The Propaganda Files - The Netherlands

Enough Lies: The Netherlands Drug Policy Does Work

FACT: Compared to the Netherlands, which allows purchase and possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults, the United States had double the rate of marijuana use overall, with nearly three times as many youths trying marijuana by age 15.
-Marijuana Policy Project 2008

I have just read another article explaining why cannabis legalisation won’t work. And their proof ... The Netherlands. Prohibitionists and moral crusaders portray The Netherlands, especially Amsterdam as some sort of amoral hell where the streets are lined with prostitutes and everyone has to step over strung out junkies in the gutter. A demised nation lost in a selfish orgy of forbidden flesh and rampant drug use. Jeepers, even I wouldn’t go there.

Organisation: Various
Campaign: The Netherlands Drug Policy / Cannabis “Coffee Shops”
When: 1976 -

Propaganda: 9/10
Laugh Out Loud Rating: 7/10

... However, I have lived in the Netherlands for a five-year period. And frankly, I don’t want to see what takes place there happening here. The city of Amsterdam is awash with drugs and crime. Indeed, drug-related crime is four times the rate of the US. You can’t walk down a street of central Amsterdam without being accosted by drug pushers and addicts. I lost count of how many times our push bikes were stolen by the druggies to help support their habits. I don’t want that cesspool of crime, drugs and violence to be replicated here.
-Bill Muehlenberg: CultureWatch

This is of course so far from the truth, it only incites humour in those who aren’t ignorant or are well travelled. The Netherlands is actual conservative compared to other western countries and has some amazing countryside including the beautiful city of Amsterdam. The lifestyle is uniquely European which might be a tad confronting for those used to massive shopping malls and other US influenced cityscapes. Yes, there are druggies, prostitutes and other public inconveniences that the non European drug warriors like to focus on but there needs to be some perspective. Compared to the large US slums, Vancouver's downtown east side or Kings Cross on a Saturday night, Amsterdam is a like a walk through a flowery suburb of the North Shore of Sydney. I remember reading about a journalist looking for crack cocaine in Amsterdam where it took him 35 minutes to find with the help of a local addict. He was only able to find one dealer of any drug and he had to get it from someone else. The same task would take 5 minutes in any major US city. The journalist reported that he encountered no junkies lying in gutters but instead was entertained by a local church music ensemble. What struck him most was how clean and family orientated the streets were compared to his experience back in the USA.

You can't walk down the street in Amsterdam without tripping over junkies
-US Drug Czar

I've visited their parks. Their children walk around like zombies
-Lee Brown - Head of the US Office for National Drug Control Policy

Bill O'Reilly - The Poster Boy for Anti-Drug Conservatives
Fox News monkey-man, Bill O’Reilly is joined by a fellow Fox News monkey-woman and some GOP strategist for what must be the most ludicrous description of The Netherlands ever seen on T.V. The story is actually about how the radical left have exploded since Barrack Obama became president of the USA but The Netherlands are put on display as what can happen if conservatives values are overlooked for liberal freedoms. I must point out to any extreme right wing nutters reading this that the perceived image of The Netherlands portrayed by the 3 casuistic hosts is laughable.




Click here for a quick rebuttal of Fox’s claims.


Anne Bressington
Anne Bressington once claimed that the term, "War on Drugs" was coined by the legalisation movement to get people on their side. So you can only imagine what she has said about The Netherlands. Here are some of her gems:

In 1993 the National Intelligence Report (AFP) stated that the streets had been flooded with a new hybrid of cannabis known as “mad weed”. It was called madweed because in Europe it was responsible for psychotic episodes even after one time use. It originated in the Netherlands and the THC content tested as high as 30%.
-Anne Bressington Media Release(Dec. 2006) - Adelaide Is “Cannabis Capital Of The World”

We are like the Netherlands, she says; we may not have cannabis cafes but if you know the right places all you have to do is ask. “I did a tour of Hutt Street this morning,” she said. “I saw people shooting up next to a charity drop-in centre, they score, go into an abandoned paddock next door and they’re all sitting around shooting up. I was told if I wanted drugs to go to the compound, the Caltex station in Hutt Street at 10 a.m. but be there a bit early because its pension day so there will be a bit of a line-up. It’s frightening.”
-Penelope Debelle - "Accidental” MP Finds Her Feet (Article about Anne Bressington) (2004)

What is it that politicians and some doctors do not understand about drug policy? In Sweden where drug use is one third of other European countries and where less than 2% of their youth use drugs like cannabis and amphetamines we could look to them for solutions. Instead we continue to replicate the Netherlands policies that have failed dismally.
-Anne Bressington Media Release(Dec. 2006) - Politicians At Raves & Doctors Giving Up On Drug Abuse

Very soon we are going to hear Dr Caldicott and his crew go ‘We must look to the Netherlands for our drug policy’ because we have even outstripped the Netherlands. We have doubled the Netherlands’ drug use in this country. Who would have ever thought? Do not be fooled by the Netherlands having half the drug use that we have because it has an almost legalised, decriminalised system. It is because in this country we have gone to sleep at the wheel. We have taken our eye off the ball and we have allowed this problem to disintegrate to a point where our children’s lives and our grandchildren’s lives are affected and it is not going to get better if we do not change what we do.

Dr Caldicott himself has admitted that one of the costs of having harm minimisation in this country is that we will have more people using drugs, but best to have them using drugs and keeping them alive than having them die in the gutter. Now, I do not quite get the logic.
-Anne Bressington: House Of Representatives Standing Committee On Family And Human Services - Impact Of Illicit Drug Use On Families (May 2007)

Maybe Anne Bressington should spend more time researching her claims.

Despite tough anti-drug laws, a new survey shows the U.S. has the highest level of illegal drug use in the world.

The World Health Organization's survey of legal and illegal drug use in 17 countries, including the Netherlands and other countries with less stringent drug laws, shows Americans report the highest level of cocaine and marijuana use. For example, Americans were four times more likely to report using cocaine in their lifetime than the next closest country, New Zealand (16% vs. 4%),
[...]
In contrast, in the Netherlands, which has more liberal drug policies than the U.S., only 1.9% of people reported cocaine use and 19.8% reported marijuana use.
-CBS News (July 2008)

Closing The Coffee Shops
When the media started reporting that The Dutch were closing some coffee shops, the anti-drug warriors went berserk. This was the great news they had been waiting for. After having to lie for nearly 30 years, they finally had some proof that The Dutch experiment had failed.

We’ve been even doing work with the Dutch, who are usually thought of as the opposite side of us on marijuana or cannabis, where they are talking about higher potency causing acute health problems that they are seeing in the Netherlands. So they too now have been taking steps to reduce the number of coffee houses, to treat the especially higher potency cannabis almost as a different drug in their system.
-US Drug Czar, John Walters

The fact is that coffee shops are being closed down because of “drug tourism” from neighbouring countries and because of new laws that restrict coffee shops being too close to schools. It was mainly the border towns and cities that wanted to close up the coffee shops, usually under pressure from other countries. Interestingly, some people couldn’t wait for the news and made claims The Dutch were “winding back” their drug laws 10 years prior.

