Like Lambs to the Slaughter

One of the major problems with most drug policies worldwide is the branding of users as criminals. This has led to many incidents where normal, everyday people have been locked up with hardened crims and left to defend for themselves in the vicious prison system. Ironically as Mexico decriminalised small amounts of drugs, one young man was detained for possession of cannabis only a few months shy of the new laws. Whilst in lockup, he was raped.

Youngster Was Detained For Marijuana Possession And Raped At Police Station
Momento24
August 2009


A young man was raped in the cells of Boulogne police station. He’d been detained for marijuana possession. The youngster’s lawyer, Jose Vera, announced that his client will file a millionaire suit against the state.

The fact came into light today, a day after the Supreme Court decriminalized the possession of drugs for personal use, but it had taken place in February 2007, .

The Court sentenced the rapist to 23 years in prison and ordered further proceedings against the police who didn’t watch over the boy.

“His life was ruined for a joint. It’s one of those cases that should have never happened,” said Vera.

“Many things failed. But above all we must point out the sensless criterion for detaining a boy for a whole weekend for a spliff.”

“Besides, it is also very serious that a college kid like this were locked into the same dungeon with really dangerous prisoners.”

The boy, named David, was arrested for a previous case so he didn’t possess any marijuana when he was nabbed by police.
The patrol officers decided to take him anyway and put him in jail.

The boy was placed in a cell with the prisoners’ leader Ricardo Juarez, alias “El Cabezon”, for two days. As soon as Juarez saw David threatened to impale him with a stick with a knife on the tip. Then he stole his belongings. The rape took place the following night. Juarez’s cell was unlocked and while the guard nodded off the accused sneaked off his cell, took David by the throat and raped him for ten minutes.

The next day David was released. The boy went to a hospital, who testified at trial that the boy had been abused. Then he contacted his attorney to take the case to Court where two years later Juarez was sentenced to 23 years in prison for aggravated sexual abuse and use of weapon. He also requested an appeal against the guard who neglected the victim.

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Collateral Damage
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Collateral Damage

They used to be called innocent victims of war but thanks to the amazing miracle of public relations, these innocent victims are now called collateral damage

Technically, collateral damage is not only reserved for those killed or brutalised during war but any unintentional damage including property. Most people though, know it to mean unnecessary deaths during a war especially the innocent. Property and the injured are usually overlooked. And face it, any collateral damage still breathing after an attack involving the latest weaponry used in modern warfare was probably better off being killed in the first place. I recent saw a documentary that said citizens killed during war now stands at about 90% of the total dead. Before WW1, it was about 10%. Mmmm, so much for precision weaponry and the obfuscatory rants by Donald Rumsfeld.

I wonder what the collateral damage is for that never ending war called the "War on Drugs"? Let’s see: victims of shoot-outs between street dealers, those caught in police drug raids, those caught up in the war between the Mexican cartels vs. the Mexican government, the farmers and citizens effected by Plan Columbia, Afghanis, the recipients of the death penalty, suicides, the prison population worldwide, medical marijuana patients, victims of drug related crime, families of drug addicts, HIV/AIDS/Hep C sufferers, drug mules, users, drug dealer’s wives, drug dealer’s children, those who are as a deterrent by the courts, those with chronic pain etc. The "War on Drugs" touches everyone in someway. Whether it’s just having to make way for police with sniffer dogs at the local nightclub or having your government installed by the US to help their operations eliminating coca plantations. You might be arrested for having medical marijuana you purchased legally or you might be shot accidently from a drug deal gone wrong. It may as severe as your daughter going into a coma and dying from contaminated pills or simply watching adult politicians ignoring scientific evidence and climbing over each other to prove who’s “toughest on drugs”. Everyday, it creeps more into your life. 
As the public start to realise the complete failure of the "War on Drugs", more extreme measures are being executed from both sides of the law. Mexico is a perfect example. The international black market for drugs is so huge that organised crime has more power than the government. Instead of tackling the source problem of prohibition that creates this power and wealth, the government stepped up it’s law enforcement operations to include the military. In retaliation to having their members arrested or killed, the drug cartels flexed their muscles and went on a terror campaign to get the upper hand. They rolled out decapitated heads onto a dance floor in a major nightclub, set up an ambush where they massacred a dozen drug enforcement officers and left them in a pile on the side of a road and even announced the deaths of certain officers over the police radio before killing them a few hours later. The response ... the government called in more army personnel to crack down even harder. On it goes... 

