facts?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Since the 1970s, we have been bombarded with anti-drug propaganda courtesy of Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs”. Not since the era of Reefer Madness and the Temperance movement had we seen such government vigour to demonise drugs. The US government’s commitment was so intense that it used all of it’s might to install their anti-drug policy on the whole world. And just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, along came Ronald Reagan. Any hope of rationality entering the drug debate was gone along with evidence based policy, human rights and logic. Reagan’s reign of terror introduced such doozies as mandatory sentencing, three strikes and you’re out, the crack-cocaine disparity laws and the “Just Say No” mindset. Damning drug users was now a permanent weapon for ambitious politicians, playing on the fear of parents and a gullible public. Conservatives, moralisers and the media went along for the ride. The US’s "War on Drugs" was now a global fight.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">They say that the first victim of war is the truth. And the "War on Drugs" is no exception. When it comes to drugs, no claim is too outrageous and no strategy is off limits. Politicians and anti-drug groups are free to make any claim they want, regardless of the truth or reality. Drugs are now used as a tool to further someone’s career or push a certain ideology but the underlying message is fear. Luckily we now have the internet and a growing population who have used drugs recreationally and survived. The empty rhetoric from politicians - who openly admit to previous drug use but warn off others not to repeat their so called mistakes - is increasingly falling on deaf ears. Despite the predictions over the last 100 years of impending doom where drugged out zombies roam the streets or our hospitals are over flowing with dope smoking, paranoid schizophrenics, life goes on and the sky remains firmly in place. But the real issue that underpins the perceived drug problem is the specious strategies championed by the very people who keep making these dire predictions.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFiJ7MRb0GEkTPT1a3ziQwFkCcGCsdsvo6Q2JCvPgttOM4rPtKazt2swrzmK0Bxyt5CL_eTn_ZH8nAR60_GECvU8bZu5wWWDrxOMHgRus5QeF-PKhM1pXKbpocUpIXg5UWCbhYDr2nEA/s1600/drughysteria02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFiJ7MRb0GEkTPT1a3ziQwFkCcGCsdsvo6Q2JCvPgttOM4rPtKazt2swrzmK0Bxyt5CL_eTn_ZH8nAR60_GECvU8bZu5wWWDrxOMHgRus5QeF-PKhM1pXKbpocUpIXg5UWCbhYDr2nEA/s200/drughysteria02.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>The Great Doctor Witch Hunt</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My doctor has been telling me this for years - GPs are terrified of being targeted for over-prescribing opioids or benzos. He also told me that many GPs will under-prescribed much needed medications or not at all. They don’t feel good about it but sadly, fear is now a stronger incentive than best medical practice. My doctor is a pragmatic man and tells it like it is. he explains that moralisers, politicians and conservatives despise the misuse of drugs and if a few innocent doctors are wrongly charged, well it’s a small price to pay to catch those who feed the rabid junkie scourge. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Human Services Minister Tanya Plibersek warned that doctors caught doing the wrong thing would be ``put on notice'' and face possible sanctions. The Professional Services Review could be called in, while serious fraud cases will be referred to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions, she said. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/doctors-targeted-for-over-prescribing/story-fn6ck4a4-1226016574593">CourierMail (March 2011)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is a regular topic I discuss with my doctor and he is as adamant as myself that the "War on Drugs" causes far more problems than it fixes. It’s probably ironic that during our conversation, he pauses to phone the health department to get an authorisation for my monthly script. A script that provides me with enough daily morphine to kill over 10 healthy adults. I always wonder while he attends his phone call if he is afraid of being targeted like the GPs he mentioned to me. If he is afraid, he has never shown it.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As part of a Medicare crackdown, 50 doctors across Australia have come under scrutiny for prescribing unusually high levels of drugs to patients aged under 50 who are less likely to need pain management medication.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/8961562/gps-under-scrutiny-for-misuse-of-painkillers/">The West Australian: GPs Under Scrutiny For Misuse Of Painkillers</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When I hear about ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">prescribing unusually high levels of drugs’</span> I often wonder what doses are they talking about. How much is too high? As I previously mentioned, my daily requirements are huge compared to someone on 3 x 10mg tablets per day. But some pain sufferers take triple of what I am prescribed and methadone patients are often given twice my equivalent dose. It seems logical that some patients receive high doses to meet their medical needs whilst others suffice with a lower dose. My question is, how do bureaucrats determine the maximum level any one person needs to reduce pain?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I recently wrote about a situation in South Australia where DASSA (Drugs of Dependence Unit within Drug and Alcohol Services SA) have taken over the task of dealing with pain sufferers. DASSA’s main clientele are drug addicts and therefore lack the expertise to deal with pain patients who require large doses of pain medication. In typical bureaucratic style, DASSA has set upper limits on opioid dosages so that those who once had sufficient coverage for their pain issues now have to reduce their medication. Can we even imagine how much stress and suffering that causes those who are in chronic pain? Many of them can’t even get out of bed let alone attend a drug addiction centre like Waranilla at Norwood. While anyone else with a medical condition can see the doctor of their choice, those who need specialised pain management, must line up with methadone patients at drug addiction centres. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Since the policy has changed many sufferers are now unable to work, care for themselves and their families, and are in constant pain. Things were working perfectly well before the policy change was made for no apparent reason</i></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/agony-of-the-chronically-ill-ignored/story-e6frea83-1225698270732">George Seabrook: Dignity For Chronic Pain Sufferers</a> </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Tanya Plibersek</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bungled policies like the South Australian situation are a result of drug hysteria, political posturing and ignorance. But at what point does ignorance stop being an excuse for elected leaders who are paid to implement policies in the best interest of the community? And what about when a politician is not ignorant but still willing to rattle on with the usual “Tough on Drugs" rhetoric. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>The misuse of prescription narcotics is a growing problem that destroys lives and tears communities apart</i></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--Tanya Plibersek</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Human Services and Social Inclusion Minister, Tanya Plibersek has a good reason not to succumb to political pressure and repeating the standard government line on drugs. Her husband was once a drug addict and spent nearly three years in prison for a heroin distribution charge. If anyone should understand the futility of prohibition and tough law enforcement on drug addicts then Tanya Plibersek is it. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You have to wonder if threatening doctors is really a sensible thing to do ... especially coming from Tanya Plibersek who should know better. There is already enough fear amongst medical practitioners who are reluctant to prescribe much needed pain medication. The insatiable desire to stop drug misuse is simply not balanced with providing important medication. Instilling fear into prescribing GPs does not help address the problem of drug abuse.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Maybe Tanya has never understood what a harrowing experience heroin addiction and prison really are? Tanya’s husband, Michael Coutts-Trotter and his heroin related problems ended two decades ago but since then, he has managed to become the Chief of Staff to the NSW Treasurer, Director-General of the NSW Department of Commerce and was appointed the Director-General of the NSW Department of Education and Training in 2007. An amazing recovery for a banged up junkie.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But it seems that her husband’s past has not managed to influence her present thinking. In January 2011, Tanya reinforced the government’s support of failed drug policies with an article in The Australian. Her attempt to appear appalled by the unethical spending habits of Australians was really a support piece for various government policies with criticism of those who are selfish and unethical in their decision making by contravening those policies. There was confirmation that the government’s internet filter would stop sickos viewing child abuse or violent sex, warnings of unfluoridated water harming our children’s teeth, praise for “the very successful national drug strategy” and even some finger wagging at those who buy expensive bottled water when they could drink some “good old five-star Sydney water”.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Many consumers think carefully about the ethical farming of veal, for example, but think nothing about the chain of misery and exploitation that brings them their Saturday night cocaine. Many Australians wouldn't eat foie gras because the practice of force-feeding geese is objectionable, but drug mules desperate enough to swallow condoms full of cocaine don't get a second thought.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The ABC reported in September that Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel is responsible for about half the cocaine importation in eastern Australia. More than 28,000 people have died in Mexico since 2006 as a result of the wars between rival drug cartels and law enforcement. The country is on the verge of collapse and brutal mass murders are becoming commonplace as drug lords vie with one another for lucrative control of regions.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Many of the so-called feelgood recreational drugs produced in Australia are made in circumstances in which violence is seen as a necessary tool in the process of production and distribution. The last person you bought from might be perfectly charming, but you can be almost certain that somewhere along the chain, violence and intimidation have occurred to bring you your drugs.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/the-ethical-dilemmas-of-cocaine-and-bottled-water/story-e6frg6zo-1225984625352">The Australian - The Ethical Dilemmas Of Cocaine And Bottled Water</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But where Tanya really went astray was with her attempt to cash in on the recently popular trend of blaming those who use “<span style="color: #870c05;">so-called feelgood recreational drugs”</span> for feeding the violent drug cartels in Mexico. This, of course is ridiculous and more evidence of how prepared some politicians are to deceive us about drugs. And coming from Plibersek - who has living proof sharing the same bed - it’s even more diabolical. The fact is, drug cartels only exists for one reason … drug prohibition. It’s the very policies that bucket heads like Plibersek push that causes the 35,000 plus deaths in Mexico. If anyone is selfish and unethical in their decision making, it’s the bloody politicians.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Street Drugs vs. Pharmaceutical Drugs</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The problem with heroin, cocaine and speed is that they are usually made by criminals in makeshift labs and passed down through various dealers who cut it at each stage. This means that the strength is unknown and full of god-knows-what. Pharmaceutical drugs though, are 100% pure with a known dosage. Some addicts will turn to Pharmaceutical drugs after a bad experience with street drugs or are wary of wasting more money on low quality gear. Surely, a better outcome in the spirit of harm minimisation.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>There will always be people who inject drugs and there will always be people with narcotics dependencies. The positive advantage with OxyContin is that users know exactly what they're getting, whereas with heroin, they don't. Many now prefer OxyContin because it's clean and it's safer.</i></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/legal-heroin-sold-to-addicts-20110305-1bipy.html">Gideon Warhaft of the NSW Users & AIDS Association</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The pressing issue, as always is the law. If these drugs were prescribed to addicts in a controlled and clinical setting, there would be no diversion or over prescribing. We tend to forget that all drugs, including heroin, morphine and cocaine were once available to addicts as part of their treatment plan. They weren’t looked down on or stigmatised like today’s junkies. Most addicts worked, had families and lived like everyone else of the time. And the truly amazing fact is that since prohibition, we have spent trillions of dollars and sent millions of people to prison trying to stop drug use but addiction rates have remained the same. It seems that having hard drugs freely available via a doctor’s prescription yielded no more addicts than ruthlessly locking up those suffering from addiction. Armed with these facts, we, as a society should demand that politicians and law makers abide by the evidence and expert advice and stop this futile war on people. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Legal 'Heroin' Sold To Addicts</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/legal-heroin-sold-to-addicts-20110305-1bipy.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Eamonn Duff and Daniel Lane</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">March 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">EXCLUSIVE</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">DOCTORS are writing thousands of suspect prescriptions for a pharmaceutical variation of heroin, much of it destined for the black market, forcing the federal government to investigate the actions of 50 medical practitioners.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">More than 580,000 taxpayer-funded scripts were approved in NSW in the past two years for OxyContin and similar opiate painkillers, such as OxyNorm and MS-Contin, dubbed ''hillbilly heroin''.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For every $34 script of OxyContin, users are obtaining a box of 20, 80 milligram tablets. Each tablet can then sell on the black market for as much as $50. With further subsidies to pensioners, the box can be bought for as little as $6 - and its contents might be sold on the street for $1000.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">While the medication has revolutionised care for chronic pain sufferers, it is leaking out of the health system to such an extent that police and health experts warn it could soon surpass street heroin and ice as the needle addict's drug of choice.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The prescription opioids are obtained unlawfully by dealers and addicts who ''doctor shop'' for multiple prescriptions. One patient visited 46 doctors in three months and obtained 119 scripts, primarily for OxyContin, the government has confirmed.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sydney doctor Alan Saunders, who has been targeted by doctor shoppers, warned: "It's not just OxyContin - it's valium and all the other drugs. The government is subsidising the drug trade."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Pharmacists say they are confronted with stolen and fake scripts, while legitimate pain sufferers are obtaining the drug and then selling it.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The government acknowledges the problem. Federal Minister for Human Services Tanya Plibersek confirmed to The Sun-Herald that Medicare had identified 50 doctors for ''unusually high levels of prescription writing for drugs such as OxyContin and OxyNorm''.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The misuse of prescription narcotics is a growing problem which destroys lives and tears communities apart. Doctors suspected of making these drugs available to patients who do not require them for clinical purposes will be put on notice."