If the Netherlands is winding back its drug laws, does that not tell us something? Does it not tell us that the Netherlands has conceded that it got it wrong. It is now trying to regroup from the previous untenable position. It is now trying to counter the cancer it released into the community in the best way it can by winding back the previously very liberal drug laws.
-The Hon. M. J. Gallacher - NSW Parliament (1997)

Cannabis is illegal in The Netherlands but the Dutch Ministry of Justice applies a gedoogbeleid (tolerance policy) which is an official set of rules guiding the judicial system to how offenders should be dealt with legally. This allows cannabis to be sold via designated “coffee shops”, the personal possession of up to 5 grams and the growing of 5 plants or less. This loophole is necessary to get around the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of which they are a co-signer. To implement any drug policy or law, countries must work within the UN’s strict guidelines. For example, Australia’s Medically Supervised Injecting Centre(MSIC) and the heroin assisted treatment (HAT) programs in some countries contravene UN drug policy so they are declared as medical research, which is allowed. Similarly with The Netherlands - cannabis remains illegal but they choose to be tolerant under certain conditions. These strict conditions include age restrictions, quantity limitations and quality control. Hard drugs are not tolerated.

Although marijuana sales are regulated and taxed in the Netherlands' famous coffee shops under Dutch "pragmatism" policies, the sale or manufacture of marijuana officially remains a crime under Dutch law. The current conservative Dutch national government has attempted to shut down the coffee shops, but without popular support for such a move has had to settle for tightening regulations on the marijuana outlets and gradually reducing their numbers.
-Drug War Chronicle

Although certain conservative groups want to remove the Dutch coffee shops, there is still overwhelming support from the public, the police and politicians. What we don’t hear about is the growing support to legalise cannabis ... even when half of the countries' judges support it.

THE HAGUE, 08/10/08 - Over half the magistrates in the Netherlands consider cannabis should be legalised. So reports Vrij Nederland weekly, following a survey among the judiciary.
-NIS News Service - Dutch Judges: Legalise Cannabis (October 2008)

It seems the only people opposed to the Dutch coffee shops are a small group in the Netherlands and countries that have dismal results from applying the very drug policies they are trying to push on the Dutch.

UN Tweak Drug Statistics And Facts
Cannazine
By Marten Blankesteijn

The United Nations manipulate statistics to suggest that the liberal Dutch drug policy doesn’t work. This statement comes from Tim Boekhout van Solinge, criminologist at the University Utrecht.
‘It is no coincidence. The UN wants to propagate the idea that things are getting out of hand here. This idea is wrong: The Netherlands, on the contrary, are doing very well.’

To substantiate his claim Boekhout van Solinge mentions the 2000 World Drug Report, which stated that The Netherlands harbored the most addicts of all EU members at that time. ‘The UN had reduced the list of 15 to 13 countries by counting the Benelux as one country.

This was a questionable simplification, because by doing so the country with the largest number of addicts (Luxemburg) was added to the country with the smallest number (The Netherlands).

These numbers were not properly linked to total population estimates, instead averages were calculated. That’s how the Benelux ended on top of the list of drug addicted countries. The message for the public was clear: Dutch drug policy is not working.’

The UN are outspoken supporters of the war on drugs, the war against growers, dealers and users that should lead to a drug free world.’ Experts have been clamouring for years that this battle can never be won’, says Boekhout van Solinge. ‘Things are just getting worse.’

In the mean time the UN see Sweden as the lighting example. Since 1977 harsh measures are used in a relentless drug hunt. And this has been a great success – at least, that’s what UN reports say: Sweden has the smallest number of blowers in Europe. But even the Swedish facts are polished to fit the UN message. ‘The reports ‘forget’ to mention that The Netherlands have fewer addicts. Nor is there any reference to the 8% of Swedish students that sniff glue. That Sweden tops the European list in drug mortalities, is also conveniently omitted. When talking drugs, the UN is not a reliable club. These reports have little to do with science.

There are more international organisations that fumble with opinions and research to justify the war on drugs. Says the criminologist: ‘On a conference of the World Health Organisation on cocaine all experts agreed that an overwhelming majority of cocaine users are in perfect control of their use, which led them to conclude that cocaine wasn’t that much of a problem. This conclusion was never made public under pressure of the American government.’

Another example? ‘A WHO report on cannabis paints a dramatic picture of the drug. But when you examine the documents and research used as a basis for the report, you learn that specific research was conducted to estimate what would happen if cannabis would be used as much as alcohol and tobacco are used.

The remarkable conclusion of this research? Cannabis would still be the least harmful.

But this information was kept from the summary!

More from the Propaganda Files

Related Articles:
How Low Can You Go? (The Dutch Disease)
McCaffrey: Lies, Damned Lies, And Statistics
Going Dutch

The Bucket Head Awards 2008

2008, like every year has been full of surprises. In the ever evolving world of drug policy and treatment though, there does remain one constant ... a continuous parade of murky politicians, selfish moralists and dubious opinion writers who share a common goal to demonise drug users at any cost. Any attempt to be sensible and pragmatic about drug use or drug treatment is abhorred by these people and they will go to great lengths to undermine these efforts. In the process, logic and reality is counteracted with carefully constructed propaganda, junk science and claims of moral decay. The problem is that the truth is not on their side and cracks will appear which may expose some farcical and often humorous attempts to appear legitimate. These are serious issues and the anti-drug zealots cause much pain, suffering and death but the sheer absurdities of their actions need to be highlighted. What better way to recognise their actions than to nominate them for an award. So without further ado, let me introduce to you, the first annual edition of The Australian Heroin Diaries - Bucket Head of the Year Awards.

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.

Worst Strategy from a Country in 2008

Russia: The refusal to introduce methadone maintenance treatment

Runners Up:

•Scotland: The proposal to abandon methadone treatment and introduce abstinence only programs.

•US: The continuing "War on Drugs" e.g. overriding state laws on medical marijuana, lack of Harm Minimisation programs etc.