Closer to home, the amphetamines problem followed a similar path. As we saw in the TV show, Underbelly, the more police who zoned in on the manufacturers, the more violent they got. Then there was the crack down on cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine which is a core ingredient in street amphetamines. First they restricted sales of one packet per person but the illegal manufacturers organised “buying groups” who would visit multiply chemists each day. in 2006, products containing pseudoephedrine was rescheduled as a "Pharmacist Only Medicine" (Schedule 3) which meant it was only sold with approval of the pharmacist. Then they created a registry and refused sales to suspicious buyers which of course lead to break-ins and robberies. The latest trend is to ram-raid a car through the chemist shop window. When is someone going to be shot or stabbed, if it hasn’t happened already? What about those who are simply sick and need adequate medication - will they be refused their cold tablets? So what’s next? There is already talk of banning pseudoephedrine in Australia and some chemists have stopped selling products with pseudoephedrine all together. History tells us that organised crime will come up with a solution and the only losers will again be the public. The lesson is: when it comes to illegal drugs ... crime will find a way. Instead of removing prohibition - the source of profit for the black market, the "War on Drugs" mentality continues with the fanciful view that the war is winnable. And as the stakes get higher, the collateral damage grows.

Daughter Of Drug Agent Seized, Raped
Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Nikko Dizon
July 2009

MANILA, Philippines—A young daughter of a government agent involved in fighting drug syndicates was abducted at the weekend and later found drugged and sexually abused in a heinous attack that provoked Malacanang to warn late Sunday night: “This is now a war on drugs.”

The girl, a minor, is “still in shock” and is confined in a hospital, a top government official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, asking not to be identified because the family had asked him not to talk about the matter with the media.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said in a statement that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed herself in January the country’s “anti-drug czar,” had been told of the attack.

“The President has just been informed … We will mobilize all forces to help the family involved,” Remonde said.

Before Malacañang issued its statement, law enforcers said they were looking at a certain drug syndicate supposedly with political connections as the possible perpetrator of the attack.

The Inquirer decided not to identify the agent or the office where he works to protect the family’s identity and the girl’s interest.

A Philippine law on violence against women and children prohibits the publication of any identifying information about the victim or a family member without the family’s consent.

The tragedy that befell the family appears to show how audacious drug syndicates have become in the Philippines, which ranks fifth in the world in terms of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) seizures in the last 10 years.

Officials have put the value of the illegal drugs trade in the country at a high estimate of P300 billion and a low estimate of P150 billion a year.

The girl’s tragedy also strikes a grim parallel to what has happened in other countries where drug cartels and gangs have turned drug trafficking into a frightful, flourishing business.

In Mexico alone, nearly 10,000 drug traffickers, state agents and civilians have been killed in drug war-related incidents since 2007, the Los Angeles Times has reported. Some victims were beheaded.

‘This is narco-politics’

“Without discounting other suspects, I think this is the handiwork of a drug syndicate which was the subject of a recent crackdown … just by assessing previous incidents following the bust,” the top official told the Inquirer.

He described the syndicate as “well-connected politically.”

“This involves narco-politics. May kalaliman ito (This goes deep) assuming the angle we are pursuing is right. But we’re bent on considering that angle,” the official said.

Another theory is “baka napag tripan ng barkada (a gang might have taken a fancy to the girl) but that is speculative,” an Inquirer source said.

Sketchy reports indicated that the girl went missing on Saturday night. She was recovered at around 6 a.m. Sunday near a military facility in Luzon, the official said.

There had also been a previous, but failed, attempt to abduct the young girl, the official said.

Both the rich and poor

Illegal drugs have become an insidious, pervasive menace in the Philippines, sucking into their vortex both the rich and the poor.

Of the country’s 3.4 million drug users, 1.8 million are regular users while 1.6 million are occasional users, law enforcers said.

The 2009 World Drug Report released by the United Nations recently said the Philippines was fifth after China, the United States, Thailand and Taiwan in terms of shabu seizures from 1998 to 2007.

“The Philippines remains a significant source of high potency crystalline methamphetamine used both domestically and exported to locations in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania,” the report said.

It said that while many countries manufactured shabu, China, Burma (Myanmar) and the Philippines accounted for most of the production.

Foreign chemists

The report noted that the illegal drug was often manufactured in industrial-size laboratories operated by transnational organized crime syndicates and staffed by foreign chemists.

The UN report said that in 2007, a notable increase in the seizure of methamphetamine-related manufacturing facilities in the Philippines was reported with nine significant laboratories and 13 chemical warehouses seized. This rose to 10 laboratories in 2008.

The report identified interregional trafficking routes as being from Burma to Bangladesh and India; from Hong Kong, China, to Australia, Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand; from the Philippines to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States; and from East and Southeast Asia to Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The report said that global markets for cocaine, opiates and cannabis were steady or in decline, while the production and use of synthetic drugs was increasing in the developing world.

Cannabis or marijuana remained the most widely used drug around the world, although estimates were less precise. With a report from Inquirer Research

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Peter Lloyd vs The Rabble

... I'd give him a souvenier of Singapore, 50 of the best across his bare back.

-Comment from Judge Dread of North Perth. NEWS.com.au

What is it with the Australian public and their complete hatred of fellow humans who get caught taking drugs? What did Peter Lloyd do to society to receive such vile comments from readers all over Australia or more importantly, longer jail time than some violent offenders? No one can justify 10 months in a high security Singapore prison for possession of 0.41 grams of ice. Peter Lloyd needs help not prison. The ignorance on display as to why people take drugs is astonishing considering the amount of real information available at our fingertips. Imagine if it was someone that these readers knew because then they might actually have to understand what they’re talking about before going off at the mouth like savages.

