The only thing to do is to open up a government endorsed 'ice' ingesting centre. It should be a raging success like the heroin injecting room. Just because ice addicts have taken over the heroin injecting centre and assaults are up in that centre is no reason for society to turn its back on the idea of an 'ice' ingesting centre. It could serve as being emblematic of our advancement.

A welcome article on the latest wave of illicit drugs that our ineffective and inefficient prohibitionist stance cannot prevent or contain.
Ice may be the latest batch but it wont be the last or perhaps the worst as drug potency seems to be increasing.
Our politicians don't have the answers, they pass it off as a law enforcement issue and pretend to ignore the consequences. Some of these consequences are corruption of our law enforcement agencies, widespread crime associated with drug use and community fragmentation.

I think a more productive approach would be to treat illicit drug use as a mental health issue rather than a law enforcement issue. This would allow a fresh approach to a difficult issue, this different perspective may also look into why so many people in one of the most liveable countries in the world turn to drugs in the first place.

There is only one real solution to the drug epidemic, the same as there was only one solution to bootleg alcohol during the American era of prohibition: Create goverment run laboratories to produce and sell the drugs cheaply, cleanly & of consistent quality.

Long as they're illegal there's no control over quality as the author rightly asserts, and think of the government revenue!
The money could go into treatment, and we all know if it's legal the criminals will leave the industry. This has been proven with both gambling and alochol.

There can be no victory by governments over the drug cartels, as they are like the Hydra's head.

People who don't want to do drugs won't, which is why countries which relaxed their laws have not experienced significant rises drug abuse.

From what I've heard the only reason Australia continues with a full scale war on drugs is due to puritanical US influence.
Do people realise heroin and meth were the most commonly prescribed drugs in the 20's & 30's? They were dished out like lollies for every ailment imaginable. Then suddenly they were demonised by conservatives in America, and hey presto we got another war on our hands. I wonder who really profits from this war? Try gun, tactical gear, body armour, armoured car manufacturers, or the cotton & textile industries to name a few. Powerful lobby groups, no?

I read an article several years ago where the AMA demanded the Australian government nationalise labs, and sell drugs to addicts very cheaply. This of course was rejected outright despite medical professionals stating it was the only way.

I say stop wasting our taxes on this impossible war, and spend it on services, education & councilling for users, create national labs, and cut the industry out from under the scum who sell this stuff to our kids.

To qualify, my mother and step father both work in mental health, and they both think the same as above. Also, I've lost three mates to heroin so I know the pain of losing someone this way.

Here is what Milton Friedman had to say about the war on drugs. No government labs, full privatisation!

http://www.druglibrary.org/special/friedman/socialist.htm

http://alternet.org/story/45010/

I agree 100% with you guys on this.

This is an excellent article.

For too long, reform of illicit drug policy has languished on the political backburner. Major political parties are generally afraid to touch it, due the the response of the tabloids and shock jocks.

However, our current "war on drugs" mentality simply does not work. Drug abuse, both legal and illegal is rampant in our society. It is an expensive waste of time and effort that does nothing to help addicts, stop drug related crime or reduce blood bourne diseases like Hep C and HIV. It is a major HEALTH problem.

However, the ever unpopular medically supervised injecting centre in Sydney has been a great success. For me, in all the statistics there are two very important numbers:
- 1700 people have overdosed in the premises, and have received life saving treatment. Not a single death has occured
- More than 2000 users have been refered to treatment and rehab services.

The MSIC was not a popular policy. But it seems to be working. We need more of this kind of thinking to truly help users and addicts of many drugs. Drug policy need to be reformed.