Drug Law reform "A letter a Day" Campaign
from Timothy Moore
Redfern Legal Centre
Drug law Reform Project
With the approaching Premier's Drug Summit the time is critical for the
voice of reform to be active in the media. One of the most effective and
cost effective ways to do this is by writing letters to the print media. Of
the print media regional, community and tabloid press, (in NSW the Daily
Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph & Sun-Herald papers), are the most important
locations for this material to appear. The letters page is one of the most
widely read sections of most publications.
Please write a letter to one of these outlets. Please e-mail this to your
friends. It is especially important to get coverage in regional and rural
papers. When you letter is submitted please e-mail a copy to Timothy Moore
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or else fax it to 02-9281 1044
To increase the probability that your letter will be published, here are
some tips:
1. Make your letters topical
Write on something which is in the news, or in response to a recent
comment, opinion or letter in the newspaper. Letters which discuss general
policy without addressing topical issues of the day are given low priority.
Write to draw attention to further evidence that prohibition is not working.
2. Keep your letters short and to the point
The punchier your letter is, the better. Ideal letters are less than 250
words. The shorter your letter is, the more likely it will catch a reader's
eye. If you are responding to a complex argument or a detailed article,
your letter may necessarily be longer, in order to address the issues that
have been raised.
However, letters that ramble or explore tangential issues are less likely
to be printed. Try to express your message in short, clear points.
3. If possible, write from personal experience
If you can include a personal story which will catch the attention of
readers (and the letters editor), do so. Real stories have an emotional
impact which can be particularly powerful in changing public opinion.
4. Address issues rather than individuals
It is better to discuss issues rather than to attack personalities. If you
are responding to somebody else's letter or opinion, identify it before
going on to refute the arguments which have been made.
5. Include your name and full address
If you want your name withheld (not published), you should include your
name with your letter and make it clear that you do not want your name to
be published. Newspapers never publish letters which are unsigned.
Points regarding drug debate
Changing public opinion will require a sustained campaign to correct much
of the misinformation which persists on drug issues. While addressing
topical issues, there are several points that you may wish to raise while
presenting an anti-prohibitionist perspective:
1. Prohibition has failed
This is the central message in the campaign for better drug laws. It is a
point that has to be hammered again and again. People are afraid that any
change from the current prohibitionist drug policy will spell disaster, so
we need to constantly remind ourselves and others how bad the current
approach is.
Prohibition has failed because
Despite the massive resources devoted to law enforcement, drugs are still
readily available in our community.
Overdose Deaths have doubled in Australia at the same time they have been
halved in Switzerland. One of these countries is going the wrong way on
drug policy.
We are building prisons faster than we are building hospitals and schools.
People continue to die from illegal drug overdose because drugs available
on the black market are of unknown purity.
Because there is so much money to be made out of drugs on the black market,
police corruption is inevitable.
Drug dependent people often steal to pay for the drugs they are physically
dependent on, contributing to high levels of property crime and increased
home and car insurance premiums.
Prohibition creates conditions which make it extremely profitable for
criminals to traffic in drugs.
The more dangerous it becomes to traffic in drugs, the more profitable the
drug trade becomes.
How many Deaths does it take=8A till we acknowledge there is something wron=
g
with our drugs policy.
Hepatitis C is a costly epidemic that will have growing costs to Australian
society.
With the evident failure, we need to trial another approach. Safe Injecting
Rooms and Innovative treatments.
2. To make a difference, we've got to get drugs off the black market.
Why?
To protect people's health.
Drugs available on the black market are of unknown purity. People turn to
=20more dangerous methods of drug administration (eg. injecting) to get more
=20'bang for their buck'. Injecting brings with it special risks, in
=20particular overdose and the transmission of diseases like HIV and
=20Hepatitis C from unsafe injecting practices.
To cut the profits of the drug bosses.
Current conditions make it extremely profitable for organised crime to deal
in drugs. So long as drugs are only obtainable from black market sources,
drug crime will continue to flourish.
A report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime
Authority in 1988* estimated the annual turnover in Australia for heroin,
cocaine and cannabis alone to be $2.6 billion. In 1997 Access economics
estimated that the total drug market was worth 8.6 Billion, of which
cannabis makes up 4.6 billion.
To reduce police corruption.
As the NSW Police Royal Commission has demonstrated, police officers have
been accepting bribes from drug dealers, and probably have been doing so
for a long time. There will always be pressure on young police to accept
bribes so long as black market conditions exist.
To reduce property crime.
Because of the peculiar economics of the black market, drugs are available
at prices which vastly exceed the cost of their production. An ounce of
marijuana currently costs more than an ounce of pure gold. Safe
pharmaceutical-grade heroin, once used as a medicine, can be produced
cheaply. But when dependent users have to rely on the black market to
obtain the drug at exorbitant prices, some turn to property crime to
finance their addiction.
Imprisonment is more expensive than treatment and Imprisonment doesn't work.
--
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