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">With a slow-release formula, OxyContin capsules are designed to work through the day. Illicit users, however, discard the other binding agents and extract the drug in its purest form so, when injected, it delivers an instant hit.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">According to new state government statistics released to The Sun-Herald, more than $557 million worth of illegal drugs were seized in the state last year - more than double the street value of the previous year's tally of $260 million. The haul included $185.2 million worth of cannabis, $126 million of cocaine, $195 million of amphetamines and $28 million of MDMA/ecstasy. NSW Police Minister Michael Daley said the figures showed police were doing ''a fantastic job keeping our streets safe'', adding: ''It's millions of doses of deadly substances that have been kept out of the veins of would-be drug users.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Significantly, NSW police also seized more than $25 million worth of heroin. At the same time, a taxpayer-funded version of the drug is infiltrating the black market. The commander of the NSW drug squad, Nick Bingham, said: ''We're talking pharmaceutical-grade heroin. It's highly sought after in the drug-using community and, unfortunately, it is finding its way [onto the streets]. To be honest, police don't particularly want to have to target prescription opiates when there are other important things to tackle, such as organised crime.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Inspector Bingham is part of the recently formed National Pharmaceutical Misuse Strategy Committee and said prescription opiates were ''high on the agenda … One of the discussion points is educating doctors in regards to prescriptions … there needs to be tighter scrutiny.'' The director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent's Hospital, Alex Wodak, agrees major reforms are needed to improve the way opiates are prescribed by the medical profession: ''The process needs to be far more discriminating, more realistic, more careful.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">''GPs do the bulk of this work. They're under tremendous pressure and could do with better assistance from the whole system, whether it be from medicine doctors, psychiatrists, pain doctors or better guidelines tailored to them.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dr Wodak also referred to the ''long overdue'' national real-time database which, if implemented, could alert authorities when ''runners'' try to use multiple scripts at different chemists, at different locations.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">''The Commonwealth seems interested in trying to get all the states to adopt a similar live system,'' he said. ''If we are serious about this issue, we have to form a national response.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But Richard Mattick, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, fears a crackdown could hit genuine pain sufferers.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">''Let's not forget these medications are terribly important to the community,'' he said. ''If you have a loved one affected by cancer or serious pain, you want them to receive the best possible care and these medications are much better, much safer than anything previously available. The community is better served and, in a way, that has allowed prescribing to be more generous.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">''The danger here is that we see the bad side but don't balance that against the need.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Gideon Warhaft, of the NSW Users & AIDS Association, argues: ''There will always be people who inject drugs and there will always be people with narcotics dependencies. The positive advantage with OxyContin is that users know exactly what they're getting, whereas with heroin, they don't. Many now prefer OxyContin because it's clean and it's safer.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/a-lot-to-learn-for-new-man-in-educations-highest-job/2007/04/10/1175971099994.html?page=fullpage">A Lot To Learn For New Man In Education's Highest Job</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200704/1894452.htm">New Schools' Boss Defends Criminal Past</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/legal-heroin-sold-to-addicts-20110305-1bipy.html">Legal 'Heroin' Sold To Addicts</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-03-04T10%3A00%3A00%2B11%3A00&max-results=10">SA Gov. Hates Pain Sufferers</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/agony-of-the-chronically-ill-ignored/story-e6frea83-1225698270732">Agony Of The Chronically Ill 'Ignored'</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-38270596027937669932011-03-04T10:00:00.002+11:002023-01-16T15:46:31.537+11:00Bucket Head of the Year Awards - 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSLIGECrIDTpYFfLfGblylCfdQZc8JGbiqmLk87u9Ds-JCxgL8_URl20HvdwZyO4-iE4dP_9O8vovQhyphenhyphenx108zFn3lCdwOPu3oybjHsFXcXGG6abSgiNcPjuK3X0kMnLALE-IJxTzNQLA/s1600/buckethead2010header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSLIGECrIDTpYFfLfGblylCfdQZc8JGbiqmLk87u9Ds-JCxgL8_URl20HvdwZyO4-iE4dP_9O8vovQhyphenhyphenx108zFn3lCdwOPu3oybjHsFXcXGG6abSgiNcPjuK3X0kMnLALE-IJxTzNQLA/s640/buckethead2010header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If there’s anything that will be remembered regarding illicit drugs in 2010, it will be the burgeoning change of attitudes around the world. Never before have we seen so many media articles about drug prohibition, the failure of the drug war and calls for change to global drug policy. Any politician with some degree of nous would have kept a close eye on this development as the public and media become more critical of the failed "War on Drugs”. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Regardless of whether there is changing attitudes or a surge in prominent people pointing out the vast evidence that contradicts our drug policies, there are still those who persist in ignoring the facts and pushing their own selfish and/or ignorant agenda. And it’s these delightful people, along with their myopic behaviour that provide the material for the Bucket Head Awards.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Every year, we are treated to an array of bizarre speeches, inane views and corrupt political decisions that will make our history books read like a movie script for some whacky new comedy. Many of the real life characters would provide years of material for up and coming screen writers and some scenarios would make Monty Python seem almost sensible. It’s almost too good to be true when needing to show how far some people will go when drugs are concerned. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>NOTE: These awards are from an Australian perspective and are based on issues involving drug policy and drug treatment. Many nominees are probably guilty of various other deeds but these awards are for drug related issues. I assume I have left out many candidates and events so feel free to add your nominations. These are my personal opinions and if I have upset anyone, I am sorry. If you don't want to be involved in these awards ... don't give me a reason to nominate you.</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst Strategy from a Country in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Britain - New drug policy</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The joint leaders of the newly elected coalition government were both drug law reformists before coming into power. But history is doomed to repeat itself as they ditched their commitment to reforming the countries failed drug policy as soon as they had the power to finally implement change. Their long held beliefs suddenly disappeared and the government soon announced a rework of existing policies. They magniloquently announced that they were to do away with harm reduction strategies (that kept addicts enslaved to addiction) and focus on prevention (that addressed the problem before it started). The government was getting serious about drug use and they were doing it their way … regardless of whether it would work or not. They had read the tabloids and were putting in place new procedures that would keep the hysterical masses satisfied. These included: removing the need to consult with scientists on drug related issues, punishing drug users who were not in treatment (e.g. stopping welfare payments) and another promise to crack down on supply. The "War on Drugs" 2.0 was launched.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Mexico - Continuing their same old strategy that has resulted in over 30,000 deaths</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Hungary - Replacing harm minimisation with stricter drug laws</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Canada - Attempting to introduce mandatory drug laws and trying to close their safe injecting centre</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst International Anti-Drug Organisation in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As drug prohibition around the world continues to wreak havoc on society, there is a growing realisation that current strategies have failed to tackle the drug problem. Slowly but surely, we are moving away from the lies and selfish agendas that have dominated global drug policies for so long. Frustrated with the lack of success from antiquated drug laws, we are looking to science and research to deal with a medical/social issue that has for too long, been treated as a law and order problem. The underlying issue - that some people think other people should not seek pleasure from drugs - is being questioned by society as well as the massive carnage caused by our efforts in trying to enforce this view.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But the quest to reduce the enormous damage caused by current strategies is being hindered by determined, ideological groups. These organisations often have a religious undertone like the initial groups who first attempted to ban alcohol and drugs over 100 years ago. They all have similar themes like the belief in a drug free world or tougher penalties for drug users and will go to great lengths to influence governments and the public. Being masters of deception, they often resort to junk science, slanted research and heavily biased media material to push their puritan message onto an ignorant public. Like the push by Christian fundamentalists to categorise creationism as science, so too do the anti-drug fundamentalists attempt to promote their moral precepts as a credible, mainstream solution.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You may have already noticed that the major players in the anti-drug movement are limited to a small group and you will find they often appear as board members/associates of several anti-drug organisations to boost the membership numbers or add credibility.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•World Federation Against Drugs [<a href="http://www.wfad.se/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Who are The World Federation Against Drugs … they sure sound impressive? Yes they are. The WFAD tell us that their work is ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">built on the principles of universal fellowship and basic human and democratic rights</span>’. and that ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">the aim of WFAD is to work for a drug-free world</span>’. Obviously a great bunch of humanitarians. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Did they say a drug free world? Yes, they believe that we can create a drug free world, just like when the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime(UNODC) at the 1998 UNGASS on drugs produced the slogan, ‘A Drug Free World by 2008 … We Can Do It’. But as you have probably guessed, we didn’t do it and sadly, will never do it. Unfortunately though, that won’t stop the drug propagandists … nothing will.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Not long before the delegates of member states gathered in New York at the UNGASS on drugs in 1998, outstanding professionals and politicians from all around the world addressed Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General in an <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/ungass/letter/">open letter</a>. They warned the UN not to chase rainbows but to stay down to earth, because in the name of pursuing a drug free society member states often violate human rights, assault the environment and fill prisons with non-violent offenders. “Realistic proposals to reduce drug-related crime, disease and death are abandoned in favor of rhetorical proposals to create drug-free societies. Persisting in our current policies will only result in more drug abuse, more empowerment of drug markets and criminals, and more disease and suffering,” they wrote. Unfortunately these dissent voices remained unheard in 1998, the UNGASS was a sequence of political speeches light years away from the reality of crime, addiction and disease on the streets. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://tasz.hu/en/hclu-tv/beyond2008_3">The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Look a little closer and you will discover that The WFAD and related organisations really have another agenda. They might claim to want what’s best for troubled drug users but it’s not really about helping them. It’s about using them to condemn what they considered to be sinful behaviour.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug users have a right to the expectation of living drug free and having the opportunity to lead productive, working lives.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.wfad.se/about-wfad">The World Federation Against Drugs website: About Us</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">They use clever misdirection with keywords like rights, democracy, tolerance, equality, freedom, justice etc. or phrases like ‘ <span style="color: #870c05;">to protect children</span>’, ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">undercutting traditional values</span>’, <span style="color: #870c05;">‘threatening the existence of stable families, communities, and government institutions</span>’, This resonates with the public who have only ever been told that drugs are a scourge on society or all junkies will rob you just for a fix. Their underlying agenda is too complex for a casual observer who has been exposed to anti-drug propaganda for an entire lifetime. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The WFAD recognizes that civil society has the right to fact-based information about the risks and damage caused by drugs. All people have the right to be protected from the harms created by drug use.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.wfad.se/about-wfad">The World Federation Against Drugs website: About Us</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Like organised religion, it’s about control, power and pushing their views onto others. They believe that taking drugs and alcohol is evil or even a sin and these pursuits leave people less time for prayer, family or other acceptable activities. Those who partake in these evil activities need to be remorseful for their lack of personal responsibility and the only way to stop this scourge is with public condemnation, punishment or an appointment with Dr. God. And like organised religion; science, history and facts are only true when they originate from an approved source. They claim that the carnage is not because of our barbaric drug laws that incarcerate millions of non-violent citizens. Nor is it because those with mental health issues are treated in prisons instead of hospitals. And it’s definitely not due to the massive underground user base forced to hide from military style police units. It’s because drug addicts and drug users are selfish, immoral and dangerous. Why else would we need protection from them?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•International Taskforce on Strategic Drug Policy [<a href="http://www.itfsdp.org/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/03/incb-arrogance-sparks-anger-and-bwrian.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug Free America Foundation [<a href="http://www.dfaf.org/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst Australian Anti-Drug Organisation in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug Advisory Council of Australia Inc. (DACA) [<a href="http://www.daca.org.au/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug Free Australia (DFA) [<a href="http://www.drugfree.org.au/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug Salvage Campaign (The Drug Free Ambassadors Australia) [<a href="http://www.drugsalvage.com.au/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Get Off Drugs (Narconon/Scientology) [<a href="http://www.getoffdrugs.com.au/">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst Comment in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Sir Ken Jones </span>(Deputy Victorian Police Commissioner) - [<a href="http://www.3aw.com.au/displayPopUpPlayerAction.action?