ABC Reporter, Peter Lloyd, Jailed For Drug Offences

The Australian

Dec. 2008

ABC reporter Peter Lloyd has been jailed for 10 months by a Singapore court for drug offences.

Lloyd, 42, the ABC's former New Delhi-based correspondent, pleaded guilty to all three charges.

Judge Hamidah Ibrahim sentenced Lloyd to eight months for possessing the stimulant methamphetamine and another eight months for consuming it. The sentences are to run concurrently.

He was charged with possessing 0.41 grams (0.014 ounces) of the stimulant, also known as ice.

Lloyd received an additional two months in jail for possessing drug paraphernalia stained with ketamine, an anaesthetic which police say has become common at dance parties.

Lloyd's reaction to the sentence could not be immediately determined because he stood with his back to the public gallery.

His ex-wife broke down in tears and had to be consoled by a friend.

The television reporter has been free on bail but his jail sentence was to begin today.

His lawyer, Hamidul Haq, said earlier that Lloyd had expressed remorse.

He was arrested while on holiday in Singapore on July 16.

Singapore's attorney general last month withdrew a charge of trafficking 0.15 grams of methamphetamine against Lloyd.

The offence carried a prison term of between five and 20 years behind bars and five to 15 strokes of the cane.

Singaporean sales executive Sani Saidi, 31, was sentenced in August to 10 months' jail after pleading guilty to possessing 0.15 grams of methamphetamine which he admitted having bought from Lloyd.

Murdoch media outlets are infamous for their visceral, narrow minded readers who are rapidly gaining a reputation as being cruel and sadistic. It seems schadenfreude is their favourite sport as many of these readers constantly make inhumane comments especially about drug users.

Don't have any sympathy for this man, especially as he was a journalist, you damn well should have known better, don't care if you rot in jail.

-Comment by 1grumpy of WA of Spearwood. NEWS.com.au

I have written before about these low-lifes who are prepared to laugh off the fate of those subjected to draconian and barbaric drug laws like the Bali 9 and Schapelle Corby. Spewing out hateful, arrogant comments based on ignorance may just be due to the anonymity of the internet and when face to face, they may be more reasonable. I doubt it though. The common factor in these comments are the drug myths which is the result from nearly 40 years of scare tactics and anti-drug propaganda. In a quest to demonise drug use, governments have succeeded to fill our heads with misinformation and a belief that drug use is a gauge of someone’s value. Add to this, the influence of the nutty religious right on conservative politics and you have a large group of the public who see drug users as godless, social dependant misfits who are too weak or lazy to take responsibility for themselves. As usual, the right take the most simplistic view possible when an issue requires actions that might upset their comfort zone. The real worry though is the aggressive nature of these comments which lack any humanity at all. I wonder if they made the same sort of comments when conservatives like George Bush, Rush Limbaugh or Cindy McCain were reported abusing drugs?

Good riddance. I get sick and tired of people coming out with all the "special" reasons why they succumb to drugs. Perhaps, now, he'll have plenty of time to think about how stupid he is to take drugs and how especially stupid he is to take them in a country known for its hard line on drugs.

-Comment by Jeff. NEWS.com.au

Drug use is a medical issue and serving 10 months in a Singapore prison is not going to achieve anything positive for anyone especially Peter Lloyd. How a drug user can still be jailed in this day and age is worrying particularly for such a small amount. There is no evidence that punitive actions against drug users achieves a positive outcome for society and is, in fact proven to do the opposite. Given the recent knowledge that he is also suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), he should be receiving medical treatment in a hospital or clinic. But this is really just an excuse for out-of-date, ineffective laws that serve no purpose except appeasing moralists, politicians and anti-drug proponents. Sending people to jail does not deter drug use and Singapore has the same drug problem as any other country. Such severe penalties only drive users further underground away from medical help which is probably why new HIV/AIDS cases in 2007 were the highest for a single year since records first started in 1985. The official figures say that 93% of HIV/AIDS cases were from heterosexual sex but you have to wonder if Singapore’s extreme laws against homosexuality, drug use and promiscuous behaviour has an effect on how it is reported by sufferers.

I wish Peter Lloyd all the best over the next 10 months and hope that he remains safe. Changi prison is a modern facility with humane conditions so hopefully his time will fly by quickly. Although trash media like NEWS.com may bring out the nutters, there are just as many who feel for Peter Lloyd and feel his punishment is extreme. I hope he realises this if he ever has the misfortune of reading the ugly comments from some truly fucked up individuals.