•UK: Reclassification of cannabis to a class B drug

Worst International Anti-Drug Organisation in 2008

International: Supporting United Nations Drug Initiatives And Legislation (SUNDIAL)

Runners Up:

•International: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime / UNDCP /  CCPCJ / INCB

•US: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

•US: Mothers Against Medical Abuse (MAMA) / Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths (HARMD)

Worst Australian Anti-Drug Organisation in 2008

Drug Free Australia (DFA)

Runners Up:

•Drug Advisory Council of Australia Inc. (DACA)

•National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC)

•Christian Democratic Party

Silliest Comment in 2008

The war on drugs in Australia is working. The Bali Nine are just part of the price

-Miranda Devine. Sydney Morning Herald

Runners Up:

•Illegal drugs and not alcohol are to blame for the anti-social behaviour in Tasmania

-The Australian Hotels Association 

•This (brochure) clearly is a message that it is okay to take drugs. For the Health Department to be promoting illegal drug taking to students is offensive and a gross misuse of public money

-Jillian Skinner. NSW Opposition health spokeswoman speaking about the “Choosing to Use” booklet

•Given that the US is making better headway than Australia, in both binge drinking and illicit drug use among its young people, we should be looking more closely at what is working there

-Jo Baxter. Executive Officer - Drug Free Australia

Most Overused Phrase in 2008

Sends the wrong message

Runners Up:

•Cannabis today is not like what it was in the 60s

•Binge drinking

•Tough on Drugs

Biggest Deception in 2008

Exaggerated harms from cannabis use especially increased potency and links to psychosis 

Runners Up:

•Exaggerated harms of ecstasy use

•The continuing claim that the Howard Government’s “tough on drugs” strategy with the Australian Federal Police stopped the “heroin epidemic”.

•The Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre is a failure

Biggest Deception from a Person or Group in 2008

Drug Free Australia: Claiming  a Zero Tolerance policy is a viable alternative to Harm Minimisation

Runners Up;

•Piers Akerman: Claim that the Kings Cross MSIC is a failure

•Anne Bressington: Claiming that she had much support for compulsory drug testing of students but was actually criticised by many groups who it affected.

•Miranda Devine: Cannabis use is a bigger health issue than alcohol abuse

Worst News.com Comment in 2008

Yet a terrible thought crossed my mind going through this topic. Some of the worst addicted at worst might kill their children in the belief they will get more for their addictions, or at the least will blame the kids for their reduced ability to obtain drugs and alcohol and foist even more and terrible abuse on them.

Posted by: Adrian of Nowra

Topic: Quarantine welfare payments for people convicted of drug offences via a welfare debit card.

Runners Up:

•Wow. Only if this outcome could happen to all drug users! It certainly would "clean up" the world. Perhaps other druggies can learn from this lesson and just say no to drugs. Life is tough on everyone but that doesn't mean resorting to drugs to cope. Druggies and pushers are filthy animals.

Posted by: Steve 

Topic: A prostitute who died after injecting cocaine. The two men with her, one who supplied the cocaine, panicked about getting caught with the drugs and didn't ring an ambulance. 

•Not sad, Schapelle! What is sad, is that when you were found guilty, the judge couldnt sentence you to death! Unfortunately, you were not busted in China, where your despicable family would have been sent the invoice for the bullet used in your execution! No Santa for this scumbag criminal!

-Posted by: Kim of Do The Time 

Topic: Schapelle Corby to miss out on Christmas sentence reduction

•...The Bali Nine took a calculated risk. They took that risk with full knowledge of the potential outcome. If the result is being sat, blindfolded, with a 6 inch square of white cloth pinned over your heart, listening to the metallic clack of rounds being chambered, and enduring the agonizing last seconds of your life as you wait for the shots to come, then that’s just too damn bad. And these people will hear the shots and will be conscious as their lives flow out of them in those last seconds. That’s no bad thing either.

-Posted by: Pete Christie of Paddington 

Topic: The Bali Nine

Funniest News.com Comment in 2008

I'd like to say to those people spending huge amounts of money each year on drugs, why don't you have a think about those people suffering in the world who can't afford food, medication or a place to sleep. Compare that to the chemicals, physical and mental harm and burden on society drugs create and see which on is more deserving....

Posted by: Maree from Brisbane

Topic: GBH overdoses at the X-Qlusive dance party in Melbourne

Runners Up:

•The 9 are HUMAN garbage,parasites,bullies+PUS. tHE kind of weak thugs who laugh at people smaller,or alone,in Maccas! Put them on the express elevator to hell! Corby may have been innocent+ was not into the ppoison of herion.Keep some BALANCE.

Posted by: scullcracka

Topic: The Bali Nine

•I blame the touchy feely left wing ALP government who have allowed this behavious to occur. People who are caught with any drugs should be immediately and summarily incarcerated for 30 days hard labour out in the states central west where they can brak rocks, dig holes, etc. No appeals, no phone a friend, nothing. Invite Channel 7, 9 or 10 to film them. Make a reality show out of it. Shame them so that their family and friends know what junkies they are. When they get released, how many of these so called 'professioanls' will still hold their job? Not many I presume. Garbage people like Iktimal Hage-Ali should be washed down the sewer where they belong. 'nuff said!!

-Posted by: Stefano of Sydney

Topic:  The ridiculously overdone article by Fiona Connelly regarding Young Australian of the Year contender and Muslim, Iktimal Hage-Ali who was caught with cocaine. The article goes on to dramatise rampant cocaine use amongst Sydney professionals. [Link]

•This story reminds me of vegetarians, they are vegetarian because they don't want to eat animals but if they were just 2 inches tall the animals would have no problem eating the vegetarians.... My point is that the bali 9 are in a bad situation however if it was somebody else they would probably be laughing and wouldn't have a care in the world as they would be out on the streets dealing drugs and robbing people or beating people up however we are in no place to judge them for good or bad, just let the legal system do its thing and get on with your lives.

Posted by: Adam of Melbourne

Topic: The Bali Nine

Worst Suggestion from a Political Party in 2008

WA Liberal Party: Repealing cannabis laws in WA for possession

Runners Up:

•Liberal Party: Revisiting The Bishop Report: “The Winnable War on Drugs”

•SA Independent Anne Bressington: Compulsory drug testing for students in SA

•Labor Party: Welfare payment quarantining for drug users

Worst Decision from a Political Party in 2008

SA Government: Banning drug paraphernalia in SA

Runners Up:

•NSW Labor Party: Health Minister Reba Meagher over reacting to the “Choosing to Use” booklet by pulping all copies

•Labor Party: Welfare payment regulation

•SA Labor Party: Veterans' Affairs Minister, Michael Atkinson rejecting a trial of MDMA for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Major Political Party with the Worst Drug Policy in 2008

Christian Democratic Party

Runners Up:

•Family First

•The Liberal Party

•The National Party

Worst Anti-Drug Article from the Mainstream Media in 2008

Miranda Devine: A smoking gun in the drugs debate [Link] / Puff goes the drug liberaliser [Link]

Runners Up:

•Fiona Connolly: Cokehead should be ashamed [Link]

•News.com editorial: Drug book totally stupefying [Link]

•Piers Akerman: No quick fix for shooting gallery [Link]

Junk Science Claim from 2008

Cannabis shrinking the brain being proof of it’s danger

Runners Up:

•Drug decriminalisation increases the drug problem

•The Sydney MSIC is not saving lives

•Needle exchange programs do not stop the spread of blood-borne diseases

Most Biased Anti-Drug Journalist in 2008

Miranda Devine

Runners Up;

•News.com editorial team

•Piers Akerman

•Tim Blair

Most Dubious Politician in 2008 

Malcolm Turnbull: Leader of the Opposition

Whilst Malcolm Turnbull is urging people to quit smoking, the Libs continue to accept donations from tobacco companies. The coalition is the only political party to still accept tobacco industry donations since Mark Latham ended it for Labor in 2004. Turnbull also denounced cannabis as extremely dangerous after he succumbed to the current popular trend of admitting to cannabis use whilst at university. This dubious trend is just an extension of the Clintoneque, “I didn’t inhale” strategy that increased his popularity whilst not condoning drug use. It seems the public like the truthfulness which lead to a spate of Australian pollies admitting their prior use but condemning it for everyone else.