&url=http://media.mytalk.com.au/3AW/AUDIO/201010_Ken_Jones_Neil_Mitchell.mp3">3AW</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think you have to look at it (drug courts), case by case because people who are absolutely addicted beyond help, they should and will be punished ...</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The focus away from catching and jailing addicts is becoming standard practice around the globe as police target the big dealers rather than those suffering an addiction. But Victorian Deputy Police Commissioner Sir Ken Jones has a different view. Although he did mention treatment as part of the process, Jonesy let slip his desire to punish addicts, especially those “beyond help”. Yes Ken, we need more addicts in jail because that works so well.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ted Baillieu</span> (Victorian Opposition Leader) - [<a href="http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/989668/victorian-coalition-pledges-bong-ban">NineMSN News</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Research showed cannabis was a gateway drug into more dangerous illicit drugs, with most heroin and cocaine users first experimenting with cannabis.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Maybe Ted would like to produce the research for his claim? And Ted, I mean quantified research … not opinion pieces from The Herald-Sun.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Graham Jacobs</span> (Western Australian Minister for Mental Health) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/09/cracker-comments-may-sept-2010.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Solutions need to be based on the evidence, not driven by popular, and often misguided notions of how harms can be reduced.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harm reduction is popular and misguided? Harm reduction is only popular amongst doctors, concerned citizens and experts. Jeepers, who would want that misguided bunch putting forward their suggestions? An incredible comment to make for a health minister.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The crunch is that the WA government’s proposed drug policies have no scientific basis whatsoever and they actually rejected all the evidence put forward by the experts. In fact, there are dozens of recent reports slamming their proposals for being void of any evidence.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Michael Wright </span>(SA Police Minister) - [<a href="http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/images/stories/mediareleasesAUG10/padd%20dogs%20sucess.pdf">Government Media Release</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">These passive alert drug dogs and their handlers have clearly been working hard. They’ve made a significant dent in the drugs trade on our streets.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Has anyone noticed the sudden absence of drugs on our streets? Maybe a few more sniffer dogs and the drug problem will be solved.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Steve Fielding</span>(Family First) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/06/steve-fielding-fuck-off.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Greens are up to their old tricks. They’re soft on drugs and really this is the wrong message to be sending Australia. We’ve got a huge street violence issue and going soft on drugs is going to make it worse not even better.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I would love for Steve to show me where being "Tough on Drugs" has decreased street violence. Mexico? Baltimore? Western Sydney? And how does being "Soft on Drugs" send the wrong message? I think advising people how to avoid dying from an overdose is a pretty good message.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Silliest Comment in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Steve Price</span> (Shock Jock) - [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/07/cracker-comments-steve-pricemtr.html">3AW</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">OK Thank you John, John Rogerson CEO from the Australian Drug Foundation. Can we work out what the Australian Drug Foundation actually is? So I can tell people why that bloke has got such a stupid, soft view of the world. What a dumb thing to say. What an absolutely stupid thing to say. What are the Australian Drug Foundation? A marketing arm for drug dealers?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Absolutely classic Steve Price. Someone should tell him to research his guests before he queries the validity of Australia’s leading drug and alcohol prevention organisation.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Kevin Zuccato</span> (AFP Assistant Commissioner) - [<a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/qld-men-arrested-over-10m-crime-ring-drugs-haul-20100212-nx4y.html">Brisbane Times</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think what this demonstrates across the board is just how insidious organised crime is and the callousness of these individuals who would choose to hide narcotics in kids' toys and possibly put kids at risk.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Of course these toys stuffed with drugs, worth tens of millions of dollars are destined for your local toy store. I wonder what the chances are of a drug trafficker forgetting where his multi million dollar stash is?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Brian Taylor</span> (Sports Announcer) - [<a href="http://www.3aw.com.au/displayPopUpPlayerAction.action?&url=http://media.mytalk.com.au/3AW/AUDIO/270810_BT.mp3">3AW</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I gotta say, I sat down with a 14 year old male son of mine and a 18 year old son and both said to me, that they were confused and that it appears that it’s OK to take drugs because if you take drugs and play sport, you will win a Brownlow, a premiership and you’ll have a lifestyle like Hollywood. They were really confused about it … really confused about the successes of it and to me it’s a bit of a worry. It glamourised the whole thing I thought. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Really confused? Maybe there should be an award for the ‘Parent with the Stupidest Kids’.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Bob Falconer</span> (Former West Australian Police Commissioner) - [<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/parents-paranoid-about-the-safety-of-their-children/story-e6frfhqf-1225937337942">The Australian</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Years ago, heroin was an analgesic -- they got sleepy, they got dopey. Now they're using drugs that give them the strength of five human beings and make them extremely unpredictable and violent.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I thought we had seen the end to the hysterical claims about ice and violence but up pops Bob Falconer with this cracker. Falconer’s comment brought back memories of the 1980’s drug PCP that reportedly gave users superhuman strength. Of course, there is no drug known to mankind that greatly increases your strength and Bob’s comments sound like a scene from a Popeye carton. You know … a can of spinach and Popeye suddenly has superhuman strength. Maybe this is where Bob got his information from?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Brett Murray</span> (Down to Earth Youth Counsellor) - [<a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/nsw-govt-urged-to-pulp-youth-drug-guide-20100112-m3jn.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There's going to be people out there who commit pre-meditated murder - do we make sure that we have a little pamphlet saying `(ok,) but make sure that you do it in groups'?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That’s right, Brett. Using drugs and pre-meditated murder are almost identical. Isn’t anyone worried that Brett is a youth counsellor who teaches kids about drugs?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Rebecca Wilson</span> (Sports Journalist) - [<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/footy-drugs-rule-a-sham/story-e6frfhqf-1225913006088">The Herald-Sun</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Admissions of weakness are not such a bad thing. Demetriou and Anderson simply must throw out the rule book and start again. Consult those at the coalface who live and breathe club footy with dozens of young men at their physical and professional peak.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yep, lose the medical stiffs and employ the wisdom of a footy club. I know I would feel much better knowing someone was being treated for a complex medical condition by a football club administrator, a handball coach or the orange boy.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Most Overused Phrase in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Do the crime then do the time!</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If you read the comments section from any drug related article, you can count on at least 30% of readers saying ‘<span style="color: #870c05;"><i>Do the crime then do the time!</i></span><i>’. </i>It’s how bogans attempt to show us how clever and wise they are about an issue they really know nothing about.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Send the wrong message</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•We are making a dent in the drug market</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug busts are about keeping the public safe</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Biggest Deception in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The various claims that drug busts are eliminating drug use from our community</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Mephedrone beat-up [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/02/mephedrone-madness-and-missing-scrotum.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Exaggerated harm from cannabis and ecstasy use</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The Faces of Meth Campaign [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/09/propaganda-files-faces-of-meth.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Biggest Deception from a Political Party in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Victorian Liberal Party - Exaggerating cannabis harm for healthy adults / ignoring the dangers of banning drug paraphernalia</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Victorian Labor Party - John Brumby claimed that there was no evidence supporting a safe injecting centre for Melbourne [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/06/brumby-lies-about-safe-injection.html">link to article</a>] </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Tasmanian Labor Party - Printing flyers that accused the Greens of wanting to legalise heroin [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/03/drug-hysteria-explodes-in-state.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Family First - Claiming that the Greens want to put a ‘heroin injecting room’ on every corner [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/06/steve-fielding-fuck-off.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Biggest Deception from a Non Political Person or Group in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Gary Christian (DFA) - The failure of MSIC</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug Free Australia (DFA) - The report titled <i>Cannabis: suicide, schizophrenia and other ill-effects</i> [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/04/qld-politicians-endorse-kooky-dfa.html">link to article</a>] </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Victoria & NSW Police - High profile drug busts are eliminating drug use from our community</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Deputy Police Commissioner Sir Ken Jones - Claiming that drug experts are naive for recommending a change to our drug policy and there are no alternatives to a current drug laws </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst Comment from a News.com Reader in 2010</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>People say that a junkies addiction is a sickness, but I say who cares. The world would be a million times better off if they all just over dosed and stopped burdening the rest of the world with their sick filthy selfish habits</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: timothy.karas of 680 Goerge Street </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Girl, 6, Jabbed By Needle In Restaurant</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/girl-6-jabbed-by-needle-in-restaurant/comments-e6freuy9-1225895879863">The Daily Telegraph</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Absolutly shocking thing to happen to some one, I wonder whom the scum bag is, whom did this terrible thing, most proberly some junkie scum bag who's been released on bail for drug offences, bashing, car theft etc etc, let out by Doo- gooders to go out and maime and kill. dispicable! </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: Fairgo of Tinonee </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Violent End To A Beautiful Life For Murdered Michelle Morrissey Of Mudgee</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/violent-end-to-a-beautiful-life-for-murdered-michelle-morrissey-of-mudgee/comments-e6freuy9-1225846623064">The Daily Telegraph</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Why should we waste tax payers money on educating drug addicts even further. Everyone knows the results of taking drugs. I hope these drugs kill all the drug addicts out there. I won't feel sorry for them one bit.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: locky of sydney</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Drugs Cocaine And Ecstasy Laced With Poison In Australia</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/drugs-cocaine-and-ecstasy-laced-with-poison-in-australia/comments-e6freuy9-1225890450229">The Daily Telegraph</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>in a sense who really cares what happens to these drug abusers, one way to clean our back yard out, though it may impact on our televisions shows as half the actors will be eradicated by the sound of it. Look at it this way , what a way to rid the streets and high class clubs of drug peddling , most the club onwers in the cross would be broke and crime rate would drop. Why are we trying to protect these people who make it possible for the dope smugglers to exist ?..they deserve what they pay for. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: just another disalutioned person</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Drugs Cocaine And Ecstasy Laced With Poison In Australia</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/drugs-cocaine-and-ecstasy-laced-with-poison-in-australia/comments-e6freuy9-1225890450229">The Daily Telegraph</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Honestly these rooms and the whole methodone program need to go. Who really cares if these people use dirty needles and die..I for one would think it was a good thing, these idiots not only ruin there own lives but those of their families and loved ones but are now invading the lives of everyone. Many of them steal to support their habbits, continue to have babies who suffer untold pain and distress after they are born..Really people need to stand up and wake up...These users are not a worthwhile part of society...we support them as they don't work and don't care..I say get off it or OD we do not need you here or anywhere</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: Loretta Hanley</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Drug Injection Room Will Stay In Kings Cross</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/drug-injection-room-will-stay-in-kings-cross/story-e6freuzi-1225941965002?from=public_rss">The Daily Telegraph</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Strangest Comment from a News.com Reader in 2010</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Its a very dodgy area around there. Wouldn't surprise me if most of them were druggies financing their habit. Its when local residents get propositioned that it becomes bad. How about some undercover policewomen around there?? This is what they do in the movies & it seems to work!!!</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: pinkmini of Perth</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Brazen Street Prostitutes Working Close To Perth Police HQ</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/brazen-street-prostitutes-working-close-to-perth-police-hq/story-e6frg13u-1225936386078">PerthNow</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Yet another chemical concoction that kills to be banned, so it's more than likely going to be the most popular thing on the drug scene within days. Maybe it's time to take a different tact. I still believe that illegal drugs should be illegal but maybe if we just stop attending to the people who take them and overdose on them and let them die then maybe that's the only way to get the message through that people who take this stuff are truly dicing with death. Those who peddle in the stuff get for the term of their natuaral life jail terms and those who end up with mental illness's because they're frying their brains with the chemicals get locked up in mental institutions. How about we, as a society let the chips fall where then maybe common sense will come back into vogue and these shinning examples of stupity will be a lesson to the rest of what NOT to do. How about that instead spending billions on education that clearly isn't working and spend those billions on support services for the families left behind by the stupid acts of their family and the elderly. Just a thought.