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Another Avoidable and Senseless Death

We are so lucky to have a moral conscience in this country. You know, those moral crusaders who want to be tough on drugs and damn the consequesnces . Who cares why people take drugs, it’s illegal and immoral and that’s what counts. Think of the children who will be given the wrong message if we go soft on drugs. Well they have succeeded. The message has got through and the result is yet another shattered family at the death of a young family member. The message was clear and precise ... if you use drugs, the cops are going to get you and your arse is toast. You will get no sympathy for your actions and you will face the wrath of the law, the public and your peers. Melanie Boyd’s friends had probably heard this often and they reacted just like you would expect. Now Melanie Boyd is dead and this avoidable death is again, the direct result of of our loud and obnoxious moral conscience. What were the first thoughts of these young people when they discovered people convulsing? It wasn’t what we hoped, for that had been drummed out of them and replaced with the loud voices of the moral conscience crusaders. The fact they even discussed what to do showed common sense and humanity being over ridden with guilt and fear, the perfect weapons for the tough on drugs rhetoric. Now we have a family in mourning unable to forgive these kids who themselves will probably never be able to forget what happened. I just want to know if the Devines and Akermans of the media, the Baxter’s and Bressingtons of the anti-drug brigade, the Pynes and the Bishops of politics are ever going to be held accountable for their foolish, irresponsible behaviour? It’s their voices that our young hear as they are confronted with reality and if ever someone was sending the wrong message, this is it. Coincidentally, Harm Minimisation is criticised most by these moral crusaders which is the very thing that would have saved Melanie Boyd. I need to know why these kids weren’t taught to get help first then worry about the consequences. I need to know why we have allowed our young to even hesitate for a second before calling an ambulance because of a drug overdose. I need to know why education material like the “Choosing to use” booklet is shredded yet it’s message saves lives. Like WW1, the bodies are mounting yet the call is to keep going. From afar the real situation is obscured by fallacious and selfish ideology with little consideration for the victims. It’s so easy to give orders when you are not in the line of fire and you’re driven by the inexorable need to be right. Is the selfish quest for whatever bizarre ideology these people have more important than our kids lives? We know the answer to this but apparently the moral crusaders doesn’t.

Melanie Boyd Wanted to Call for Help at Townsville Pharm Party -Partygoers More Worried About Involving Police By Peter Michael news.com October 2008 TEENAGER Melanie Boyd begged her friends to call for help after taking a lethal cocktail of booze and drugs, an inquest was told. But by the time an ambulance was called, three hours after she was found "blue" and "struggling to breathe", the popular Townsville private schoolgirl, 16, was dead. In a tearful apology yesterday, Matthew Aubrey, 20, told an inquest into her June 2006 death that the first-time drug taker wanted to call for help when two fellow drug users at the "pharm party" fell into fits of convulsions. "Mel had a phone, she said if it's happened to them I don't want this to happen to me," Mr Aubrey told the Townsville Coroner's Court. But the six partygoers talked each other out of calling for an ambulance - because they did not want to involve the police. "It was not my party, not my house, not my call," said the youth, who was 18 at the time and the oldest at the party. "Knowing what I know now, I wish I was smarter." Parents Laurie and Julie Boyd angrily refused to accept his emotional plea for forgiveness as well as that of the teenage girl who supplied the drugs and hosted the beachfront house party. "We thought we were invincible," said the girl, whose identity has been suppressed by the court. She said she had not touched drugs since that fateful party. "It scared me straight. "I'm sorry it took something this catastrophic to make me realise how precious life is." "I think we thought we were better and it would not happen to us." Coroner Brian Smith presiding over the inquest heard "pharm parties", mixing alcohol, marijuana and prescription pills, had become popular among the nation's youth. In a twist, it emerged that the girls who snorted lines of a white powder, popped up to eight anti-depressants and pain killers, and slammed shots of rum had not taken speed, or crystal meth, as believed by police. "I told them (the other girls) it was speed. I wanted to be cool, I wanted to be accepted," the girl said. She said she emptied the contents of an unknown capsule into a bag which they divided up into lines, before raiding her mother's drug cabinet for blue and orange pills. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of Mel and wish it had all never happened," she said.

Related Artilces:Avoidable and Senseless Death

Diary: Avoidable and Senseless Death

DIARY: My step-niece died last week from a heroin overdose. She leaves behind her young daughter, her partner, family and friends. Although I wasn’t close with Kelly, her death did hurt people around me. This is the hardest part of any death. What drives me crazy though is that her death was unnecessary. The pain I am witnessing from her family was avoidable but still the politicians rumble along with policies that ignore deaths like this. This is going to change the life of her family forever especially her mother who I know very well. I am always going to see a broken woman from now on. Her pain or Kelly’s death though, will not effect the lives of those who set the foundations for this event to take place or those who support that we further alienate addicts. Even as I write this, I received another email from Jo Baxter of DFA on the ANCD email forum pushing her selfish agenda that was the basis of Kelly’s death. Ironic? Kelly was trying to get clean from heroin so she could have her child returned to her. After a rash decision to use heroin, she took her usual dose which was somewhat stronger than she was used to. After being clean for several months, her normal dose was too strong for her but it was the random extra strength that killed her. Added to this, she was alone because she was shameful of her use. She has been told repeatedly that she was a disgusting junkie for being addicted to heroin so rather than have someone around to make sure she was safe, she did the opposite and hid from everyone. Kelly’s partner found her slumped in a chair in the lounge room without life. Being a non user, he must be wondering why his loved one felt it necessary to purchase her drug of addiction from some criminal in a back alley which ultimately killed her. He must be confused why she even needed it. If someone who lives with an addict can’t understand, how do the politicians and lawmakers who ignore the advice from addiction experts understand? I suppose, dead people don’t vote. How can we as a society refuse to acknowledge that addiction is much stronger than a simple desire to quit. How many people have to die before politicians, moral crusaders and the likes of Jo Baxter/DFA stop pushing their selfish agenda on us all and cease their fantasy of a drug free world? When will reality and facts start to protect our loved ones from something as powerful as addiction? These are questions that have been burned onto the minds of Kelly’s family but for them it is too late. I hope the bastards who make these draconian policies and the supporters are happy with their result. R.I.P. Kelly.