Runners Up:

•Senator Mathias Cormann: Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration

Out of nowhere came a media release slamming the government for abandoning the “the critically important war on drugs”. Corman fumbled about with cliché after cliché including this cracker, “Our children don’t need lessons on how to use harmful and illicit drugs. They need to get the clear message that drugs are bad”. To top it off, he asked why the government have ignored the The Bishop Report: “The Winnable War on Drugs”. You have to wonder why we know the answer yet he doesn’t.

•Kevin Rudd: Prime Minister

The lack of drug policies from the government has grown from a curiosity to a major concern. Throwing around the occasional “we are tough on drugs” claim seems to be the only current Labor strategy. Welfare payment quarantining for drug users was bandied about and even the eradication of opium crops in Afghanistan was once high on the agenda. We are still waiting for something sensible and helpful to be put into practice but for now, we are stuck with the continuation of Howard’s Zero Tolerance rhetoric.

•Anne Bressington: Independent Member of the SA Legislative Council

As a well known anti-drug zealot, Bressington continues to her attempts to introduce her Zero Tolerance ideology to South Australia. Against all the evidence and with detrimental consequences to drug users, she steam rolls ahead utilising the tactics and propaganda of other well known moral crusaders. 

Most Farcical Religious Anti-Drug Campaigner in 2008

Bill Mullenburg: Culture Watch Blog

Runners Up:

•Gary Christian: Drug Free Australia

•Fred Nile: Christian Democratic Party

•Carly Crutchfield: Scientology

Anti-Drug Propagandist - Rising Star Award for 2008

Darren Marton: Founder of The No-Way Campaign

Runners Up:

•Ryan Hidden: Director of the Recovered Drug Users’ League of SA

•Dr. Jan Copeland: National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC)

•Jade Lewis: Founder of Jade Lewis and Friends

Most Dangerous Anti-Drug Campaigner Internationally for 2008

Antonio Maria Costa(International): Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Runners Up:

•John Walters(US): Director of National Drug Control Policy/Drug Czar

•Calvina Fay(US): Drug Free America Foundation

•Torgny Peterson(Sweden): International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy and the Global Institute on Drug Policy. 

Most Dangerous Anti-Drug Campaigner in Australian for 2008

Brian Watters

Runners Up:

•Dr. Stuart Reece

•Fred Nile

•Anne Bressington

Low Point in 2008

Continuing assault on Harm Minimisation

Runners Up:

•Gary Christian from Drug Free Australia hijacking the "Beyond 2008" International NGO Forum [Link]

•Kevin Rudd’s insistence on eradicating Afghanistan's opium fields at a NATO meeting which annoyed NATO leaders as just another US influenced non workable strategy [Link]

•S.A. Veterans' Affairs Minister, Michael Atkinson rejecting a trial of MDMA for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and insulting Democrat Sandra Kanck for suggesting it [Link]

*********************************************

The Bucket Head of the Year - 2008

The ultimate anti-drug zealot who made a huge impact on the downfall of humanity and sensibility in 2008

*********************************************

Anne Bressington: 

Independent Member of the SA Legislative Council

Runners Up:

•Miranda Devine - Journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald

•Harry Clarke - Economist / Blogger / Right Wing Commentator

•Margaret Court - Patron of Drug Free Australia / TV Evangelist / Faith Healer / Radical Pastor

Well, what can I say, except ... congratulations. For Anne, 2008 was another year of fanciful claims, dangerous laws and continuing attacks on Sandra Kanck. 

The list of achievements in 2008 that won Anne Bressington the prestigious Bucket Head of the Year award:

-banned drug paraphernalia in SA including items classed as culturally important and devices made to reduce harm for users including protection from HIV/AIDS

-kept up her push for compulsory drug testing in schools although it was condemned by many of those she claimed as supporters

-called on police to use sniffer dogs and drug testing at schoolies

-kept up a constant barrage of attacks and parliament interruptions on anyone who opposed her views especially SA Democrat, Sandra Kanck

-repeatedly introduced biased and non scientific “evidence’ into parliament to support her dubious claims

And for the history books, she claimed the term 'war on drugs' was coined by the legalisation movement to get people on their side.

Runners up include the obvious selection of Miranda Devine who narrowly missed out on the first position. Miranda has had a cracker of a year with her many anti-drug articles receiving a lot of attention. Unfortunately, it was mostly unwanted attention as she was ripped apart with criticisms of her highly dubious research. Probably her biggest mistake was taking on Dr. Alex Wodak who excels at disproving prohibitionist ideology which she blindly subscribes to. I doubt if any of this really matters to Miranda and she will happily continue on with her myopic anti-drug rants.

Though he has a smaller public profile, Harry Clarke is well known by many who take a keen interest in drug law reform. Unfortunately for him, he is not well known by those who agree with him but those who oppose him. He is such a arrogant, nasty shit who wants to sit above his opposition (being a professor and all) but just can’t seem to get the logic right to help his cause. This usually leads to insults on the drug using, non business like, pinko, leso, lefties aka health and welfare workers, who all want drugs sold to kids at 7-11. As an economist on the public purse, his use of rubbery logic to reach an anti-drug conclusion and his inappropriate comments to those on the front line of treatment should ring some warning bells. He sure makes an excellent case for why we can’t trust anti-drug zealots and his blog entries, media articles and contributions to the ANCD email forum show how far they will go to prove their point.

Last of all but certainly not least comes TV evangelist, Margaret Court. As the patron of Drug Free Australia(DFA) she highlights why DFA has no credibility ... she is a faith healer for god’s sake! She miraculously cures people with cancer, AIDS, tennis elbow and anything else that can’t be proven scientifically during her performance. Then she asks for money. Is DFA really an organisation that we, the tax payer should be funding?

