Yes, it is sad to see Medieval reasoning applied to problems with enormous social consequences. What would you think of a scientist who tested a hypothesis, found that no evidence existed to support it, then rejected the evidence because he just knew that it was true? Such thinking can only harm the development of our civilisation.

As a starting point, parameters for assessing the success or failure of drug management strategies must be developed and have bipartisan acceptance. If people do not believe that any evidence could change their thinking, then what chance is there of adopting the best strategy?

Drug taking (abuse) is due to:

1/ Unbalanced lives
2/ Unfulfilled lives.
3/ Torn down values.
4/ Families falling apart.
5/ No 'hope'
6/ A society which has very few noble values.

The 'drug war' is winnable.. but not by tougher law and order alone.

The root of the problem is far deeper. The problem is ...'us'.

Us the individual and us the community.

Since the 60s I have watched in historical wide screen the abandonment of family values, love and respect.. most of all, our connection with God.... our Christian heritage.

Sadly, this is as much due to a 'cultural' and 'Theologically liberal' Christianity allowed to creep into many of the larger denominations, which has only one end.. fading...fading........gone.

Such is not the case in many other countries. Singapore, Africa, Eastern Europe.. One of our own visiting pastors recently shared how he had been to Ukraine, soaked in atheism for so long.. and organized a public meeting with the assistance of the local rather conservative Christians, and to their shock.. a crowd of around 10,000 came along..and it was not one of those cheap 'miracle' services Benny Hinz is renowned for.. just plain "Christ Saves".

Australia is fading, spiritually, morally, socially and politically.. and its all for one reason, we have replaced God, and grace with 'us' and 'freedom' on the throne of our lives.
When Paul said "In Christ you are free, but don't use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh".... we did the opposite, we gripped our freedom and used it ONLY for 'the flesh'....pushing the Almighty, in Christ, out of our hearts and minds..

No amount of creative political or social thinking can save us... we are absolutely doomed apart from a return to Christ. We will be swept up by the tide of world events, and all the 'social trendies' will be wandering around..glazed eyed, in utter despair.. wondering what happened to their quaint theories.

Boaz,

Your assessment of why people take drugs is a complete stereotype and it is clear you have little idea what motivates real drug users, especially their decision to try drugs.

I am sure you are going to tell me that you know someone. Etc. Well I have also been at the coalface and seen many people live happy, well adjusted lives whilst using recreational drugs.

I am not for a second suggesting that no drug problem exists. Merely that the current cycle of education about drugs, often doesn’t’ tally with the experiences of drug users. We need to be honest enough to tell people that; yes, drugs might be fun and that mostly you are going to go home alive, but the risks you are taking are extreme.

Children/teenagers are most likely to come into contact with drugs through their friends. Not some seedy looking adult dealer hanging around the school gate. And if their friends experiences with drugs don’t match the media hyped education, they will dismiss the message as adult propaganda.

The drug war will NOT be won by law and order, EVER. The Soviet Union, a police state if you recall, couldn’t shut down the drug trade. The US has far more draconian laws and many more police than we do, yet they have a HUGE drug problem. Something approaching 60% of inmates in American prisons are drug offenders. That is they were convicted of an offence directly involving drugs. Another 10-15% were incarcerated for crimes which were committed to obtain money for drugs. The situation is similar in Australia.

We have succeeded in criminalising a significant portion of our population, without actually having had much success.

Supply side policing will not work when the demand is so large and the profits are astronomical. No matter how many dealers you jail there are more people in the wings just waiting for their opportunity to take over.

The massive sums involved in the drug trade also pose an incredible risk to our police forces. Corruption is one clear, and terrible, side effect of the War on Drugs.

con't

The only answer is the legalisation of drugs. Supply on prescription. This will have many beneficial effects.

It takes the profit motive out of the equation so organised crime suffers and police no longer face the temptation of bribery. When drugs are produced by drug companies the cost of drugs will be significantly reduced and so the need to commit crime to feed a habit becomes non existent. People don’t need to deal drugs any more so drug pushing becomes far less common. When drugs are made by professionals, users can take safe measured doses of drugs and so are far less likely to die of overdose, or suffer illness due to complications.

These people then have a chance at being productive members of society. I know a number of people who are on drug substitution programs who work full time or study successfully. Before the program these people were a total drain on society.

Peoples greatest fear is that by legalising drugs this will encourage children to use drugs. It has been shown in many countries where they have tried this approach that the number of drug users does not increase.

If you think that the reason that your child hasn’t tried drugs is because they can’t get hold of them you are mistaken. Drugs are freely available in society. The reason most people don’t take them is because they have been educated that drugs are not good for you.

I see that for decades drug policy has been influenced by the stalking horse of religion.

I note there the parallels with religious man-contrived notions of sin, shame and self-denial, and their links with protestant puritanism and the work ethic. Sharon Beder (UOW) has published on the links between the pulpit and the work ethic.

With a fundamentalist and religious right revival, we are entering a new Dark Age. As with the old dark ages, advances in science, math and medicine were stalled. Scientists such as Galileo were persecuted. Dissent was tantamount to heresy. I see with alarm that scenario re-emerging.

Ironically, religious fundamentalists are a minority, despite the census still showing that many people have some "religion". Our various Churchmen [and they are men] won't let go just like a dog with a bone. despite claiming the love of "god", christians are doggedly intolerant of dissent.

For once I agree completely with Paul.L. The current "War on Drugs" is completely unwinnable, and should be scrapped as the dominant policy approach. A significant proportion of society will always use recreational drugs, and the only way that the harm they do to society will be minimised is via legalisation and regulation.

I also agree with Inner City Tranny - I fail to see why the churches always get a seat at the drugs policy table. As far as I can tell, all they do is push their wowserish morality and resist any efforts to generate rational, effective policies.

If drugs were legalised and regulated, our crime rate would drop dramatically, and our gaols would become relatively empty overnight. We would still have the health and social problems that a minority of drug users experience, but the ways that we deal with these could only benefit from a more open approach, totally divorced from the 'law and order' crew.