More Drug War Casualties in Australia

According to the Sunday Herald, Melbourne is now losing a war against heroin because of the rising number of heroin users in lock-ups . What is really happening is that more addicts are desperately trying to deal with massive pain and suffering, committing crime to pay for their drugs and are then being jailed for it. Heroin addiction requires large amounts of money because of current prohibition type policies but the law based on these policies seem to overlook exactly what addiction is. Tough laws might deter some criminals for some crimes but the very nature of addiction makes these laws pointless. You need to be rational at the time of committing a crime to understand the deterrence but addiction overrides this rationality ... that’s what addiction is. Why can’t this simple concept be understood?

Melbourne City Losing War Against HeroinSunday Herald Laurie Nowell September 2008 VICTORIA'S illicit drugs crisis is worsening, with a study finding Melbourne is the nation's new drug capital. The research, comparing key police lock-ups across the country, found more than half those detained in Footscray were heroin users. The Australian Institute of Criminology study found the next highest rate of heroin use was 15 per cent at Brisbane central, then 12 per cent at Parramatta and Adelaide. The study also found more than 73 per cent of detainees at Footscray tested positive to an illicit drug - mostly heroin or benzodiazepines (tranquillisers). All those arrested for robbery, car theft, possession of drugs or as a result of a warrant tested positive to illegal drugs. And 80 per cent of those arrested for selling drugs were users. Half of violent offenders tested positive for drugs - 38 per cent to heroin - and half of drink drivers also tested positive to illegal drugs. The study found drug use among Footscray detainees had increased more than 12 per cent in the past year. Youth worker Les Twentyman said many parts of Melbourne were "awash with heroin". "It's back with a vengeance," he said. "We haven't seen so much on the streets since the late 1990s, when we were seeing more than 300 lethal overdoses each year. "Footscray, the CBD and Fitzroy, Dandenong, Frankston, Richmond, Collingwood, St Albans have all become beats again where users are going to score." An institute of criminology spokeswoman said the study would continue over four years. "The Footscray figures obviously show that heroin is becoming available again," she said. The Sunday Herald Sun revealed last month soaring use of heroin, amphetamines and cannabis in Victoria.

Drug Hysteria Ignores Trauma Suffering

S.A. Veterans' Affairs Minister, Michael Atkinson is a twat. A nasty, selfish, slimy political twat. Atkinson has used the suffering of hundreds of soldiers with post-traumatic stress syndrome as a vote gaining exercise, strengthening the ignorance of the current drug freaked, S.A. government. Why do I get the feeling that, Zero Tolerance bogan, Ann Bressington is behind this as well.

Kanck Blasts Atkinson Ecstasy 'No'

AdelaideNow

June 20, 2008

DEMOCRAT Sandra Kanck has accused Veterans' Affairs Minister Michael Atkinson of being "hysterical" and "cynical" in attacking her call for an investigation into the use of ecstasy for war veterans.

Ms Kanck yesterday questioned in parliament whether the government would consider a trial of MDMA - also known as ecstasy - for soldiers.

She said trials of MDMA on soldiers with post-traumatic stress syndrome in the U.S. and Israel had shown "excellent results."

But Mr Atkinson said the Government would "not be supporting Sandra Kanck's latest rave" and "Vietnam Veterans are not laboratory mice for a left-wing social experiment."

Ms Kanck said if Mr Atkinson "really cared about veterans," he would look into any proposal that might help them and their families.

"He is either too superstitious to consider the science and the evidence or he is playing cynical politics," she said.

"'Veterans, like other Australians, are already being prescribed powerful drugs like highly addictive morphine for pain relief and benzodiazepines for post traumatic stress disorder. Both are potentially addictive and dangerous drugs."

Atkinson’s link to the street drug ecstasy from the medical pharmaceutical, MDMA is staggering. Somehow, he has classed a proven treatment as a “left-wing social experiment" purely because some people call it ecstasy. It’s still MDMA but people like Atkinson and Bressington ignore the benefits, and play on the public’s misconceptions which shows them up as having another agenda at hand. Ann Bressington is one of main critics of anything to do with illegal drugs, regardless of context.