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: Tracey</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Drug 'Miaow-Miaow' Banned After Deaths</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/drug-meow-meow-banned-after-deaths/comments-e6frfkyi-1225847245185">News.com.au</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>It is well known that Australia has the fourth highest population of people addicted to illicit substance in the world...... drug addicts galore! Now for a country with such a small population that is quite and achievement. I am sure if some substances were legal we would have the highest level of addicts in the universe! We should change the name of the country to Drroooogstraaaaliiiia.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: Zalco of Melbourne</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Big Rise In Cocaine Use In Victoria As The Price Drops To $20</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/big-rise-in-cocaine-use-in-victoria-as-the-price-drops-to-20/comments-e6frf7kx-1225869997578">The Herald-Sun</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Do the crime, Do the time. Very sad that she has gone crazy, but it happens.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: Mr Average of Rockvegas</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Schapelle Corby Pleads For Reprieve For Her Health</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/insane-schapelle-corby-pleads-for-reprieve/story-e6frfkyi-1225851621494#ixzz1BFHlzULy">News.com.au</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">•</span>Andrew you are 100% correct on rejecting injecting rooms. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug taking weak brained scum couse so much misery in the world,should be interogated to find the pushers and both locked up to get them off drugs. But our systems are so corrupt that drugs are even distributed in prisons.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Posted by: Jan of Melbourne</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Article: Andrew Bolt Blog - “Safe” Injecting Rooms</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source: <a href="http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/mtr_today36/P0/">The Herald-Sun</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Funniest Moments in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Digital Drugs</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug hysteria reached a new a high in 2010 as the dangerous new trend called iDoses hit the news. For a few bucks, you can download an audio file called an iDose and get high without ever ingesting anything. Kids can choose from a selection of audio files like ‘heroin’, ‘LSD’, ‘Cocaine’ etc., put on their headphones and … er, well listen to a noisy audio file. While kids all over the US, high on iDoses were busy posting videos of themselves on YouTube, the media kicked into action. And it was our own, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/digital-drug-peddlers-target-teens-with-idoses-20100813-12231.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a> that led the way. They reported that parents and educators were outraged that iDrugs were legally on sale through a website.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It was the US though that actually <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1296282/I-dosing-How-teenagers-getting-digitally-high-music-download-internet.html">acted</a> on this new scourge. In the Mustang district of Oklahoma, some schools reported students downloading these files so the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs issued a warning to children. Other schools in the district sent out letters to parents warning them that the new trend had caused physiological effects on some students after trying one of these digital downloads. It even made the nightly TV news.</div><br />
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<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For the record, ‘iDoses’ are binaural soundtracks which have been used since the 1960s to force the brain to enter different states of consciousness. They are harmless.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Misspelling Darren Marton’s Name</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Poor old Darren Marton. As a budding politician running on the theme of anti-harm minimisation, you would think that being quoted in the media would be something positive. Unfortunately for Darren, in early 2010, a Sydney Morning Herald <a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/nsw-govt-urged-to-pulp-youth-drug-guide-20100112-m3jn.html">article</a> misspelt his name as Darren ‘Martin’. Not a good look for one of the article’s so called authorities. Several months later, Darren’s wisdom was again quoted in an <a href="http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/mirandadevine/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/a_dangerous_idea_that_stubbornly_refuses_to_die/">article</a> by fellow anti-drug supporter, Miranda Devine. Imagine his surprise when he noticed that once again, they misspelt his name, this time as ‘Darron Martin’. A real kick-in-the-pants for Darren and the importance of his message. It makes you wonder how accurate these articles are when they can’t even print the correct name for their star anti-harm minimisation prophet.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Return of The Gateway Theory</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It was another year involving babbling politicians but 2010 was special. It was the year when The Gateway Theory made it’s come back courtesy of various politicians trying to prove how tough they were on drugs. The previous year had the WA premier and some of his cronies resorting to all sorts of dubious and outdated claims about cannabis as they tried to repeal the state’s drug laws. The biggest shock though was their attempt to drudge up that old myth, The Gateway Theory. We were told by Colin Barnett and co. that cannabis led to harder drugs. Only this time, it wasn’t just experts and health professionals who shook their heads in disbelief but much of the general population. But sometimes, politicians are a strange lot. Many of them plodded on with their anti-drug agenda regardless of the facts or the realisation that making absurd claims involving The Gateway Theory didn’t win the WA government any votes and certainly wasn’t a smart move in an evidence focussed 2010. But plod on they did.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The number of times politicians claimed that we need tougher laws because cannabis led to hard drug use was simply astonishing. They wouldn’t use out-of-date or flawed research when discussing other health policies or overlook the scientific consensus when planning for medical procedures. But the issue of illicit drugs seems to be void of using quantified, scientific research and we are so accepting of any old thing a politician wishes to say. The Gateway Theory is a myth and has been debunked many, many times. It originated in the US back in the 1930s and was laughed at by the scientific community then. The only supporters of The Gateway Theory are anti-drug nutters, agenda driven politicians and those who refuse to accept the facts. Like putting hot water on sunburn, encouraging smoking because doctors smoke or anti-vaccination spin, The Gateway Theory is a an old wives tale and has no scientific application in a modern society.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Mephedrone Madness - Miaow Miaow, Woof Woof And A Missing Scrotum</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It may have been the strangest comment of the year when AFP Assistant Commissioner Kevin Zuccato said this about Mephedrone: ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">There have been dangerous deaths linked to miaow</span>’. Luckily for us, Assistant Commissioner Zuccato cleared up our concerns that deaths can be dangerous. Hang on … did he also say, ‘Miaow’? Did he really mean, ‘Miaow Miaow’, the latest killer drug to hit the streets. But since no one actually calls it ‘Miaow Miaow’, except in the media, abbreviating it to just ‘Miaow’ might at least give the impression that he has some street cred.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So what is ‘Miaow Miaow’ and what’s all the fuss? Mephedrone or 4-MMC is a speed like drug derived from the khat plant and was one of the “legal highs’ in Britain that has created so much attention of late. Funnily enough, it has been sold legally for years in the UK and shipped to dozens of countries around the world with very little attention or reports of abuse. It wasn’t until several countries started to ban the drug that we suddenly saw reports of death and destruction.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Like all good panics about new drugs tempting our vulnerable kids, the media and the authorities were prepared to jump on any snippet of news regarding this new scourge. It didn’t matter if they were true or not. There were numerous, baseless articles about users high on mephedrone going to hospital with one person reportedly cutting their finger in half and someone else attempting to circumcise them self. The <a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/worrying-side-effects-attached-to-drug-20100129-n2ft.html">Sydney Morning Herald </a>even reported that one user in Sydney attempted self castration (ouch!). Coincidentally, a similar story prompted the Durham police in the UK to issue a public warning, only this time it was reported that the user had attempted self castration with their own bare hands (double ouch!). Although that <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/02/mephedrone_madness/">doozy</a> just turned out to be the result of an over zealous police officer it was still considered newsworthy enough to make the Sydney Morning Herald.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As the news spread, the number of dead rose until the media and authorities settled on the claim that ‘Miaow Miaow’ was linked to 25 deaths. The magic ingredient was the term, ‘linked to’. In fact, only a few people were ever confirmed to have died solely at the hands of mephedrone as the others had a concoction of drugs in their system with mephedrone being ruled out as the cause. Surprisingly, much of the media, police and authorities still deceptively claim that ‘Miaow Miaow’ is ‘linked to’ 25 deaths.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The hype should have ended there but a good drug beat-up is hard to let go of for the Murdoch press. The Sun (UK) <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3032064/Woof-woof-is-the-new-meow-meow.html">reported</a> that a new, even deadly drug was about to storm the drug scene. MDAI or what the Sun called, ‘Woof Woof’ was the next drug craze and it was set to replace ‘Miaow Miaow’ as the drug of choice for British kids. Strangely, the only reference to it, reported in Australia was by another Murdoch media outlet, <a href="http://News.com.au/">News.com.au</a>. Searching through various drug forums since the article, ‘Woof Woof’ barely gets a mention and has rarely been seen. That’s if it was ‘Woof Woof’ at all. Meanwhile, authorities are waiting patiently for “Tweet Tweet” and “Cock-a-doodle-doo Cock-a-doodle-doo’ to hit the streets.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst Anti-Drug Article from the Mainstream Media in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•A Dangerous Idea That Stubbornly Refuses To Die (Miranda Devine - The Daily Telegraph) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/11/miranda-devine-on-drugs-again.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Ecstasy Tablets Kills More Australians (Lisa Mayoh - CourierMail) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/02/result-of-quiet-news-day-its-not-pretty.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•It's One Set Of Rules (Rebecca Wilson - The Daily Telegraph) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/05/party-drugs-in-sport-new-frontier-for.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Drug Addiction Is Not A Disease (Derryn Hinch - 3AW) [<a href="http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/blog-with-derryn-hinch/drug-addiction-is-not-a-disease/20100827-13voc.html">3AW</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Funniest Anti-Drug Article from the Mainstream Media in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•When It Comes To Doing Drugs, The Message Should Be "Just Say No" (<a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/mixing-the-drugs-message/story-e6frezz0-1225818190842">Staff Writers - The Daily Telegraph</a>)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">No wonder no one was brave enough to attach their name to this article. This is the trash media at their best. The article is a cautionary tail of sending the wrong message - ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">Drug education should primarily be about preventing drug use, not minimising the harm - basically to stop disaster before it occurs</span>’ writes the anonymous hacks. The writers goes on to say, ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">The Government needs a tougher policy that sends an uncomplicated, unambiguous and more easily understood message to everyone - young and old - to just say no to drugs</span>’. Only a hack writer would miss the obvious - the government already does this. The policy of harm minimisation happens to target the bulk of drug users who don’t ‘Just Say No’. It’s not a case of one strategy or the other but a multi-prong approach to capture both potential and existing drug users. The hack writers would know if they had done their research. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I’m sure Nancy Reagan would be proud that her ‘Just Say No’ message has carried on into 2010. But maybe the hack writers should have pointed out that the face behind the ‘Just Say No’ campaign, Nancy Reagan and her US president husband, Ronald are <a href="http://www.alternet.org/drugs/149658/reagan_turns_100%3A_fawning_media_ignore_his_disastrous_'war_on_drugs'?page=1">responsible</a> for the greatest social policy catastrophe, the US has ever experienced. Their anti-drug campaign stripped treatment centres of their funding, stopped federal support for needle exchanges and exploded the prison population of nonviolent drug offenders from 50,000 to 400,000 in 17 short years. They created the crack-cocaine disparity laws, expanded mandatory sentencing and helped give the US one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the western world. Yes, anonymous hack writers, we need more ‘Just Say No’ strategies and more "Tough on Drugs" failures.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Cannabis 'Leads To Drink, Hard Drugs' (<a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/cannabis-leads-to-drink-hard-drugs-20100404-rl3a.html">Staff Writers - Sydney Morning Herald</a>) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/04/fairfax-misleads-public-about-cannabis_05.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>•</i>Delayed Justice Comes At A Cost To Community (<a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/editorial-delayed-justice-comes-at-a-cost-to-community/story-e6freabl-1225901309046">Editorial - The Adelaide Advertiser</a>) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/08/red-alert-deadly-pot-growers-to-go-free.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Worrying Side Effects Attached To Drug (<a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/worrying-side-effects-attached-to-drug-20100129-n2ft.html">Andrew Drummond - Sydney Morning Herald</a>) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/02/mephedrone-madness-and-missing-scrotum.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Worst Comment from a Political Party in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ted Baillieu</span> (Victorian Liberal Leader) [<a href="http://www.marywooldridge.com/ms_detail.asp?ID=219">website</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A Victorian Coalition Government will ban the sale of bongs to reduce the harm to Victorian families caused by cannabis and stop Victorians using dangerous drugs </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Andrew Stoner </span>(NSW Nationals Leader) [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-we-cant-trust-stoner.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">To put out a pamphlet that says Guide to a Better Night ... I think it's sending a message that to have a good night you ought to be taking drugs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Mike Rann</span> (SA Premier - ALP) [<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/rann-apologises-for-chantelois-friendship-20100304-pjnm.