Drug Frenzy & the Moral Massacre from Hell aka. Schoolies

When I was younger, there was no such thing as “Schoolies”. I had only first heard of it about 6-7 years ago and never thought much about it except why didn’t we do that. Each year though we hear more and more about schoolies and this year is no exception. So far, I’ve barely read anything positive written about the event and instead there has been a constant barrage of reports headlining drugs, sex, booze, violence and debauchery. Reading some of the stories makes it sound more like an analysis of a biker bash than a school event. Funny enough, the more I read, the more I wish I was young again. Some of the wonderful headlines from the last few years:

Headlines 2008 34,000 Expected For Schoolies Booze-Up (The Sunday Mail ) Police Watch Toolies, As Schoolies Want To Party (The Heraldsun) Drug Dogs For Schoolies Week (Abc) Police To Crackdown On Schoolies Driving (Smh) Roll Up For The Schoolies Rip-Off (The Courier-Mail) Police To Crackdown On Schoolies Driving (Smh) Parents Help Schoolies Stock Up On Alcohol (The Courier-Mail) Schoolies Face Security Crackdown (Daily Telegraph) Teenage Pregnancies The Unplanned Outcome Of Schoolies Week (The Courier-Mail) Headlines From NEWS.com.au 2007 Party Image 'Lure For Drugs' Olympian In Schoolies Drug Bust Schoolies Porn Claim Probed Schoolie In Vodka Binge

And the winner for most misleading headline is:

Sweaty Schoolies Caught in Virgin 'Sauna'  NEWS.com.au - 2007 -A group of schoolies flying to the Gold Coast this morning found their holiday steaming up faster than they could have ever hoped when the air conditioning failed, turning their Virgin Blue flight into a sauna and grounding the plane.

Every possible outcome has been written about over the last few years and then I found the article below from the HeraldSun. You know that when the media include sex/drinking/drugs, Scientology and pro-family groups in the same article it’s going to be a doozey ... and it is.

Schoolies To Face Drug, Condom Blitz Herald-Sun Emily Power and Aaron Langmaid November 2008 MORE than 15,000 schoolies on an annual party invasion will be bombarded with safe sex and anti-drug messages. A drug information booklet sponsored by the Church of Scientology, and free condoms from a health provider will be available to school-leavers letting off steam when official celebrations start on Saturday. About 7000 Victorians will flock to the Gold Coast, at least 5000 will party at Lorne and Torquay, and up to 3000 teens are anticipated at Phillip Island after exams finish today. Volunteers from a Scientology-backed anti-drug campaign group will be at Surfers Paradise handing out free booklets about popular party substances, including cocaine, ecstasy and LSD. The guides have been produced by Drug Free Ambassadors Australia, who are backed by the Church of Scientology. The booklets, explaining the dangers and health impacts of drug use, will be available at community centres in Lorne and Torquay. A health-care provider is offering free condoms to teens on schoolies holidays. Marie Stopes International's TXT 4 Free Condomz campaign will post teens two condoms when they send a message on their mobile. The organisation said some young people were too embarrassed or didn't have the money to buy condoms at a chemist or supermarket. But family groups have warned the guides could be sending the wrong message. Pro Family Perspective president Angela Conway said the right approach was important. "It is legitimate to ask questions about this and what message it's really sending," Ms Conway said. "The reality is, sadly, kids know a lot about what's out there. This could just be promoting it."

This article is scarier than most and any rational parent would think twice before allowing their kids to be exposed to what the article suggests. First up is the horrifying tactic from a healthcare provider that has been harshly criticised by family groups as promoting something evil to our young kids ... safe sex. Yes, rub your eyes and reread it ... safe sex. This dangerous strategy of promoting safe sex via free condoms has raised that most worrying of problems ... sending the wrong message. God help our kids who get the wrong message that it’s OK to have sex before marriage. Condoms will do that! Schoolies Chiefs Reject Brothel Offer of Free Condoms Of course there’s drinking and drugs. And who’s better to protect our kids from these evils than Ron. L. Hubbard’s own army of Drug Free Ambassadors. What the hell is a Drug Free Ambassador, you may ask? Drug Free Ambassadors in their own words:

The Campaign is mirrored off the very successful Drug-Free Marshall program which has run for the last 10 years in the United States and South Africa, with thousands of children participating in programs run in their schools, pledging to remain drug-free. It has created a base of youth that say "no" and do resist the temptation to "experiment" with drugs.

With all the bad press lately about Scientology, I somehow doubt that these Drug Free Ambassadors are going to be taken too seriously, especially to a schoolie who has beer to drink. The Drug-Free Ambassadors program is just another run-of-the-mill anti-drug group with links to Drug Free Australia (DFA), Carly Crutchfield and other cult like religious groups. They don’t support Harm Minimisation, demonise cannabis and support the usual strategies of “Just Say No” campaigns. It’s also just another door for attracting scientology members and they employ the old “Q & A” strategy where they walk around with clipboards, pens and a questionnaire but under the pretence of answering drug related questions. You know the drill.

Then it became clear that most of them were tied up with the false idea that they were not supposed to promote their ideas to other people making statements like, "You can't tell people what to think" or "People have to make up their own minds." This sounds fine in theory but the result in practice was that people felt they could not "interfere" at all with someone's privacy and so they were inhibited about taking any responsibility at all! They felt it was somehow wrong to tell someone else that drug taking was a wrong thing to do. But this is what they should be doing. Not just preaching "Don't take drugs", but really knowing about the subject and the effects and giving them some cold, hard facts. We need to be able to talk to our friends when we can see they need help and reach out and do something -Drug Free Ambassadors - Church of Scientology

Maybe you might want to check out Drug Free Dave. I suggest you do.

I'm a Warrior against edictive Drugs -Drug Free Dave. Drug Free Ambassadors - Church of Scientology

With so many young people in one place there’s bound to be an huge influx of drug dealers. Victor Harbour, S.A. is one of those places. The Adelaide Advertiser has reported that Victor Harbour had an ecstasy bust with 2 men being caught in separate incidents with a staggering total of 39 ecstasy pills between them. Apart from that, no one was nicked for drink/drug driving and 32 drug diversion and cannabis expiation notices were handed out. Arrrh ... the wonders of decriminalisation. NEWS.com.au though, outdid themselves again with a report that $1 million worth of drugs were stopped on their way to schoolies. One small problem ... it was only a guess. The drugs were found in South Brisbane not Surfers Paradise and the police didn’t actually say they were for schoolies. Why bother with details when you have a potential headline with schoolies and drugs in it?

