Zero tolerance towards drugs is a myth. A few ads do not a policy make. Nor a few speeches. There is no coherent drug policy in oz. Court decisions can mock and undermine a no drugs stance. The entertainment industry too often play the subject for laughs. Many an artist has revelled in their outlaw druggie images, and made drugs themselves their subjects. On FM radio particularly, drugs are part of their 'comedy' routines.

A few well meant ads don't stand a chance.

We need a coherent drug policy that includes realistic education, plentiful counselling for users and consistent penalty for sellers and producers of drugs.

The difference between legal and illegal drugs is a mere peice of legislation, and what makes drugs illegal is a policy of prohibition that never worked before, doesn't work now and will never work at any time.
Substances colloqually referred to as drugs are either legal or not, but their effect is always negative, and even more negative when their production, distribution and sale are unregulated regarding price, quality and availability.
Legalising them all is the more acceptable answer than the current practice however utterly unpalatable that may be. Kinda like the difference between being hung or being strangled.
Getting tough on drugs is a pointless and expensive operation, and will never be addressed until someone in the political sphere does a cost/benefit analysis on legalisation, and either comes up with a result that will fill coffers or, like smoking, will see that treatment costs outweigh income from various taxes/levies and it will be effectively eliminated.

Zero tolerance should be a part of any anti-drug campaign. Especially in respect to importers and manufacturer's. If these people were facing harsh penalties with no options for parole they would think twice and correspondingly, the jump in street cost might save those who's approach was initially recreational and not driven by addiction. And maybe in a few years we could halve the line-up going through our revolving-door-treatment centres.
The only way is to make the street cost high enough to be prohibitive and the only way to do that is by interdicting supply. It is supply and demand driven. Cut the supply lines and quit with the cheap headline gatherings and filling our jails with 'dimebaggers'. Expend the resources given in removing the supply line and never mind the PR routine.
If you get the drugs before they hit the street you don't have to worry about the street level drug scene or where your child might get access.

Turning the drug issue into a medical problem rather than a criminal problem again releases people of taking responsibility for their actions. One could argue that child abuse is also a medical(mental) problem. I don't think people who bash 90 year olds for their next hit can be defined by anything more than having serious character flaws. Our humanistic philosophy that we can do what we want, when we want and nobody can tell me what to do has led us to this epidemic of drug use. We have simply reaped what we have sown.

From the Article “Substance abuse is usually symptomatic of something greater, which these advertisements fail to recognise let alone attend to.”

Symptomatic of what exactly?

This article complains and whines about the wrongs of “zero tolerance”, points out the supposed shortcomings of “zero tolerance” but offers not one suggestion or benefit to be derived from an alternative to “zero tolerance”.

“The inability to read, being bullied at school, relationship endings, perceived failures, lack of ambition, inadequate employment and unhappy living arrangements“

has effected members of every generation since the beginning of time. This generation is no different or “special”.

What is remarkable is how “the same” it is.

More of the usual brainless babble from someone suffering OWP (“Opinion Without Purpose”), the most common side effect being to tear down what might work simply because they don’t understand.

TurnRightThenLeft “Your plan would have Australia putting such a wide variety of people to death it's sickening.”

Better than your “plan”, turning streets over to drug crime and suffer the greater harm to the innocent which will prevail.

Fester “Addiction is a complex issue in society.” So is living, so what, self control and responsibility is always the only solution.

Paull “Drug abuse is a medical problem, not a criminal one.”

robbery, violently assaults and murder are “criminal problems”.

So Paull, you tell me, which part of the following murder trial, conducted only yesterday, was “medical” and which part was “criminal”

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2007/09/11/6764_news.html

I know, firsthand, the impact this “drug-induced psychosis and chronic paranoid schizophrenia“ has had on the victim and his family and hear that the impact on the criminal offenders “family” has been worse.

Alanpoi “And you col rouge are the sucker that falls for it every time.”

read the referred article and then tell me who is the sucker?

The demented, psychotic young woman who will now be incarcerated for the next 25 years or Me ?

When I receive such a negative response to anything I write, I know I must be close to the truth, thankyou all for your confirmations.

Col Rouge: "This generation is no different or “special”. "

This generation is no different in its drug taking habits, nor is the current societies view of looking down on addicts historically different. What does seem different is the desired systematic demonisation and persecution of anyone with an association of drugs.

"robbery, violently assaults and murder are “criminal problems”."

Yes, they are criminal problems, but drugs only lead to these in a very small minority of cases. Equating drugs with violent crime, is the same as equating Islam with blowing things up.

Drugs will be prevalent in society no matter what the law says, or police do. Just look at the asian countries where they have the death penalty, and how wide spread the drugs still are.

"Fester “Addiction is a complex issue in society.” So is living, so what, self control and responsibility is always the only solution."

Addicts have as much ability to control themselves as you do to flap your arms and fly. Ironically it's people who believe that they are in 100% control of themselves that are the easiest to manipulate.

As for the article you linked, you'll notice the court concluded that it was a medical issue.