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I just think that it's incredibly irresponsible for any political leader to attend a rave party … it comes down to values.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Michael Mischin </span>(Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General; Minister for Corrective Services - LP ) [<a href="http://mischin.com/blog/?p=391">website</a>]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cannabis is not a ‘soft’ drug.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is not a ‘recreational’ drug.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is not a harmless drug.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is a gateway drug.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Use of cannabis also increases the risk of mental illness such as schizophrenia. It is a drug that ruins lives and I am proud that we have reversed the failed policy of the previous government.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[…]</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes, these are tough moves but we need strong laws like this that send the right message about cannabis – that it is dangerous.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Major Political Party with the Worst Drug Policy in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Christian Democratic Party</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Family First</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The Liberal Party</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The National Party</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Junk Science Claim from 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) only saved 4 lives - Gary Christian (DFA) </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Fairfax Misleads Public About Cannabis Study [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/04/fairfax-misleads-public-about-cannabis_05.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Cannabis is a Gateway Drug - WA Liberal Party</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Exaggerated harm from moderate use of cannabis and ecstasy(MDMA)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Most Biased Anti-Drug Journalist in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Miranda Devine - The Daily Telegraph</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up: </i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The Daily Telegraph Editorial Team</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Andrew Bolt - The Herald Sun</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Rebecca Wilson - The Herald Sun</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Most Dubious Politician (Drug Propagandist) in 2010 </b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Ted Baillieu (Victorian Premier - LP)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Mike Rann (SA Premier - ALP)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Steve Fielding (Family First Leader)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Michael Mischin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General - WA)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Most Dangerous Anti-Drug Campaigner Internationally for 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Peter Hitchens</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Daily Mail - Blogger (<a href="http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/">Mailonline</a>)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If ever there was a fundamentalist nutter, it is Peter Hitchens. He believes that capital punishment is the key to a strong justice system, the Christian faith underlies a successful society, gays do not deserve equal or even legal partnership rights and abortion should be illegal. You get the picture.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">‘</span>The sly, dishonest propagandists who claim that the ‘War on Drugs’ has failed really do need to explain what war this is, exactly, and when it was ever fought<span style="color: black;">’. [<a href="http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2010/09/will-all-we-have-turn-to-dust-and-ashes-just-like-my-soviet-roubles.html">website</a>]</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Of course, one of his strongest beliefs is that drug use is a crime. He despises most modern treatment programs and is a crusader for tougher, zero tolerance laws. He regularly writes about drugs on his blog and goes to great lengths to circumvent science, quantified research and established facts. Those with opposing views are often duplicitously criticised as he cherry picks their response in the comfort of his own surroundings. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My view, that a straightforward punitive approach would have been far better for all involved, has plainly not been tried - not because it wouldn't work (it would) but because the authorities do not have the moral courage to apply it. This is the real argument between those who view some acts as wrong, and those who excuse them.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-Commenting on the successful Heroin Assisted Treatment program in Switzerland</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Calvina Fay (Drug Free America Foundation)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Robert DuPont (Anti-Drug Crusader)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Theodore Dalrymple - Real name: Anthony Daniels (British writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Most Dangerous Anti-Drug Campaigner in Australia for 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Gary Christian (DFA)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Darren Marton</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Jo Baxter (DFA)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Steve Fielding (Family First Leader)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Low Point in 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The failure of Queensland’s Social Development Committee to take on evidence and the advice of experts in their <i>Inquiry into Addressing Cannabis-related Harm in Queensland</i> [<a href="http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/committees/documents/SDC/reports/SDCR010.pdf">website</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Runners Up:</i></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The lack of action from our government involving incarcerated Australians on drug charges overseas. Especially Peter Gray, Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/05/disgraceful.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The failure of the Australian government to act on expert advice regarding drug policy when research clearly states that current strategies are failing [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/06/experts-urge-drug-policy-reform-is.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•The failure of the Australian government to endorse the Vienna Declaration [<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/06/experts-urge-drug-policy-reform-is.html">link to article</a>]</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>The Bucket Head Hall Of Fame</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">•Christopher Pyne - Politician (Liberal Party)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Liberal Party head kicker and anti-drug workhorse, Chris Pyne made his name as the yapping lapdog behind Australia’s "Tough on Drugs" strategy. For years, Pyne’s boofhead was everywhere spelling out the government’s agenda to eradicate drugs, drug dealers and the idea that harm minimisation was our official drug policy(it is). </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It was during his tenure as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing when Pyne gained his infamy. Especially rememberable was his ‘Soft on Drugs’ slur that he directed towards anyone who supported an alternative to the government’s "Tough on Drugs" strategy. For Pyne, there was no alternative. Those offering up science, research and expert advice that didn’t suit the government’s agenda were just being "Soft on Drugs”.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">His most famous moment though was probably when he <a href="http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1441/full">claimed</a> that cannabis was as dangerous as heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. Although his claim had many rolling around on the floor in fits of laughter, he was deadly serious. Maybe that’s why it was so funny? But the reality wasn’t so funny for those seeking treatment. His beloved "Tough on Drugs" ideology was a direct assault on harm minimisation and for Pyne, Howard and co., drug users deserved contempt and needed to be punished. Those considering treatment were now in danger of facing a reduced range of options as the government pursued a shift towards abstinence only programs. Pyne championed this new strategy which included the move to heavily cut back on opiate substitution programs like methadone treatment.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Christopher Pyne and his rants might have faded into the history books of shame but the aftermath lives on. Australia has never fully recovered from the Howard government’s assault on drug users and Libs everywhere remain committed to push on with Pyne’s crusade. Although most of Pyne’s claims have now been debunked or revised, he remains a reminder of how dangerous the anti-drug brigade can be when in power.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>The Bucket Head of the Year - 2010</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The ultimate anti-drug zealot who made a huge impact on the downfall of humanity and sensibility in 2010<br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtIklDD8bRdXazBsi1EGjR1fbgqsHNeopUH-I-6wAav_hmF2gvANZhONIQ2Kz2TSygLJUjXFHUwlDztjW60a3HsPc_xE7DtjqeYkG_ET-EjPWFqoVnT7e96IK9f6LZ7YF8svyqomRhds/s1600/jobaxter01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtIklDD8bRdXazBsi1EGjR1fbgqsHNeopUH-I-6wAav_hmF2gvANZhONIQ2Kz2TSygLJUjXFHUwlDztjW60a3HsPc_xE7DtjqeYkG_ET-EjPWFqoVnT7e96IK9f6LZ7YF8svyqomRhds/s200/jobaxter01.jpg" width="156" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jo Baxter</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Drug Free Australia (DFA) / The World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">2010 was a cracker year for Jo Baxter. As those who subscribe to the ADCA (The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia) drug forum would know, Jo made dozens of contributions throughout the year although they usually resulted with members providing clarifications, corrections and evidence to the contrary of her claims. Luckily, there’s plenty of ADCA subscribers who are not shy to set the record straight when Baxter or DFA co worker, Gary Christian wear out their patience. It seems clear to me that most members don’t appreciate their time wasting efforts or want to hear anti-medical marijuana rants, opposition to the Vienna Declaration or attempts to discredit sucessful harm minimisation programs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What amazes me is how Aunty Jo managed to find the time for so many contributions to the ADCA drug forum while also occupying several positions with anti-drug groups. For the record, Jo Baxter is the Executive Officer at Drug Free Australia (DFA), Vice President of The World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD) and has a role with the ADCA. It seems like busy timetable, even for a dedicated propagandist like Baxter. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Apart from driving the subscribers crazy on the ADCA drug forum and promoting her anti-drug wisdom, Jo was busy in 2010 pushing the “compassionate” policies of DFA and WFAD. In case you don’t know, the term, “compassionate” is the new weapon in the anti-drug arsenal. Ironically, calling these policies “compassionate” (tough laws, incarceration, compulsory drug testing, forced abstinence etc.) has been heavily criticised as a duplicitous attempt to counter the growing claims of being “not compassionate”. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Compassion please</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">IT'S a great tragedy of modern times that bureaucratic "red tape" continues to prevent South Australians who want to kick their heroin addiction from accessing a proven recovery method. In order to do so they have to travel to Perth (The Advertiser, yesterday).</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is an absolute disgrace that, in so doing, there is no government assistance for them. If our health officials were truly compassionate, they would be able to overcome these perceived obstacles quickly and effectively.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug Free Australia calls on our decision-makers to give naltrexone implants a real chance, under Dr George O'Neil's model. This program has been supported by the WA government for 13 years.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">JO BAXTER, Drug Free Australia executive officer and World Federation Against Drugs vice president, Broadview</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/letters-political-right-fostering-atmosphere-of-racism/story-fn6bqphm-1225974081182">Adelaide Now</a> (Letters) 2010</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ah, compassion a.k.a. tough love. Think of the Liberal Parties’ claim that being tough on boat people is compassionate. Their rationale is that imposing tough regulations and conditions on would-be-refugees is compassionate because it deters them from attempting the dangerous journey to Australia … via a leaky boat … commissioned by ruthless people smugglers. Of course, these people are desperate and in a life or death situation. Tough regulations and conditions are not going deter them but simply make their lives even more unbearable after already escaping from oppression and tyranny. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s this leap in logic that defines how the anti-drug brigade thinks. They argue that being tough on drug users is in their best interests and therefore, compassionate. But like the refugee example, tough drug laws just make an already bad situation, even worse. Unfortunately for the anti-drug brigade, most health professionals do not agree with them.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Are forced naltrexone implants, compassionate? Not when dozens of implant patients have since died. There’s an impending investigation into a certain clinic in Queensland where over 25 people have died after receiving a naltrexone implant. Ironically, the clinic was run by Dr. Stuart Reece, a DFA associate and close ally of Jo Baxter. Reece is a well known anti-drug, anti-harm minimisation nutter and often refers to the bible for direction on drug policy. Then there’s Dr. George O’Neil from WA who Baxter refers to in the above letter from Adelaide Now. The reason O’Neil’s clinic is not repeated anywhere else is because naltrexone implants for heroin addiction treatment did not get approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). In other words, it’s not safe. But O’Neil’s clinic operates via a special loophole known as a ‘Special Access Scheme’ which allows him to keep up his practice. Incredibly, he also has a string of patient deaths and procedural disasters associated with his naltrexone implant program.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In a related study published in the journal(Medical Journal of Australia), Dr Paul Haber, Head of Drug Health Services at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and his co-authors studied 12 patients who were admitted to hospital soon after receiving naltrexone in oral or implant form. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Eight of the cases were definitely or probably related to the naltrexone implant, including cases of severe opiate withdrawal and dehydration, infection at the implant site requiring surgery, and a psychiatric disorder.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104575.php">Medical News Today</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is the closing down of needle exchange programs and safe injecting rooms compassionate? Is trying to stop needle exchange programs in prisons compassionate? It is if you don’t agree with the bulk of research into the subjects. Jo Baxter is a member of two organisations that vigorously lobby governments to shut down these services. Both WFAD and DFA claim that the funds for needle exchange programs should be spent on prevention strategies. Meanwhile, those nations that do provide clean needles to users have a much lower rate of HIV/AIDS and Hep C than other countries that don’t. And all without an explosion of crazed druggies causing societal carnage as predicted by the anti-drug brigade. Someone should tell these people that it’s hard to be compassionate to those who have died from blood borne diseases.