Tory Shepherd: There’s one thing a war on drugs will never do
THERE’S plenty of evidence of the devastation from getting tough on drugs, when use is treated as a criminal issue, not a health one. Why are we trying to turn back the clock, asks Tory Shepherd.
“WHEN was the last time a war on drugs worked?,” I asked the newsroom after the State Government announced its crackpot crackdown on cannabis.
“Um, dunno, how’s Duterte going?,” came a swift, smart-arsed response.
The answer there is: Not so well. The murderous Philippine President has overseen the death of thousands of people including children; some killed by his forces, many others by vigilantes.
Two years on, there’s still a drug problem. Now Rodrigo Duterte is considering handing out 42,000 free guns to community leaders to fight drugs and crime.
The idea of a war on drugs sounds pretty good. Tough. Rolling up your sleeves, flexing your muscles, getting to work.
Except wars on drugs never do. Work, that is.
The State Government wants to put dope in the same category as ecstasy and heroin — that means users could face up to two years’ prison, and fines of up to $2000.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman described the current most common penalty of $125 as “similar to the penalty for jaywalking”. (Which may be a minor crime, but also puts at risk your life, and the life of others…).
The announcement bolsters the Government’s “war on drugs”, where the other weapons are sniffer dogs in schools, and outrage at the concept of pill testing.
Some of us remember when South Australians could grow marijuana plants out the back with the tomato bushes.
But political momentum has — inexplicably — moved in the opposite direction to public opinion. Polls almost universally show support for legalisation, or broader decriminalisation.
AdelaideNow ’s poll yesterday had 75 per cent of readers in favour of legalisation, 16 per cent for the status quo, and 9 per cent in favour of the crackdown.
While it would be refreshing to see the Government stand firm in the face of populism because the evidence pointed elsewhere, that is not the case either.
The “war on drugs” — in its many different guises — has failed. That claim is not from a Greens Party press release. It’s the conclusion of (among others) the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.
The Global Commission on Drugs Policy back in 2011 found:
“The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.
“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won.”
Since then they have argued for drug use to be seen as a health issue, not a criminal one.
That’s the global perspective; but it’s a growing local one, too.
For some time there has been a trend towards harm minimisation. A report last year from not-for-profit Australia21 recommended decriminalising drugs and decreasing penalties.
Spokesman and former federal police commissioner Mick Palmer said he realised the futility of locking people up. “It has become obvious we can’t arrest our way out of it,” he said.
And these guys are mostly talking about hard drugs. Not dope, which about a third of Australians have tried at some point.
Let him who is without sin blast the first stoner.
There is no moral argument against marijuana for personal use. Alcohol causes more harm.
That makes personal usage a health question. Not something that should get bound up in courts and see people wind up in prison. Not something that should tie up resources better spent finding the kingpins.
It looks likely the Bill will be blocked in the Upper House. Even though Labor is mostly in favour of a toughened stance, they baulked at jail terms for marijuana use.
Let’s hope that stops it for a bit. And after the comedown, clearer brains might prevail.
Meanwhile, on to another dope.
Senator David Leyonhjelm. The Liberal Democrat whose idea of libertarianism seems to be judging women for having sex.
This is a man who told his gun-toting followers it was “open season” on me because he didn’t like a picture of himself that ran online. Not a nice guy. Here’s what happened this week:
He falsely accused Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young of saying all men were rapists. She didn’t say that. But he took it upon himself to tell her to stop shagging men.
Far from being a rallying cry to lesbianism, what he was actually suggesting was that men raping women, and women having sex, are somehow the same thing.
Most of the civilised world recognises that rape and consensual sex are quite different. So on top of a hastily erected hodgepodge of illogic, he slathered on a bit of slut-shaming just for fun.
And we are paying this guy.