Reading the comments from a related article at AdelaideNow is revealing. Over half give their support to scientific research of MDMA if it helps relieve PTSS in returning soldiers. The comment against MDMA are nearly all personal attacks on Sandra Kanck and have no basis at all which sounds surprisingly a lot like the official line of Atkinson and Bressington. Any new comer to the subject could be forgiven for thinking that it is an historical article from 1954. Sadly, we have come this far as a society yet we continue to ignore the lessons from history.

Sandra Kanck - A Example of What Politicians Should Be

I have been quite disturbed by an emerging trend of conservatism in politics.

-Hon. Sandra Kanck. S.A. MP

In 2006, Sandra Kanck gave a speech in parliament about drug hysteria and the influence of religion in politics. She revealed some disturbing facts about some MPs, including the rejection of Darwin's theory of evolution(thus believing in Noah’s Ark), making statements about drugs without any research and claims that religion influence their decisions.

“I am a servant of Christ, and subject to His reign in history.”

-Hon. Bernard Finnigan. S.A. MP

There were several interjections, mostly from Ann Bressington who kept it up constantly, but without the ability to go into her usual, unqualified rant, Bressington came across as an annoying, loud mouth bogan. Kanck even used some of the interjections as part of her speech which made Bressington look even sillier, if that is possible.

Sandra Kanck put the truth out there for the parliament to hear. SK used pill testing at raves/dance parties as an example of how ineffective current policies are and how far some will go to stop new initiatives with no valid evidence. Her reasoning was spot on, especially on the catch 22 situation of prohibiting certain research into illicit drugs which meant there was no evidence supporting many government strategies. A previous parliament submission for pill testing by SK was backed by overseas experience which showed that many potential pill users simply threw their drugs away, when after testing, were informed what was actually in them. Her proposal wasn’t accepted in S.A. because the government couldn’t agree to giving the pills back to the users once tested. SK noted, that without pill testing, ALL of the potential pill users took the pills. BTW, Bressington interjected several times.

SK is one of the few politicians who are not fearful of being tagged as ‘soft on drugs’. This method has been used by Ann Bressington before which puts her in the ‘typical, vote hungry’ politician category. Anyone who dares criticise the failing ‘tough on drugs’ policy is deemed to be pro-drugs which is the epitome of conservative, black and white thinking on the drug problem. Even the Democrats leader in 2006, Lyn Allison gave opposing views to the media about MDMA, showing that saving your political skin is far more entrenched than we may think.

I admire SK for doing what all politicians were elected to do ... to tell the truth and put the welfare of Australia before their own personal political careers.

One of the tasks I have taken on in my remaining four years in this parliament is to turn the spotlight on fundamentalism and extremism and to let the public know what the people they elected really stand for. I am not scared of a public backlash, because I will not stand for re-election. I am quite happy to take a position against the mainstream, but it will always be a well-researched position, as I showed regarding the history of MDMA. Simply because something is mainstream is not a good reason to take a position in support of it.

-Hon. Sandra Kanck. S.A. MP

I encourage everyone to read Sandra’s speech, it’s a breath of fresh air.

Rudd & Welfare Payments for Drug Users?

Last year, ex PM John Howard said he was going to quarantine welfare payments for people convicted of drug offences. In an interview before Howard's announcement, Rudd had already said he was in favour of restricting payments of drug addicted parents. Is Rudd going to invoke Howard's harsher strategy?

With the introduction of the ‘income management debit card’ in last night’s budget, the basics have been established and the plan is to roll it our nationally starting with Aboriginal communities in NT. Can the government resist extending it too far?

An article from Blogocracy last week talks about the proposed debit card for Aboriginal parents who are negligent towards their children. It quotes an extract from an article in The Australian.

A NATIONAL welfare card that will allow the Government to control payments to negligent parents across the country will be unveiled in Tuesday’s budget.

The debit card - to be introduced in selected indigenous communities before being rolled out across Australia - will ensure half of the cardholders’ welfare payments are spent on approved goods and services, such as food and clothing for their children, rather than wasted on alcohol and drugs. The card will not carry a photograph but will be PIN-coded to prevent it being sold on the black market and abused by welfare-dependent parents.

The Government last night confirmed plans for the card, saying it would slash red tape for business and make it easier for welfare recipients to obtain goods by widening the number of outlets where quarantined welfare payments could be accepted.

It will initially be introduced into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia, where the Government has begun quarantining welfare payments to improve standards of care for children. But the Government plans to roll the program out across the country and into white communities.

-The Australian

The article is prior to the budget so there is still some uncertainty. Nevertheless, comments started to speculate whether the welfare card should be distributed into the white community. Instinctively many started on why drug users should have their payments restricted or even stopped. There was plenty of opinions both ways but a comment from one reader put the problem in perspective:

This is a band-aid solution - it does nothing to address the real issues. I don’t think it will result in any real change at all. People aren’t going to stop problem drinking or drug use because of a card. When you make it harder, you just make people more deceptive.

-jm of adelaide

JM of Adelaide had hit the real issue. The crackdown on negligent parents was not the only problem, the use of penalties on drug addicts was. A debit card as a welfare penalty is one more issue that people with health issues like addiction have to deal with. There is an underlying health problem being ignored and applying a restriction will just create more desperate and maybe more deceptive practices to obtain money for drugs. Blogocracy content and it's readers are leagues above the usual Daily Telegraph/Herald-Sun/Courier etc. crap but many of the comments made were still ignorant of the health issue and were happy to dish out harsh penalties to those who really need help.