Police Seize $1m of 'Schoolies' Drugs NEWS.com.au November 2008 -Two arrested after drugs seized -Police says drugs destined for schoolies -Full coverage: Global addiction Two 20-year-old men have been arrested after Queensland police seized more than $1 million worth of drugs they fear may have been destined for schoolies week celebrations. Superintendent John Pointing, of the State Drug and Property Crime Group, said police found $17,500 in cash, two firearms and a stash of drugs, believed to be heroin, cocaine, methylamphetamine and MDMA, in two south Brisbane homes. He said it was possible the drugs were to be distributed at schoolies week and upcoming events. "We'd be naive to think that some of these drugs weren't destined for schoolies and other events ... in the near future," Supt Pointing said. "This is a very serious matter and we're very pleased to have taken this amount of drugs off the streets." Supt Pointing said parents should talk to their children about the dangers of drugs. "(Our) purpose is to raise awareness of the amount of drugs that are out there and it's timely ... for parents to think about their children, talk to their children about drugs."

When In School ... Do as the Schoolies Do We know that when young adults get their first taste of a week away from their parents that they are just like us and want to go sight seeing and experience some fine food at the best restaurants in town. Being surrounded by thousands of people their own age and away from their parents is just a minor distraction from the historical sites and local tours. Coming of age with half naked members of the opposite sex piled up in thousands of parent free apartments is just a side issue as there are the local wineries and beautiful countryside to explore. Being able to drink as much as you want and have the usual assortment of mind altering drugs available shouldn’t deter these young people from doing what we do on our holidays. Hmmm. Maybe not. But there are some alternatives to the mainstream schoolies: http://www.suqld.org.au/camps/camps.php?show=3 http://www.edgeonweb.org/read/opinion/schooliesweek.shtm We have to honest about what happens at schoolies. Think back to when you were about the same age and you had a chance to go away for a week or so with the same conditions? You would want real information how ever confronting it is. The Drug Free Ambassadors or the pro-family groups will not give real information for the fear of sending the wrong message which is simply dangerous and naive. Wishing for something like good old Christian behaviour cannot replace reality. I found these well thought out and responsible links for some useful information: Reach Out: [Link] Youth Central: [Link] TXT 4 Free Condoms: [Link] For those who hate the idea of schoolies, I found quite a few people wanting it banned. Even the ex Queensland premier, Peter Beatie considered banning schoolies once but he changed his mind. God bless him. South Australia’s mother of morals (the one with a 7-11 haircut), Anne Bressington, tried to introduce a bill into parliament which gave police the power to expel any schoolie from the event if found using or possessing alcohol or drugs during Schoolies Week. Bressington also called on police to use sniffer dogs and drug testing at schoolies. It’s shouldn’t be surprising considering her various attempts at stigmatising drug users but subjecting schoolies to even harsher penalties will not reduce drug use. This is something that Bressington has never understood and why she is completely irrelevant to rational drug policy debate. One chap who really dislikes the event is pastor, Craig Lloyd from the Grace Bible Church in Brisbane. Actually, I don’t think he likes anything.

First – Get Sodom out of your lives Make sure that what you do as a family is godly. What you expose them to, which friends they choose, what you watch on TV, what you do–make sure it is godly and edifying. You don’t have to take them out of the world–but do what you can to insulate them from the world. It is hard. I know how hard it is. Talk to them. If school or friends or activities are corrupting their soul–move them. If I thought school was leading my kids astray–I would pull them out–change schools–home-school them. I still have to face the dread of schoolies. I am sure schoolies started in Sodom. Hormone fuelled promiscuity, drugs and trouble. If I trust my kids and know who they are with and where–maybe. If not–I trust my relationship is such with them that I can say no to certain ways of doing schoolies. Get Sodom out of their lives. Men, women–you don’t want the heartache of drugs, unwanted pregnancy, rebellion in your children. -Preached by Craig Lloyd

So what did happened at schoolies this year. Was it a frenzy of violence, sex and drugs that only hell itself can replicate? It’s only two days into the event so there’s plenty of time for satin to do his thing but so far it’s been a bit of a fizzer for the doomsday nay-sayers. Only a few schoolies arrested at each hotspot with the usual hangers-on causing most of the problems. Maybe they are more cunning this year or maybe they have been well behaved. Maybe the increased police and security has had an effect or God forbid, most of them took on some responsibility. Either way, it will start all over again next year with the same warnings, advice, threats, scare tactics, pleads and sensational headlines. Whatever ... I still wish I was young again. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/22/2427063.htm

Did They Really Say That? Part 2 - Politicians

This is the second part in a 3 part series that puts the spotlight on some of the most remarkable comments aimed at brutalising drug policy in Australia.

Marijuana leads to homosexuality ... and therefore to AIDS

 - White House Drug Czar Carlton Turner, 1986

Do politicians make more silly remarks about drugs than journalists? That’s debatable but what is not up for discussion is the importance of their responsibility to tell the truth. 

Some of the media can interpret events and facts according their particular agenda but why are politicians more renown for this shady practice? Doesn’t this defeat the whole process of democracy and elections? Politicians either lying or not knowing the facts when talking about extremely important issues is not acceptable and to even compare them with journalists for being deceitful is worrying. For politicians, it seems that lying or being void of the facts is acceptable as long as it is in the interest of their party, no matter how important the issue is.

It's time for Morris Iemma and Labor to wake up and realise that protecting families from drugs is more important than securing preferences from the Greens.

[...]

Ice is a scourge on our society. It's killing young people, it's undermining a whole generation and yet you have the Greens Party proposing decriminalisation.

-Peter Debnam. NSW Opposition Leader

The Greens drug policy including decriminalisation that Peter Debnam is talking about, caused much controversy in the media but it was mainly the politicians that used it as ammunition. The policy itself was very thorough and based on evidence. The problem was that in an effort to ride the current wave of controversy, the major political parties didn’t fully study the Greens drug policy and made some wild accusations that in hindsight, don’t really reflect the Green’s policy at all.

The Greens are not just about the environment. They have a whole lot of other very, very kooky policies in relation … to things like drugs and all of that sort of stuff.

-John Howard. Prime Minister.

That's why we're setting up specialised services in our hospitals to deal with this. It is just an absurd and ridiculous and disgusting policy.

-Morris Iemma. NSW Premier (In response to a proposal by The Greens to regulate drugs)

any MP who supported such a policy was completely out of touch with reality

-Morris Iemma. NSW Premier (In response to a proposal by The Greens to regulate drugs)

But I don’t think you can have at the core of it a message which says using heroin is ok. It is a deadly dangerous drug and I don’t think we want a party in Australia arguing that is actually is a good thing.

-Nicola Roxon. ALP - Opposition Health Minister

Any Member of Parliament who thinks we should de-criminalise drugs, including ‘Ice’, should take a good hard look at themselves, do the community a favour, and resign

-Peter Debnam. NSW Opposition Leader

One of the recent drug issues to cop a political hammering is a pure form of methamphetamine called ice. As we have heard over and over from the politicians and media is that ice is the most dangerous new drug to come out for a long time and it’s effecting us in epidemic proportions. The fact is, ice has been around for a long time and usage peaked many years ago. It’s only recently that we have seen reports of hospitals being ripped up by violent ice addicts and the epidemic levels of ice use but when use was highest, we hardly heard a peep. The effects of ice were largely over exaggerated but made a convenient issue for politicians to apply their “toughest on drugs” rhetoric.