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the factors that won Jo Baxter her prestigious award for Bucket Head of the Year was her tireless efforts at trying to convince experts and health professionals that they were naive and misguided by supporting Australia’s official policy of Harm Minimisation. It sure take balls to offer up wobbly research, urban myths and dubious experts to Australia’s leading AOD workers.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One classic example of Baxter’s dedication is her misguided opposition to the Vienna Declaration. In July 2010, Jo posted to the ADCA drug forum, a media release from several organisations and individuals who oppose the Vienna Declaration.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Media Release – 22 July 2010</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Vienna Declaration – International Experts Oppose New Strategies on AIDS Prevention as Ineffective!</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">On Tuesday, July 20th 2010, internationally recognized anti-drug experts from every region of the world united to oppose a set of dangerous unproven global strategies recommended in the Vienna Declaration ...</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Her post included a link to a one page website, <a href="http://www.ungassdrugs.org/">www.ungassdrugs.org</a> which highlights their reasons for opposing The Vienna Declaration. The single page opens to a collection of corporate logos and the headline, ‘Joint Statement in Opposition to the Vienna Declaration’ before going on to the main message.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s worth noting that the sneaky title used in the web address(URL) uses “UNGASS” which is an acronym for a United Nations General Assembly Special Session. But <a href="http://www.ungassdrugs.org/">www.ungassdrugs.org</a> has no connection with the United Nations whatsoever let alone a General Assembly Special Session. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">From the media release:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Many of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">experts</span> who opposed the Vienna Declaration <span style="text-decoration: underline;">know from research and practical experience</span> that the optimal way to truly beat addiction, prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and prevent drug-related harm are effective strategies that target drug use and include prevention, education, treatment and law enforcement efforts and do not trade one for the other.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Who are these so called experts that Jo Baxter champions so vehemently? Who would put their reputation on the line and oppose so many respected scientists and professionals?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jo Baxter, Executive Officer of Drug Free Australia and Vice President of the World Federation Against Drugs says, “<i>It is clear that the strategies outlined in the ‘Vienna Declaration’ cannot be supported by ‘current and reasonable evidence</i>’. </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--From the Media Release</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Oh, it’s Jo Baxter herself. Isn’t she the one sending out the media release? Apart from Baxter, the other ‘internationally recognised anti-drug experts’ include several internationally recognised anti-drug nutters. Sven-Olov Carlsson and the notorious Calvina Fay, Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation might be internationally recognised but experts they ain’t. For example:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Further, we should <span style="text-decoration: underline;">reject ineffective harm reduction tactics that are not based on scientific evidence</span> while accepting drug use and creating an illusion that drugs can be used safely or responsibly. Such ill-conceived schemes foster the misunderstanding that drug use itself is not harmful and increases addiction</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--From the Media Release: Calvina Fay - Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We know from experience that a balanced and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">restrictive drug policy is effective in keeping drug use at low levels</span> … says Sven-Olov Carlsson, .</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--From the Media Release: Sven-Olov Carlsson - International President, World Federation Against Drugs</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Calvina Fay is a liar. I can recall on numerous occasions where she has made outrageous and completely false claims. To say that harm reduction tactics are not based on scientific evidence is just one example of how devious and deceitful she can be. Harm Reduction was introduced because researchers kept discovering that existing strategies were not working. In other words, the policy of Harm Minimisation was a direct result of scientific evidence. As for Sven-Olov Carlsson’s claim that restrictive drug policy reduces drug use, well we just have look at the US, Australia and the UK to see how successful their ‘restrictive’ drug policies are.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Proclaiming these numbskulls are experts must really piss off those AOD professionals who spend their lives trying to help people with drug abuse problems. Like the anti-vaccination morons or the followers of creationism, their mumbo jumbo is an insult to those who put their faith in science, evidence and history. Why Baxter and co. are allowed to waste the valuable time of experts, AOD workers and the government is one of those mysteries like that of why politicians give them so much support.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It seems that this group of ‘internationally recognised anti-drug experts’ who oppose The Vienna Declaration are simply the usual suspects that occupy the boardrooms of our most notorious anti-drug groups. Take any one member and you’re bound to find them on the board of other, like minded organisation. On the <a href="http://www.ungassdrugs.org/">www.ungassdrugs.org</a> website is a link to a ‘<a href="http://www.ungassdrugs.org/Endorsers.html"><span style="color: #870c05;">Brief List of Organizations Who Endorse this Opposition</span></a>’. If you’re looking for a who’s who in the world of anti-drug zealotry, this is it. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sven-Olov Carlsson, International President - World Federation Against Drugs</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Robert L. DuPont, M.D., President - Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">David Evans, Esq., Executive Director - Drug Free Projects Coalition</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Calvina Fay, Executive Director - Drug Free America Foundation, Inc</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Institute On Global Drug Policy</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">National Drug-Free Workplace Alliance</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Students Taking Action Not Drugs</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">International Scientific & Medical Forum on Drug Abuse</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Save Our Society from Drugs</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Council on Alcohol and Drugs – GA</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bensinger DuPont & Associates</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">VLAAMS PLATFORM tegen DRUGS</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Fayette Companies</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drug Free Australia</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">RNS</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black;">Along with Jo Baxter, these are the ‘experts’ who are ‘</span>united to oppose a set of dangerous unproven global strategies recommended in the Vienna Declaration<span style="color: black;">’. And they say things like this:</span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Illegal drug use also increases sexual violence which in turn results in more HIV infections, particularly among the most vulnerable members of society including women as well as children</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.ungassdrugs.org/">ungassdrugs website</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and this</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The <span style="text-decoration: underline;">prohibition of illegal drug use does not encourage the spread of HIV/AIDS</span>, but rather <span style="text-decoration: underline;">it reduces illegal drug use among HIV/AIDS patients</span>, as well as the non-infected population and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">thereby reduces the population vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection by contaminated needles</span>. Illegal drug use exacerbates weaknesses of the immune system, making individuals with AIDS more susceptible to infection and death. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Marijuana use causes impaired immunity, and opens the door for the virus</span> that causes Kaposi’s Sarcoma, life-threatening for individuals with HIV/AIDS. Marijuana also contains bacteria and fungi that put users at risk for infection. Illegal drug use among AIDS patients is life-threatening because these drugs lessen the effectiveness of anti-retroviral (ARV) medications. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nonmedical drug use is associated with increased risky sexual behaviors which promote transmission of HIV/AIDS</span> in a way that needle exchange cannot prevent.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.ungassdrugs.org/">ungassdrugs website</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The common thread from ungassdrugs is a drug free world, abstinence and harsh drug laws. The ploy used to spread this message involves cherry picked data, carefully chosen phrases and public fear. You might not be mistaken if the term, propaganda comes to mind.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Propaganda">Wikipedia</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jo Baxter’s opposition to The Vienna Declaration is just one of many causes that earned her such a prestigious award like The Bucket Head of the Year. 2010 was a fantastic year for Jo and 2011 has started off just as promising. Given her past performance and her promising start to 2011, I might be tempted to place a small wager on Jo Baxter being a back-to-back winner.<br />
<br />
<b>Related Articles:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2010/02/bucket-head-of-year-awards-2009.html">2009 Bucket Head of the Year</a><br />
<a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2009/01/bucket-head-awards-2008.html">2008 Bucket Head of the Year</a><br />
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<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-36280727457725958062011-03-02T20:16:00.003+11:002023-01-16T15:46:31.414+11:00Has Paul Sheehan Written the Worst Article Ever?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VM-g-DiGelMYXDh77BVEsHRnPoKo4vsRjRaZPMKV99VCYwQT1gJuuUEacgpVBGwG90ODSSubgVR4ns7xZ-U2Cz-o_mCk-M4lAbp0fGpBTP9EmeAy-0A1YjVEAFjTNZieDAE381mPvpw/s1600/paulsheehan01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VM-g-DiGelMYXDh77BVEsHRnPoKo4vsRjRaZPMKV99VCYwQT1gJuuUEacgpVBGwG90ODSSubgVR4ns7xZ-U2Cz-o_mCk-M4lAbp0fGpBTP9EmeAy-0A1YjVEAFjTNZieDAE381mPvpw/s320/paulsheehan01.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We would all be better off without those<br />
pinko, poofter, druggy mongrels!</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have just read, what could be considered by some, the worse article ever written.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I knew something was adrift when the author, Paul Sheehan started slamming the movie, Animal Kingdom. I thought this would be his kind of movie, you know with cops killing crims, and all but it seems, Sheehan loves The King’s Speech instead. Another magnificent film, all the same.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We all know Sheehan is anti-labor and a raving right-wing apologist and his article was written as expected. But it was his attack on the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) that left me cold. Sheehan, like most crazy ultra conservatives hates junkies. According to him, they are the <span style="color: #870c05;">“most reckless and self-indulgent people in society”</span> and MSIC just allows them to “experiment” with high doses of heroin because MSIC staff will revive them if they overdose.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If you feel like you’ve heard this before, you are right. Anti-drug superhero and Drug Free Australia (DFA) secretary, Gary Christian has spent over four years pushing this theory and even produced a paper on the subject titled <a href="http://www.drugfree.org.au/fileadmin/Media/Reference/DFA_Injecting_Room_Booklet.pdf">A Case for Closure</a>. Sadly for Gary, only nuttters like Sheehan take it seriously while actual experts and professionals simply ignore it. It’s also interesting to note that Sheehan’s detailed research couldn’t even produce the correct spelling for Gary Christian’s name.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Not surprisingly, Gary Christian couldn’t subdue his excitement and posted a quote from the article to the the ADCA email forum. And equally not surprising, his post was instantly rejected by some respected ADCA email forum subscribers. In case you didn’t know, the ADCA email forum is the official bulletin board for AOD professionals, hosted by The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia(ADCA).</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Start by telling the truth not lying. The funds for the MSIC do NOT come from the public - they come from proceeds of crime.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sheehan's article fed by Christian is the worst piece of mistruth and claptrap I have ever seen. He manages to out-do Ackerman, Bolt and Devine.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That is saying something.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I support the injecting room - so do the majority of the family members that I talk to.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://www.fds.org.au/ourpeople.html">Tony Trimingham</a>: <a href="http://www.fds.org.au/">Chief Executive Officer of Family Drug Support</a> / <a href="http://www.ancd.org.au/members-profiles/mr-tony-trimingham.html">ANCD Member</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Whether Sheehan was simply writing about his favourite subject, the Labor Party or spewing out his hate for drug addicts is unclear. Like Piers Akerman from the Daily Telegraph, Sheehan’s main focus is slamming the Labor Party, especially the NSW branch. And like Piers Akerhead, there is an assumption that colourful writing and repeating the same old criticism over and over will magically persuade the readers that they have a valid point.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In the Cross, the core of the rot is sponsored by the NSW government itself. It is the blandly named Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, conveniently located on Darlinghurst Road opposite the entrance to Kings Cross railway station. Never have so many lies been fed to the public in support of this policy quagmire.<br />
--Paul Sheehan: <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-states-addiction-to-crime-20110227-1b9w8.html">A state's addiction to crime(Sydney Morning Herald)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What is clear though, is that Sheehan has swallowed the Drug Free Australia (DFA) bait … hook, line and sinker.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the leading figures behind Drug Free Australia, Gary <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Christiansen</span>, told me: ''The number of overdoses in the [Kings Cross] facility have been a staggering 35 to 42 times higher than the rate of overdose experienced by clients [drug-users] before they registered to use the room. Testimony by former clients in the NSW Hansard indicates that the overdose numbers are so high because clients experiment with higher doses of heroin and poly-drug cocktails, using the safety of the room as a guarantee.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--Paul Sheehan: <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-states-addiction-to-crime-20110227-1b9w8.html">A state's addiction to crime(Sydney Morning Herald)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have no problem with people expressing their opinion but where do we draw the line? I suggest that popular media outlets should be forced to not publish material that blatantly deceives the audience. In other words, they can not lie, regardless of whether it’s an opinion piece or not. You would think that after Miranda Devine’s reign of terror on rational thinking, the Sydney Morning Herald would be keen to rid themselves of extreme, right wing rantings. Especially when a writer ignores the bulk of scientific evidence and instead relies on the rejected research and ramblings of an infamous anti-drug zealot.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The argument justifying the centre is that has cleaned up the drug trade and saved ''hundreds'' of lives. This is propaganda worthy of North Korea. The reality is the opposite. The centre is directly responsible for hundreds of drug overdoses. It has created an environment where the most reckless and self-indulgent people in society - junkies - know they will be bailed out of their own risks.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The result is stratospheric rates of drug overdoses and interventions, which are then counted as lives saved. This is the basis on which more than $25 million in public funding has been requested and justified by the drug-legalisation lobby. Anyone interested in the non-North Korean view of this social experiment can find a blistering, highly detailed counter-view on the website of Drug Free Australia.<br />