... if they test positive to drugs they automatically go on to the welfare debit card, if they are not already on it, and are subject to testing for the next 3 months. If they are already on the debit card they lose 10% of their cash payment, and 10% each time they test positive, after a month of no positive test they go back to normal. If they wipe out their complete cash payment Centrelink starts paying their rent and the have the debit card for food. At the end of the day though there is only so much you can do to help people.

When you drive down the street on a dole Thursday and see people passed out in the median strip there is something wrong. As the tax payers who support the system that gives them the money to do this we are responsible. The current system is not making the problem any better so we have to try something different, and anything we can do to stop them drinking themselves to death has to be an improvement.

-Link

I was interested to know how Link deducted that the “people passed out in the median strip” receive payment on “dole Thursday”. The fact is there is no set day for unemployment payments. Similar to how my brother once said that the streets were out of control on ‘methadone day’ assuming that methadone patients got dosed on the same, one day of the week. Interestingly, he said it was Thursday as well. Also, Link’s plan to penalise drug use is as ignorant as it gets. It’s a familiar argument though, where if tested positive, instead of getting help, you get punished. What if the person was given drugs for free? There’s no misspending of their welfare payment but would be penalised anyway. Moral welfare?

Why should government welfare go to supporting a drug habit(thats all drugs not just the illegal ones).Which currently they do.Should government be in the business of encouraging its citizens drug dependence.Then having to pay for the medical conditions that result from that dependence.

-sandgroper

When it becomes mainstream for welfare, who determines who receives the card and what they can buy? If someone has a drug problem are they allowed to buy smokes or porn? What about a heroin addict on treatment, would they qualify? And if they lapse for for a few weeks, what then? Most people on treatment lapse sometimes and if they don’t have cash ... that leaves begging, borrowing or crime.

I still like the idea of drug & alcohol testing people when they get the dole. -Link

So you go out for a family diner paid by your brother, have a few glasses of red wine and tested the next day. Where does this leave you? What about pornography testing? Gambling testing? The ‘income management debit card’ cannot be used to purchase alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling or to withdraw cash.

There was even that favourite of the modern right, “if you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide”.

If you want the money it is because you want to spend it on things the government did not provide it for.

-sandgroper

The need to punish drug users was often outweighing the actual discussion of restricting welfare payments of those who neglect their children. It was becoming a forum for why drug users/addicts should get payment at all.

If any parents, aboriginal or otherwise, want to kill themselves with drugs and alcohol they can do it for all I care. I just don’t see why tax-payers should subsidise it, and if this card goes towards preventing that then I’m all for it.

-Banjo of Brisbane

And even this.

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.

-Adrian of Nowra

If the purpose of the ‘income management debit card’ is to stop purchases of alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling or to withdraw cash, what's to stop the government expanding the program to include workers? The current plan is targeted at a specific group but the government hasn't announced it's drug policy yet.

A lot of posters seem to assume that only welfare recipients neglect or abuse their children. What about parents who have jobs and waste their money on drugs, alcohol and gambling and neglect or abuse their children? Will the government confiscate their wages and issue them with a card?

-janetheunhowardhugger

Would you support the quarantining of payments for all Australian parents who use drugs and neglect their children? The moralists will argue feverishly for this and in today's political climate, it may be a vote winner. Somehow though, I feel the emphasis will be on the drug usage separately from the neglect of children. The one bright spot is that both Nicola Roxon and Kevin Rudd have mentioned that future drug policies need to be more individualised. An extremely important point that Howard's Zero Tolerance badly missed with it's blanket approach. Remember Howard was determined to change drug terminology and lump all drug use into one evil bucket of death.

And I’m seeking to conclude our point about child welfare to say that that policy was put out by us in July this year prior to Mr Howard making any such statement. Secondly, on the question of broader quarantining of welfare payments, we believe that the smart thing to do there is to take the advice of a combination of the police and the relevant health authorities as to what is best in individual circumstances. And I’ve tried to look at the detail of what Mr Howard has said. It’s full of holes, and I’d much rather see what concrete proposals he’s really additionally suggesting here. Our approach to this is to make sure that we’ve got a tailored approach to individual circumstances which is based on the best law enforcement advice, and the best advice of the health professionals.

-Kevin Rudd. Radio Interview ABC 774 Melbourne. November 2007

Once again we are seeing a health issue being treated with disciplinary action. I have no qualms about parents who neglect their children being scrutinised and dealt with but these new measures and the possible outcomes are also targeting drug addicts are a priority. They are not targeting drug addicts to help them as there are many other ways to help that are being ignored. Punitive actions are counter productive and do not address the core problems. I once described these actions as fighting a fire. You need to attack the base not the tips of the flame. It might dull the fire and keep it out of sight from a distance but the core fuel is burning hot as ever. Simply put, welfare quarantining for drug addicts solely because of their drug use does not fix the problem, it makes it worst. Medicine diagnosed addiction hundreds of years ago. Society just chose to treat it as a crime.