Some of the stories of the way in which people have been terrorised and the way in which those who are addicted to ice lose all semblance of control and lapse into violent, uncontrolled, often homicidal rage and it is a frightening drug and we need a special emphasis.

-John Howard

Enough is enough, we must act before ice gets totally out of control as it can be purchased for $50

-Kevin Rudd

Ice had crept into the number one spot as Australia’s new problem drug. S.E. Asian crime organisations switched from heroin as their main export to ice but Howard and the AFP missed it. They were still trying to convince the public (and themselves) that they had stopped the heroin epidemic via the tough on drugs campaign ... which they hadn’t.

The tough-on-drugs campaigns have worked, it's just that ice has suddenly emerged in a way that the government wants to nip in the bud if it can

-Christopher Pyne 2007. During the peak of the so called “ice epidemic”

Poor Chris. under his watch, ice was here. Yes, ice was indeed here, but the government was still spinning their other successes.

And as a result of our strategy hundreds of young Australians spent last Christmas with their parents who otherwise would have lost their lives or taken their lives as a result of heroin abuse

-John Howard. 2007. During the peak of the so called “ice epidemic”

Whilst on heroin, a quick quote from that flossy ex opposition leader, Alex Dolly Downer. A classic “no WMDs” comment when asked about the growing opium trade in Afghanistan since the war on terror.

There may be links to the Taliban but it is certainly not believed to be a major source of funding for the Taliban (it was).

-Alexander Downer

As opposition leader, Kevin Rudd was not going to be left behind in the race to fight the ice problem but his dilemma was whether he appeared to be tough on drugs whilst trying to follow evidence based policy. So he announced Labor’s new ice initiative.

Australia needs new ideas and fresh thinking when it comes to dealing with critical and continuing problems such as drugs and crime. 

But our response must be tough, targeted and evidence-based

-Kevin Rudd. Federal Opposition Leader

And the great plan was - 3 new initiatives: a ban on the importation of crack pipes to smoke ice, a ban on the sale to minors of pseudoephedrine and a ban on the sale of pseudoephedrine over the internet. Very good Kevin, that should do it.

The real debate though was being “tough on drugs”. A recent development was that, instead of debating drug strategies, the politicians would try to score brownie points for being the toughest of the tough and try to brand their opposition as “soft on drugs”. Howard aligned himself with the Zero Tolerance cheer squad including Bronwyn Bishop, Ann Bressington, Christopher Pyne etc. and attacked Harm Minimisation including terminology like recreational / party drugs, state cannabis laws and anything else that was not Zero Tolerance.

As I have said previously concerned parents need to watch closely who opposes the measure that will send a clear message that drugs are not normal teenage behaviour, whether that be members of parliament educates or health care professionals it will be an indication of who is soft on drugs.

-Ann Bressington

Labor's preference deal with the Greens, who were soft on drugs, showed the ALP was not as strict on the issue

-John Howard

No-one can accuse the Iemma Government on being soft on drugs

-John Watkins. NSW Police Minister

No-one can accuse this Government of being soft on drugs

-Chris Ellison. Federal Justice Minister

I wish the Greens wouldn’t be soft on drugs ... and national security

-Ron Boswell. Nationals Leader in The Senate

Dr. Alex Wodak gives his “soft on drugs” quote.

Howard can't lose on this. If he wins, he'll be wrapped in the Australian flag as protecting the youth of the future. If he loses, then the states get labelled 'soft on drugs'."

-Dr. Alex Wodak

Being tough on drugs never quite worked out though in the real world. The ice issue was got plenty of attention but what about other issues. Drugs in sport.

The NRL applies limited sanctions for the first position, and for the second, a more serious penalty. This accords precisely with the Government's approach - we don't give any quarter to anyone about drugs.

-Christopher Pyne. Congratulating the NRL on their 2 strike policy being an example of the government’s 1 strike policy

The Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC)

He (Mark Latham) wants to read books to kids when they're five and he wants to give them access to drug injecting rooms when he's 15.

-Tony Abbott. Health Minister

Politicians loved the MSIC. So much so, that when other states showed interest in the service, the federal government threatened to step in.

We would look at what the Commonwealth could do constitutionally. If there were any further proposals in Australia for heroin injecting rooms, we would look at what action we could take

-Chris Ellison. Federal Justice Minister

How about the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre AND ice

The Commonwealth Government does not support the heroin injecting room, and if it is becoming the ice injecting room we think that is the wrong approach

-Christopher Pyne

... how about everything ... including graffiti.

...social issues that are all too often underpinned by substance abuse, such as youth suicide; teenage pregnancy; abortion; unemployment; welfare dependency; poor school retention rates; family breakdown; child abuse, neglect and abandonment; domestic violence; prostitution; crime; road rage; road fatalities; and even graffiti, believe it or not.

-Ann Bressington

... and think of the children

We do not hearabout how many babies are born addicted in this country. Now he was not just a heroin baby; he was a methamphetamine baby, a methadone baby, a dope baby, a pill baby. God knows how he turned out normal.

-Ann Bressington

Ah, Ann Bressington ... Chris Pyne with a bogan haircut. Chris Pyne and Ann Bressington are birds of a feather. Both are from S.A., both with strong views against drugs, both with out a shred of credibility and both wanting to ban drug paraphernalia. What is Pyne speak for “ban the bong”?

I'm certainly concerned about the proliferation of apparatus for the use of illicit substances

-Christopher Pyne

This was par for the course. If they couldn’t stop people from using drugs, they were going to make it hard for them. It didn’t matter if it actually stopped drug use or not as long as there was a sound bite to go with it.

Imposing a ban on the sale of drug paraphernalia not only sends the message that drugs are socially unacceptable, but it makes it more difficult for first-time drug users to experiment with illicit substances.

-Christopher Pyne

First time drug users of course didn’t give a shit about whether they had a bong or not, they could just whip one up at home with their neighbours garden house and a orange juice container. 

Ann had a different reason why the proliferation of apparatus for the use of illicit substances was wrong. It was for their own good because they didn’t really enjoy it.

... in her 11 years of experience she has not met one drug user that has not had underlying emotional issues, and this is why they use drugs, to avoid dealing with those issues. People who know how to enjoy themselves don’t use drugs.

-Ann Bressington

Arh, Bressington logic. That explains why the millions who have used drugs, don’t know how to enjoy themselves.

With all this tough on drugs talk and each politician trying to get one up on the other, it was bound to happen. Yep, fighting amongst themselves was inevitable.