--Paul Sheehan: <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-states-addiction-to-crime-20110227-1b9w8.html">A state's addiction to crime(Sydney Morning Herald)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">North Korea? Social experiment? $25 million in public funding? Colourful … yes. Correct … no. As Tony Trimingham pointed out, MSIC is funded from proceeds of crime not by the tax payer. And why is saving hundreds of lives called propaganda? Instead of using the actual data collected by MSIC, Gary Christian starts with some highly contentious and indeterminable assumptions then multiplies them out over eight years to get an even more unreliable result. This is the basis for his argument - that statistically MSIC has only saved 4 lives - to challenge Australia’s leading researchers and experts. It’s been pointed out many times previously to Christian that multiplying uncertainties will just magnify any error and produce highly dubious results. What about those junkies who Sheehan describes as the <span style="color: #870c05;">“most reckless and self-indulgent people in society”</span>? They’re not to be trusted in one paragraph but by the next, their testimony is suddenly worthy enough for Sheehan to include in his article. Hypocrisy at it’s best. But no right wing slur on harm minimisation is complete without the mandatory mention of being a “social experiment”. Yes, according to Sheehan, anything that doesn’t rely on tough law enforcement or considers the best interests of drug users, is a social experiment or even worse, morally wrong.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The association is merely part of a state-funded, ideologically driven lobby that seeks to legalise hard drugs, portray criminals as victims and deny the reality that the heroin subculture is fundamentally parasitic, cynical and self-absorbed</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--Paul Sheehan: <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/paul-sheehan/life-is-cheap-with-our-own-heroin-chic/2005/12/04/1133631143030.html">Life Is Cheap With Our Own Heroin Chic(Sydney Morning Herald)</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Apart from despising drug users, Paul Sheehan also dislikes science and research when they don’t fit in with his ideology. He is probably not the best choice then when it comes to writing about scientific issues. You might remember not too long ago that Sheehan was proclaiming the wonders of a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/04/15/1113509924283.html">magical water</a> source that cured rheumatoid arthritis and other major illnesses. He even provided an address to a warehouse where people could go and buy it. As it turns out, the mystical water was … well, just water. Add to the list, climate change denial, his <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2010/01/paul_sheehan_spreads_ddt_hoax.php">claim</a> that millions have lost their lives as a result of stopping the use of DDT and his rejection of evidence from drug experts, and you have someone who should steer clear of scientific and medical topics. Then again, this might explain why Sheehan was so drawn to Gary Christian and his reliance on junk science.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The idea that most intravenous drug users are prepared to suffer an overdose because someone is available to revive them, is ludicrous. This furphy was never even a consideration until Christian’s report. There may be a small group who take advantage of having qualified nurses on hand, armed with naloxone but they certainly don’t represent the average MSIC client. Even by Gary Christian’s standards, this leap in logic is absurd. How can only two users making the claim, out of thousands actually support the assumptions by Christian and Sheehan? Maybe someone should tell them that simply writing it in a report is not science and doesn’t make it true.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>A State's Addiction To Crime</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-states-addiction-to-crime-20110227-1b9w8.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Paul Sheehan</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">February 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the pleasures in public life today will be the Oscars, streamed live from Los Angeles at absurdly self-indulgent length. Local interest is provided by a strong Australian contingent for honours, including best picture (The King's Speech) co-produced in Australia, starring a brilliant Australian actor (Geoffrey Rush) playing an intimate to King George VI, with another brilliant Australian actor (Guy Pearce), playing another British monarch, King Edward VIII. Ironies abound.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The sentimental favourite among the Aussie nominees is Jacki Weaver, who plays a sweetly murderous grandmother in Animal Kingdom, a superbly crafted Australian drama (with Guy Pearce again) by first-time feature director David Michod. The film, which Michod also wrote, and Weaver in particular have received so many award nominations and critical acclaim that it is easy to overlook that the film has a hole in its heart.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The hole in the heart of Animal Kingdom is its script, where the drama is created by violence, not by depth or originality of the characters. It is same hole in the heart of Australian cinema generally, where the local production line of world-class actors, directors and cinematographers has never been matched by a comparable stream of world-class scripts.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This reflects the Australian film world, like the tax-subsidised Australian arts world in general, being a preachy monoculture that conforms to the safety of well-worn ruts. Animal Kingdom is no exception. The opening scene is a normal-looking suburban mother slumped on a couch. These are the first lines of dialogue:</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Paramedic: ''What's she taken?''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Young man: ''Heroin.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For the umpteenth time, an Australian film has trawled the criminal underclass for colour while portraying elements of the police as murderers with no honour code, unlike the crims they chase.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As it happens, I've been thinking a great deal about the way NSW has taken on some of the flavour of a police state. The context is the run-up to the state election. I'm wondering what the Coalition will do about the police after it wins office on March 26. In NSW, we have the worst of both worlds, where the cops and the government are tough on hundreds of thousands of non-criminals going about their daily lives, while giving a free pass to real criminals.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This dysfunction is exemplified in Kings Cross, where the NSW government is complicit in the heroin trade while, as a result of this complicity, the police have all but given up arresting junkies in the Cross.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Darlinghurst Road has become entrenched as a place where drug and alcohol abuse flourishes. Meanwhile, just down the hill, on busy New South Head Road, the police stop thousands of motorists who are causing no problems. At this checkpoint, the presumption is guilt, the selection process is random, and the probable cause is non-existent.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Checkpoints, random stops, speed cameras and speed traps. This is the real face of the NSW Police. The force has been turned into petty bureaucrats charged with gouging revenue from taxpayers, while looking the other way as the heroin traffic flourishes in plain sight. Our legal system and state bureaucracy have turned the thin blue line into a bleached corps of tax agents, social workers, stress-leave jockeys and second-job jugglers, leaving a few hard units to do hard investigations into hard crime.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Look at Kings Cross. It used to be one of Australia's most sophisticated, cosmopolitan and pleasant precincts. Now it is a bogan paradise, a cathedral to bad taste, a product of the power of the alcohol, heroin and poker machine industries that have enjoyed unprecedented power or tolerance for 16 years under the Labor patronage machine and pork factory.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In the Cross, the core of the rot is sponsored by the NSW government itself. It is the blandly named Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, conveniently located on Darlinghurst Road opposite the entrance to Kings Cross railway station. Never have so many lies been fed to the public in support of this policy quagmire.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The argument justifying the centre is that has cleaned up the drug trade and saved ''hundreds'' of lives. This is propaganda worthy of North Korea. The reality is the opposite. The centre is directly responsible for hundreds of drug overdoses. It has created an environment where the most reckless and self-indulgent people in society - junkies - know they will be bailed out of their own risks.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The result is stratospheric rates of drug overdoses and interventions, which are then counted as lives saved. This is the basis on which more than $25 million in public funding has been requested and justified by the drug-legalisation lobby. Anyone interested in the non-North Korean view of this social experiment can find a blistering, highly detailed counter-view on the website of Drug Free Australia (<a href="http://www.drugfree.org.au/">www.drugfree.org.au</a>).</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the leading figures behind Drug Free Australia, Gary Christiansen, told me: ''The number of overdoses in the [Kings Cross] facility have been a staggering 35 to 42 times higher than the rate of overdose experienced by clients [drug-users] before they registered to use the room. Testimony by former clients in the NSW Hansard indicates that the overdose numbers are so high because clients experiment with higher doses of heroin and poly-drug cocktails, using the safety of the room as a guarantee.''</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As for the wider matter of dysfunctional policing, the opposition has announced that it finds the use of speed traps to be overbearing, deceptive and intrusive. Yesterday it announced it would review the entire process if elected to government. This is encouraging.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Another telling benchmark will come after March 26, when the new government decides what to do about the tax-funded heroin honeypot in the heart of Sydney.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Articles:</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/04/15/1113509924283.html">Mysteries Of The Magic Water Man</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/paul-sheehan/life-is-cheap-with-our-own-heroin-chic/2005/12/04/1133631143030.html">Life is cheap with our own heroin chic</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/08/1017206303625.html">The Original Story: Paul Sheehan on the effect of the water</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.brushtail.com.au/july_04_on/too_good_to_be_true.html">Too good to be true - Paul Sheehan and the magic water debacle</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://ninglun.wordpress.com/2006/05/22/lawyer-marsden-paul-sheehans-vitriol/">Lawyer Marsden: Paul Sheehan’s vitriol</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://muslimvillage.com/forums/topic/50927-paul-sheehan-liar-or-stupid/">Paul Sheehan: Liar Or Stupid? "Islamophobia is a myth"</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/07/questioning-christian-behaviour-at.html">Questioning Christian Behaviour at Beyond 2008</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/12/cannabis-is-hard-drug-too-dfa-deceit.html">Cannabis is a Hard Drug Too! - More DFA Deceit</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-dfa-logic-exposed-real-fifth.html">How DFA Logic Exposed the Real Fifth Columnist</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2008/01/who-are-drug-free-australia-dfa.html">Who are Drug Free Australia (DFA)?</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426187053282004467.post-82661717594314855382011-02-26T17:52:00.004+11:002023-01-16T15:46:34.510+11:00SA Gov. Hates Pain Sufferers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIqUD9pGz4lU8zqREmAtOkvfACtiPEpxIDi_MxO-6KgUe33oJZFh0vSBdrZO9nA8vCGbZ6PYBSv5yIEBlAJx20biN-WlQHUmbEnguJBbgAs-YwFOYrI6Hc8K78CF5ewjx8j_pPlk7Cec/s1600/pain01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIqUD9pGz4lU8zqREmAtOkvfACtiPEpxIDi_MxO-6KgUe33oJZFh0vSBdrZO9nA8vCGbZ6PYBSv5yIEBlAJx20biN-WlQHUmbEnguJBbgAs-YwFOYrI6Hc8K78CF5ewjx8j_pPlk7Cec/s400/pain01.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://gabrielmanga.deviantart.com/">Image by Gabriel Manga</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The organisation, <a href="http://www.dfps.org.au/">Dignity for Chronic Pain Sufferers</a> needs your help. Please go to their website and sign their <a href="http://www.dfps.org.au/?page_id=3">partition</a>.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Why?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Read on.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Painkiller Regulations Leave Some In Agony</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Elisa Black</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.news.com.au/painkiller-controls-leave-many-in-agony/story-fn6bqvxz-1226008723808?from=public_rss">Sunday Mail</a> (SA) </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">February 2011</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">DOCTORS can't tell her what is wrong because there's no name for the disease she has.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For the past 20 years Trish Betros has tried to live while her bones slowly disintegrate.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">She has endured more than 60 operations, none of which have offered a cure, but all were done in an attempt to keep her joints mobile, to keep her on her feet.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">She has had two knee replacements. And then had to have them replaced when her body turned the tissue behind them to mush.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bony spurs in her shoulders mean she can't lift her arms high enough to shrug on a jumper or hang out the washing. There has been an amputation. But more than anything, there is the pain. Unrelenting, it moves from a dull ache to a stab, through her body every minute of every day.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It destroyed her career as a doctor, forced her two sons to grow up quickly as they helped to care for her, put untold strain on her marriage.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And Trish says the only thing that helps her pain is about to be taken away. First prescribed strong opioid medication in 2003 by pain specialist Dr Ian Buttfield, Trish was able to regain much of her former life.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">She returned to uni, took up sport, lived her life. But in 2007, the regulation of prescriptions for these types of drugs was transferred from the SA Health Commission to the Drugs of Dependence Unit within Drug and Alcohol Services SA.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dr Buttfield, foundation chairman of the International Association of Pain and Chemical Dependency, said all drug use, whether in pursuit of quality of life through pain relief or for drug abuse, was being treated the same by DASSA.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"When you put the control in the hands of drug and alcohol authorities, they are going to treat everyone like drug and alcohol addicts, none of them know anything about the management of pain," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And a recent review by DASSA means Trish's medication will be cut by about 60 per cent, even though a past decision to reduce her medication had already left her virtually housebound.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">DASSA clinical director Dr Robert Ali has defended the current system.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Around 7500 people in South Australia are prescribed opiates for the treatment of pain in any 12-month period and in most cases no deviation from the schedule requested by the doctor is made," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"As soon as you are receiving opiates on a daily basis for weeks to months there are changes that are occurring in your brain chemistry and physical dependence is a by-product.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Not everyone goes on to have an addiction but what we have, which is unique in this state is a close association whereby people who develop an addiction are able to be treated."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is this association that Trish's husband, Greg Betros, is seeking to fight.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The chairman of Dignity for Chronic Pain Sufferers will head to court on February 25 to seek leave for a judicial review into the decision against his wife.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Betros said he hoped a review would pave the way for an overhaul of the system and would benefit the more than 100 members of the group.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"You get to the point where these people say we're going to be better off dead than living with this pain," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"My wife's world is literally her bedroom. We just want these people to live their lives with dignity."<br />