Diary: BUSTED. One Less Dealer - 10 More Problems

DIARY: A small time drug dealer was busted last week and instead of one less dealer on the streets, we got a string of events that racked up about $100, 000 of costs to the government, one nearly dead and plenty of devastated lives. Is busting small time dealers really worth it and who really benefits from it? ... And are these small time dealers the ‘scourge of society’ as we are constantly being told? The stupidity of our drug policies are becoming common knowledge as more and more people are effected by it. The silly actions stemming from the law & order aspect is contradictory and I wonder how long before (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) L.E.A.P. start a branch in Australia. My dealer got busted the other day. While most might think this is a good outcome, the ramifications were disastrous. My dealer is Vietnamese and a heroin addict. He sells heroin to support the habits of his wife and himself. He has a small but steady cliental who he knows personally from the years of supplying them heroin. There are rarely disputes and he is certainly cautious about what he sells and how much he sells it for. He keeps about 10-15 addicts with a steady supply and we know his gear is fairly much safe compared to just buying it from an unknown. His wife works part time and he shares the caring of their child with his mother as they all live in the one house. The mother works from home and puts in 12-14 hours every day with work and looking after other younger family members. The proceeds from the dealing only supports their habits and the mother kicks in a few hundred dollars each month to top up the cash needed to score. They have a finely balanced lifestyle which is hand to mouth but she manages to educate her children and keep her family in a modest but loving family. So one morning, 7 police officers smash down his door (a bungalow at the side of the main house) and raid him. He just tells them where the drugs are but not satisfied, they rip his whole room up. As he is thrown up against the wall, he tries to alert them there is a child sleeping in the bed but he is smashed in the face by a female police officer. As he is panicking and yelling to stop, he is repeatedly smashed in the face now by 2 officers. Too late, 4-5 heavy boxes have been thrown on his young daughter who is now dazed and crying. Meanwhile a few officers are in the main house where they have demanded his mother hand over all her “drug money”. She can’t speak English so they take from her purse $70 and leave. The dealer is escorted to the police station and charged with supply of a narcotic (6 x .4 gram deals). There is no mention of the $70 from his mother or the $660 they took from his pocket. Incidentally, for the last 5 years since he previously got busted, whenever his mother is spotted driving around by a certain few police officers, they pull her over and take all her money. She can’t speak English and after copping a slap across the face when she first protested, she just gives them what they want. I actually wrote an official complaint on their behalf but never received any confirmation of my complaint. I had also emailed the police twice about his mother and still, no response. What happens when a supplier of a commodity is removed from the scene for a period of time? Buyers go elsewhere ... they don’t magically disappear. One regular client went to the city in desperation and found a dealer in 15 minutes. He paid $200 ($60 more than usual), went home and overdosed. He had been given some filler chemical and it poisoned him. He is still in hospital and with no income, his family is suffering greatly. He owns a gardening business and employs a helper who has also lost his income. A few of us have started to do his regular jobs until he is well enough to get back to work. The dealer organised it out of guilt. So what was the outcome of busting this heroin dealer? One person nearly dead, his family in disarray with financial problems, his business losing regular clients daily, his employee without a job. Another two people needing money desperately to treat their addiction, preparing to go to jail for about a year or two, having to build up enough money to start over again. A traumatised child who had several heavy boxes lobbed on top of her whilst asleep, having to live without her father when he goes to jail. A family missing an adult who does most of the running around like shopping, taking his wife to work, taking kids to and from school etc., a family missing much needed money that went to corrupt cops. A busted door. 10-15 addicts doomed to buy their drugs from unknown sources. Oh and one more statistic for the police to say they are being “tough on drugs”. Stopping this small dealer, didn’t stop the flow of drugs one iota. It had no positive effect on society but cost us lots of money ... jail for the dealer for about 1-2 years, 7 police officers, hospital for overdose, employee on the dole, his wife on the dole and more. The dealer had a choice to sell drugs to addicts who were going to buy them anyway, steal cars, burgle houses or rob people, or get a job paying over $100K per year. he chose the most practical without having to resort to crime that would hurt people. That’s his nature. He refuses to take stolen property for heroin and he frowns upon addicts who rob people and usually doesn’t have them as clients. He even arranged to help the guy who overdosed. He is not a bad person but according to our drug policy and many Australians, he is the scum of the earth. The whole crazy situation could have been avoided if Australia had prescription heroin. None of this would have happened and the dealer and family along with the overdose victim would not have been in such a precarious position. As we have seen, policing does nothing but cost society a lot of money and make criminals out of people with addictions. It’s almost like a story line from a science fiction novel. I can imagine 20 years from now when we look back to the “dark old days” and how for 50 years we were so terrified of addiction that we tried to rub it out, killing over a million people in the process. I wonder why other countries offer prescription heroin with great success but we don’t. Will it change? Will incidents like the above keep happening? and if so, for how long?