Pubdate: Wed, 6 Dec 2000
Source: Canberra Times (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 Canberra Times
Contact:  http://www.canberratimes.com.au/
Authors: Jennifer Saunders, Peter Watney

DRUG PROHIBITION BENEFITS ONLY THE DEALERS

CRISPIN HULL raises the vexed question of sentencing parity in drug- 
related crimes (CT, December 2, pC1). His article illustrates what a 
circular argument it all is.

Traditionally the courts have sentenced those charged with supplying 
drugs more harshly than the user of those drugs when the user commits 
the almost inevitable crimes to pay the suppliers.

The reasoning behind this is analogous to the higher penalties 
allowed in the Crimes Act for the receivers of stolen property than 
for those who stole it in the first place - if there was no-one to 
receive the goods there would be no point in stealing them.

For drug-related crimes this translates to the logic that if there 
were no drugs to buy there would be no crimes committed in order to 
pay for them.

What is the answer to all this? Isn't it screamingly, 
up-in-neon-lights obvious that the answer is to make heroin legal? 
Provide heroin on prescription and the dealer's trade vanishes 
overnight - and your video and television are safe and video stores 
and supermarkets can send the security guards home.

The only people who do well out of the present prohibition are the dealers.

JENNIFER SAUNDERS
Canberra City

WE MUST REMOVE PROFIT MARGIN

The Australian Institute of Criminology's annual ACT drug survey 
reported by Leah de Forest (CT p4, Dec 1) adds urgency to the need to 
change our present policies.

The report mentions use commencing as young as 12 years.

There is no point in blaming the 12 year olds, or in blaming their 
parents or their school. These facts have been discovered 
retrospectively by anecdotes extracted from the users years after 
they started use, and only then because their use has come to 
attention.

There is no point in blaming the traffickers, because we are only 
able to identify a small percentage of them, and their arrest and 
incarceration immediately results in a new recruit or two to their 
profitable ranks.

Twentieth Century prohibition has resulted in profit margins far 
greater than for any service or product throughout world history.

This trend will worsen until we have the courage to bring these 
dangerous drugs back within the law, remove the enormous profit 
margins that encourage sale to disaffected young, and provide 
adequate treatment to dependent users.

PETER WATNEY
Holt
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