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And this from 2009</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Agony of The Chronically Ill 'Ignored'</b></div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">NIGEL HUNT </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/agony-of-the-chronically-ill-ignored/story-e6frea83-1225698270732">Sunday Mail</a> (SA) </div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">April 2009</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">SOUTH Australians suffering chronic pain are being forced interstate to obtain adequate doses of narcotics because of changes to government policy.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Some are sourcing drugs such as morphine and pethidine on the streets because authorities will not prescribe enough to relieve their pain.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The drastic scenarios have been revealed as a group of almost 100 people suffering severe pain, known as Dignity For Chronic Pain Sufferers, continues its campaign to have government policy reversed.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The group is lobbying Opposition and independent MPs to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the policy change, which has impacted up to 500 people.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dignity For Pain Sufferers chairman Greg Betros said the situation had deteriorated considerably over the past few months while calls for help had been ignored.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Betros met Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister Jane Lomax-Smith in December last year and says he was assured the situation would be addressed.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Nothing has happened since, despite assurances from bureaucrats that people are receiving their appropriate pain relief doses, but this is simply not the case," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"We are now in the situation whereby people are either obtaining the relief they need interstate or sourcing it on the streets in Adelaide because they have no other option to continue to function."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As it now stands, a person suffering chronic pain can only be prescribed narcotic medication for a period of two months before the prescribing doctor must apply to the Drugs of Dependence Unit within Drug and Alcohol Services SA for a permit to continue prescribing.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Until 18 months ago, the regulating authority was located in the SA Health Commission, under Health Minister John Hill. The system appeared to be working well, balancing the need for pain relief for sufferers against the potential for drug abuse. However, in late 2007 the government decided to transfer the DDU to DASSA, which is under Dr Lomax-Smith's control.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The pain sufferers now argue that regulators with no experience in pain management are running the system in a manner dedicated to curbing drug addiction - to the detriment of patients with unrelated health issues.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"They say pain patients are now being controlled with mechanisms suitable for drug addicts - including sending pain patients to drug addiction centre Waranilla at Norwood - thus denying them their right to seek the doctor of their choice for pain management," Mr Betros said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"They argue such treatment is in breach of international treaties on human rights. There is no right of appeal against the decisions. As a direct result of the changes, it has become very difficult for those in need of pain medication to obtain adequate relief. At present, the bureaucrats have assigned a notional maximum dose, while current research and clinical evidence demonstrates the dose to be prescribed is the one that relieves the pain.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The result of the restrictions means there are a number of severely ill patients who are unable to obtain pain relief, even though they are given standard doses."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dignity For Chronic Pain Sufferers secretary George Seabrook, whose wife Judy is one of those now receiving insufficient pain relief, said dozens of people were suffering.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"Since the policy has changed many sufferers are now unable to work, care for themselves and their families, and are in constant pain," he said. "Things were working perfectly well before the policy change was made for no apparent reason."</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">DASSA director Dr Robert Ali disputed the claims the shift in policy had resulted in pain patients receiving a lesser level of individual care.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"The realignment of the Drugs of Dependence branch to where it is located has not influenced clinical management," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He said moving the pain patients to DASSA was "not anything other than a review and an attempt to ensure these patients received appropriate treatment in keeping with their interests and based upon best available evidence".</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dr Ali said he was aware there were people who were unhappy at the change to their circumstances and "had found it distressing they were not receiving the same approach they previously received".</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"I also understand it is very difficult to have that distance and objectivity about what is in people's best interests when they feel the previous treatment was working," he said.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dr Ali said he was confident any changes to a patient's medication dose was being made in their best interests.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The SA government is a disgrace. And Ex. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister Jane Lomax-Smith should be made to publicly apologise to the people whose lives she has wrecked. Her decision to move chronic pain patients to under the umbrella of the Drug and Alcohol Services was wrong and no amount of spin will change that. Her clumsy attempts to justify her decision has simply tarnished her reputation even more. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said chronic pain sufferers’ “issues have been referred to Drug and Alcohol Services SA because experts should decide on medication regimes, not politicians”.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--Former Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister, Jane Lomax-Smith</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Thanks Jane. Who would have ever thought that politicians would override experts and interfere with “medication regimes” or drug related issues? It’s great to see though, that Jane makes it clear where she stands on social justice issues in politics.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jane has always been a strong advocate for social justice and sustainable development and believes that these policies are important personal principles, not just about politics.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://janelomaxsmith.com.au/?page_id=2">From her personal website</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It might surprise you to know that Jane Lomax-Smith was a doctor when she made the decision to breach the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Recognizing that the medical use of narcotic drugs continues to be indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering and that adequate provision must be made to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs for such purposes</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--<a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs#PREAMBLE">Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now Jane is the interim Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Institution_of_Australia">Royal Institution of Australia</a>. And here’s the irony. According to Wikipedia, The Royal Institution of Australia is a not-for-profit government-supported organisation to <span style="text-decoration: underline;">support public engagement with science</span>.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As for DASSA director Dr Robert Ali, he has no excuse. Dr. Ali has a history of supporting evidence based policies including controversial issues ilke prescription heroin for long term addicts. He also supports the AFL’s drug policy and cautions against naltrexone implants. All good causes involving pragmatic, evidence based outcomes. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">He said moving the pain patients to DASSA was "not anything other than a review and an attempt to ensure these patients received appropriate treatment in keeping with their interests and based upon best available evidence".</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Simply shrugging off the real suffering of chronic pain patients because their new treatment is ‘<span style="color: #870c05;">based upon best available evidence’</span> is unbecoming of Dr. Ali. He knows that every person has unique needs and suggesting that the risk of opioid dependance is more important than quelling unbearable pain, is wrong on so many levels. Maybe he is just trying to defend his position as DASSA director or the reputation of Drug and Alcohol Services SA? Either way Dr. Ali’s reasoning overlooks one vital point. The previous treatment was working and now’s it’s not. Saying that the new procedures are ‘in their best interests’ is just condescending and ignorant to their suffering. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I also understand it is very difficult to have that distance and objectivity about what is in people's best interests when they feel the previous treatment was working</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--DASSA director Dr Robert Ali</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">At the core of the issue is that DASSA’s doctors specialise in addiction and have different guidelines that focus on drug abuse. Technically, once a pain patient admits they suffer withdrawals when their medication is reduced, they are classified as addicts aka junkies. This means that the only opiates allowed to be prescribed under DASSA guidelines are methadone and buprenorphine. Both drugs are for treating heroin addiction and not particularly good for pain relief.</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As soon as you are receiving opiates on a daily basis for weeks to months there are changes that are occurring in your brain chemistry and physical dependence is a by-product. Not everyone goes on to have an addiction but what we have, which is unique in this state is a close association whereby people who develop an addiction are able to be treated</div><div style="color: #870c05; font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--DASSA director Dr Robert Ali</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Considering that chronic pain can be so deliberating and life changing, the risk of becoming drug dependant is a small price to pay. Also, the physical condition of those who need powerful opioid analgesics, is often deteriorating or even terminal. Being addicted to the drugs that allow them some quality of life is not going to greatly affect their future. Where’s the justification for a decision that confines people to bed when previously, with adequate medication, they were mobile, productive and able to participate in normal family events. Drug dependancy might be serious but tens of millions of people live with it everyday. The difference is that they don’t usually suffer agonising pain.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The real complaint here is that limits have been placed on dosage levels. What dose can be prescribed for opioid based pain medication is now restricted to some arbitrary figure, regardless of the patients pain levels. Interesting, there is no such limit on methadone to treat addiction. I have experienced this first hand - my doctor once told me that I could not increase my morphine dose but if I was on methadone, he could prescribe whatever I wanted.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Regardless of the arguments, morphine and other opioids have been cited by The World Health Organisation as essential in the treatment of severe pain. What dose is prescribed is irrelevant except that it treats that pain. In most situations, dosage is carefully monitored and controlled but to think that someone determines an upper limit for all situations, including those extreme but isolated cases, is just ridiculous. </div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Once again, drug hysteria has reared it’s ugly head and the fallout this time are those who suffer chronic pain. With the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) currently under attack for recklessly restricting pain medication to hundreds of millions of people worldwide and their attempts to stop high doses of opiates for pain relief, it seems ironic that South Australia is so closely following suit. The argument from DASSA director, Dr. Robert Ali - reducing the risk of addiction is more important than providing relief for the chronic suffering of pain patients - is typical of the blanket approach that SA has implemented under the hysterical Rann government. And the excuse that moving pain management to under the control of DASSA is important in case a chronic pain sufferer becomes drug dependant, is ludicrous. I’m sure drug dependancy is the last thing on someone’s mind when suicide becomes a daily consideration for those in agonising pain. Then again, for bureaucrats, politicians and government appointed researchers, chronic pain is just a series of words on a page but being labelled “Soft on Drugs" is a potential loss of employment or worse, voters. Now we know which is more important!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Related Links</b></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://guardian-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/patients-turn-to-heroin/">Patients Turn To Heroin</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://guardian-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/patients-turn-to-heroin/">Painkiller Regulations Leave Some In Agony</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://guardian-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/patients-turn-to-heroin/">Woman Takes Pain Medication Fight To Court</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://guardian-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/patients-turn-to-heroin/">Pain Victims Fighting Back</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.geoffbrock.com.au/assets/Uploads/press/BROCK_PressRelease_ChronicPain_%20January2011.pdf">Media Release: Brock Takes a Stand - The Rights of Chronic Pain Sufferers Being Denied in South Australia</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.dfps.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dignity-for-Pain-Sufferers.mp3">Greg Betros and Ian Buttfield on ABC Radio 891</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 13.0px Arial; line-height: 16.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div>Terry Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12331435244789111209noreply@blogger.com8