The Labor party room is divided in its attitudes to drugs. Duncan Kerr, a member of Mr Rudd's frontbench, is the convenor of the Parliamentarians for Drug Law Reform. This group supports decriminalisation and harm-reduction policies ahead of a tough, no-nonsense approach

-Christopher Pyne

I don't want to name those members but sometimes you have thoughts particularly if they are campaigning to legalise marijuana, cannabis and they think it's a harmless drug

I think the deduction could be, if that's their view, that they are using it themselves.

-Fred Nile. Politician - Christian Democrat

All health professionals and law-enforcement agencies are horrified by the impact of ice on our community, and here you see the State Government condoning - in fact, promoting - the use of ice

-Peter Debnam. NSW Politician. Alarmed that addicts were allowed to inject ice in the MSIC centre

What about the politicians nightmare, cannabis? The issue of personal use being decriminalised has seen several states reduce the penalties for cannabis possession to on-the-spot fines or similar. Moving towards a more rational approach on cannabis is long overdue but the previous government had other ideas. Alcohol was fine and received very little attention but a drug that causes a tiny percentage of problems in comparison was not. 

We have to treat it(cannabis) as an illicit drug as dangerous as heroin, amphetamines or cocaine

-Christopher Pyne

Even though alcohol causes 100 times more damage than cannabis, the Howard government just couldn’t take the focus off grass. The National Cannabis Strategy was released, portraying marijuana as a dangerous, evil drug when the National Alcohol Strategy had this to say:

Alcohol plays an important role in the Australian economy. It generates substantial employment, retail activity, export income and tax revenue. Alcohol also has an important social role...

Personally, I like this quote about alcohol:

Woman: "Sir, you are drunk." 

Winston Churchill: "Indeed, madam, and you are ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober."

We know that governments like to take credit whenever there is a dip in drug use statistics, but when those statistics aren’t so flattering, why try and explain it away, just make up your own results. This classic quote is from Christopher Pyne, answering criticism about research into a national anti-drug advertising campaign that found Australians already know the dangers and it was not actually stopping people from using drugs

It confirms research (it didn’t) that the Government's done, which shows that younger people, in particular, are becoming very well aware of the harmful effects of cannabis and other illicit drugs on their mental state -Christopher Pyne

Yes, it’s true, he did say this.

It seems obvious now that tough drug policies, especially Zero Tolerance is the way to go if you want to be a successful politician. The problem is that Harm Minimisation is Australia’s official drug policy but it’s probably best not to let the public in on that. HM underlies all the success but ZT is the political profile that gets votes. 

They are evil, all of them, and there should be an uncompromising social condemnation of drugs. Why can't we have the same attitude towards drugs that a large section of the community has developed towards tobacco?

-John Howard

Well for the life of me I can't see why we shouldn't have a completely zero tolerance, an uncompromising approach to illicit drug taking

-John Howard

The first and most important thing governments have got to do is communicate a message of unconditional hostility to the use of illicit drug

-John Howard

If only it was that simple. You see, Zero Tolerance doesn’t work and never has. Basically it’s prohibition but puts users in the same class as the big dealers and manufacturers. But the criminals at the top are very hard to catch, so rounding up users becomes the strategy to show success. The larger the drug problem grows, the more that easy pickings like users and small time dealers are targeted. It’s known as “drugs on the table” or the “numbers game”. It doesn’t help anyone but as the problem grows, the more the public want results so showing that the police are being tough on drugs is hailed as the answer. The problem being that the answer is the actual cause.

Zero Tolerance is the basis for the "War on Drugs". Bronwyn Bishop even named her infamous report, “The Winnable War on Drugs”. Is it really winnable?

There are naysayers who believe a global fight against illegal drugs is unwinnable. I say emphatically they are wrong. Our slogan for the Special Session is "A Drug Free World - We Can Do It!" The United Nations and the International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) will help lead the way. - Towards a drug-free world by 2008 - we can do it…

-Pino Arlacchi. 1998. United Nations Under-Secretary-General

“We can do it” ... we didn’t. Not only didn’t we reach the goal of a drug free world, drug use increased. Those zany, crazy UN people.

Prohibition has been proven not to work for both drugs and alcohol. Funnily enough, we always refer to alcohol prohibition as a huge failure but it is minor in comparison to the failure of drug prohibition. This is what one of the greatest minds ever known had to say about prohibition.

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.

-Albert Einstein

John Howard was optimistic though.

We are making progress in the war against drugs, but we have a long way to go

-John Howard

There was one positive though according to US Republican and political commentator, P.J. O'Rourke .

Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system.

-P.J. O'Rourke

So who is right? Howard? Rudd? Pyne? Roxon? Which policy is best for Australia? Harm Minimisation? Zero Tolerance. John Howard never really knew what the official drug policy was for Australia and always said we have to be tough on drugs including users. Does Rudd support ZT or does he support evidence based policy? Well that’s hard to tell because there has been no official drug policy from Labor since they took office. Let’s see what the Rudd and Howard governments have said previously. BTW, Harm Minimisation is still the official drug policy since 1985.

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.

Nicola Roxon. ALP - Opposition Health Minister

We will never adopt a harm minimisation strategy; we will always maintain a zero tolerance approach.

-John Howard

We're judgemental when it comes to the undesirability of starting drug taking in the first place. We shouldn't be judgmental about people who have become addicted. We should be helpful towards them, we should offer them support, we should offer them rehabilitation and we should offer them comfort and affection.

-John Howard

Our general approach when it comes to drugs policy is one of zero tolerance

-Kevin Rudd. Opposition Leader.

I believe in evidence-based policy

-Kevin Rudd. Prime Minister

And finally we turn to Christopher Pyne for the final word on the complex issue of drug policy in Australia.

We firstly have to make people understand that using drugs is wrong, it's bad for them, it's bad for the general society because of all the problems that it causes.

-Christopher Pyne

Yes, again, he did say this.

So there we have it, evidence versus politics. It might be of interest to note that recently, nearly every credible report commissioned by a government into a strategy for making progress on the drug problem has been completely ignored by the government itself. Our politicians cannot defend themselves as not having adequate information on alternative policies or not knowing the damage that current strategies are having on society. The quotes I have presented might be humorous or even absurd but politicians, of all people, should be taking this subject seriously. Yes, we hear it all the time now, that this subject or that subject is above politics but illicit drugs are the second largest industry on the planet. Larger than oil or legal drugs and only out shadowed by weapons/miltary spending. It is responsible for much of the world’s crime and divides communities more than any other subject except maybe religion. The biggest issue though, is that the above issues which are man made and preventable keep getting documented and ignored by politicians. That’s truly shameful.

In thoughtful circles, the debate is over, harm reduction wins. 

Now the task is to get this through the political maze

-Dr. Alex Wodak

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