Despisis” Yes, they are criminal problems, but drugs only lead to these in a very small minority of cases.”

".. 80% of property offences have some drug involvement. Between 45% and 60% of convicted offenders committed property crimes to support drug habits. 64% of offenders admitted using drugs to commit an offence."

source
http://www.ffdlr.org.au/resources/Crime%20and%20Illicit%20drugs.htm

arrestees in major USA conurbations 2003, urine test results
using cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates or PCP, 67%
risk of dependency among arrestees, 39.1%

source
http://www.ncjrs.gov/nij/adam/ADAM2003.pdf

“Drugs will be prevalent in society - Just look at the asian countries where they have the death penalty,”

That makes dealing with the problem harder, it is not an excuse to do nothing.

“Addicts have as much ability to control themselves as you do to flap your arms and fly.”

The reason for ‘zero tolerance” to illicit drug is

to help people avoid becoming “addicts”

and the serious negative influences which a drug dependent and drug impaired lifestyle brings to both the addicted and the surrounding community (the victims of elevated rates of drug related crimes).

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

“not guilty by reason of mental impairment”, is not “not guilty by reason of medical impairment”.

And the REAL POINT “drug-induced”

her “drug use” was not a result of her “mental impairment”,

her “mental impairment” is a result of drug use,

I would note, “incarcerated on a custodial supervision order for the next 25 years”

When imposed by a judge in criminal court, sounds more like a prison sentence

than some doctor diagnosing a patients medical condition.

Re “current societies view of looking down on addicts”

I lookup to those who deal with the adversities in their lives.

What is there to "lookup to" in those who rob and assault others to feed their drug addiction?

May God preserve us all from “the apologists for a junkie society”

Col

You see oblivious to the concept that the criminal persecution and criminal behaviour of drug addicts are different parts of the same process. That you see the link but dont understand the process is much like someone noting that eggs come from chickens, but failing to understand that chickens also come from eggs.

Oh well, at least you have half your wits, Col.

Was there any drug related murder / violence / mayhem in the centuries before the prohibition began ?

It's good to read stuff about the propaganda on drugs pushed by a thoughtless media. Newspapers whip up hysterical stories to sell to the gullible public. This only increases the anxiety of readers who then lash out with cruel and thoughtless comments like some of those posted here.

Politicians have no special insights or training and are led by the media into populist attacks on drug users rather than scientific approaches recommended by expert bodies. Governments have repeatedly failed to enact the recommendations of experts since the Standing Committee on Drugs in the 1970's. Had these recommendations been adopted thousands of lives could have been saved.
Cruelty towards drug dependent people is endemic in our institutions with little understanding of the issues.
In order to discuss drugs we need to break the subject up into its relevant issues. Pharmacology, law, media, medical treatment, education and culture to name a few. When we mix up these discussions we end up confused and arguing rather than learning and getting insights. This article confuses some of these issues.

Without an understanding of the pharmacological effects and medical consequences of drug taking no rational argument or action can be taken. The law as it stands has nothing to contribute to the understanding of drug dependence, its treatment or appropriate management. The law is simply a war on drug addicts and like all wars will destroy countless lives and is leaving a terrible scar on this country.

The posts already made above show just what a difficult problem drugs pose. I am no expert just a parent and someone who has in a previous job had to deal with ex-drug users who now suffer permanent brain damage or mental illness, so I will be honest, my experiences have shaped my hard-line outlook. I can see the benefits of decriminilisaton for example, but I can also see the downside. If hard drugs are not given illegal status, will they become more acceptable or part of the norm such as is the case with alcohol? I can't answer that really, but as a parent it worries me.

I tend to agree with the writer, that not enough is done to examine why young (and other) people turn to drugs for mind altering experiences. What is it that is missing from our lives that makes some want to escape it? I agree that children are sexualised too young, they do not get to enjoy their childhood for very long, we are becoming more isolated from each other due to the advances in information technology. A chat on MSN or texting does not have the same 'warmth' as talking face to face. We are bombarded with images constantly wanting us to buy something and children are the most vulnerable group.

It is all about marketing and profit driven business over the needs of the family and the community. Taxpayer funded leaflets are not going to help unless we are brave enough to address the underlying issues.

Col Rouge,

First I'd like to point out the fact that you argued that crime implies drugs when I was arguing the that drugs don't imply crime (different issue). I dare say a substantial proportion of property crime is committed by people of lower economic status; I guess we should lock up all those poor people before they rob us.

Secondly, a few quotes from your link:

"Strenuous law enforcement efforts have been ineffective in reducing the supply of drugs"

"Why law enforcement is ineffective and even promotes illicit drug use"

"Using the law to force users to stop their use and to deter newcomers from taking up an illicit drug is counter productive"

Quite simply the chain reaction to zero tolerance is:

Harsher Law -> Greater risk to dealers
Greater Risk -> Higher prices
Higher prices -> More crime performed to pay for drugs
Higher prices -> More financial stress on users
More stress -> More violent and brazen crime
More stress -> Higher emotional dependency on drugs
Higher dependency -> Dangerous spiral

If you still can't see how heavy handed tactics on drugs drives drug related crime up, imagine if we decriminalised drugs and handed them out for free to current addicts. They'd have nothing to gain from criminal behaviour and everything to lose, just like the rest of us.

But we don't have to imagine, from your own link the results of trial of such a policy were:

- Income from illegal and semi-legal activities decreased dramatically: 10% as opposed to 59% originally.
- Both the number of offenders and the number of criminal offenses decreased by about 60% during the first six months of treatment (according to information obtained directly from the patients and from police records).
- Court convictions also decreased significantly (according to the central criminal register).