Aussie drugs woe in DEA report

[Tom]

CRIMINALS are growing 5000ha of marijuana in Australia every year, an area the size of 689 Melbourne Cricket Ground precincts, according to a US intelligence report.

 

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) report, obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun under Freedom of Information, paints a grim picture of illegal drug use in Australia.

 

It says:

 

AUSTRALIA has one of the world's highest rates of ecstasy and methamphetamine abuse.

 

THERE are 200,000 heroin users in Australia.

 

ECSTASY manufacturers are using oil from the sassafras plant to make the drug.

 

COCAINE is being smuggled into Australia on flights from South America, and importation is set to rise, and

 

AD HOC state laws on precursor chemicals are hindering the fight against drug makers.

 

The DEA's Drug Situation Report for Australia said marijuana was our "most popular and most abused illicit drug" and named New South Wales and Queensland as "the primary growing areas for outdoor cultivation".

 

It said methamphetamine manufacturing was dominated by motorcycle gangs in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

 

The report by the US Government's key drug-fighting agency, compiled in July, said the majority of cocaine was being smuggled into Australia "by couriers on flights originating in South America".

 

Once in Australia, cars and parcel post were used to send the drugs around the country.

 

South-East Asia is cited as the main source of heroin in Australia, with Sydney being the main point of entry through airports and shipping containers.

 

It said "recent information" indicated that criminal organisations from Greece, Poland and Vietnam were "involved in the cultivation of cannabis in Australia".

 

Author:NICK PAPPS

Date:02oct05

Source:Herald and Weekly Times

Copyright:© Herald and Weekly Times

 

AD HOC state laws on precursor chemicals are hindering the fight against drug makers.

 

I think that we Aussie stoners are soon going to see a push for federal laws similar to those in the US, I am really starting to get pissed off with the way Bush is interfering in our lifestyle and the way that Howard will do anything to please him, especially now that he controls the senate as well.

 

Hey Brash, how do you reckon an anonymous letter writing campaign to all the major newspapers would work? We have all the skills needed here to carry something like that off and I'm sure that between a few of us we could put together some top arguments in our favour.

 

[dsyfer]

People need to fight with their votes. Fuck it vote Green, the country would be in the shit but we'd all be bloody ripped legally.

[Frazz]

People need to fight with their votes.

 

Fighting with your vote will not make a scrap of difference, as we do not have the numbers.

Most people can not see past their wallet, give them a tax cut or baby bonus and you've got their vote

[Gush]

IMHO, if we want to stand up for ourselves and protect our rights, we need to unionize. With a large enough effort, we could easily change public perception of stoners from drug addicts, to people that are balanced, functional human beings.

And ofcourse the harrassment Med users are faced with, just for trying to supply themselves with a safer and more effective med.

[Tom]

Fighting with your vote will not make a scrap of difference, as we do not have the numbers.

When dealing with politicians you don't need to get enough votes to win, just enough to scare the shit out of them, your single vote can make a massive difference when added to all the other single votes, give The Greens the balance of power and you will see a lot of changes for the better where low income earners and "minority groups" like us are concerned.

 

[Frazz]

Hey iam not saying the greens wouldn't make things better,

but really Tom how many seats are held on the balance of a few hundred votes, two maybe three?

 

Your suggestion of active letter writing and public argument would have a far greater impact.

IMO

[Pickle]

That's no reason to discourage people from voting Green. I would rather "waste my vote" and vote for the things i want than be able to say i backed the winner.

 

Everyone knows a vote is a drop in the ocean and one vote wont get you everything but the way i see it, there are enough people voting for things like health care and fattening their own wallets, so i pick one issue and vote for anyone who supports that issue with their preferences going to the lesser of the two evils.

[cranky]

Senator Haradine ( ? ) from Tasmania held balance of power in the senate for a few years, and had the liberal Party over a barrel ever time they wanted to get legislation past. A few hundred votes is all it takes, if they are cast in the right place at the right time.

Unfortunaltly, The liberal party holds both upper and lower houses of government at the moment and can pass any law they want. Which is bothersome if the USA decides to start harassing "little Johny" about our (compared to theirs ) lax drug laws. Just look at how they are about to destroy the current workplace laws as an example.

 

Fortunately, I think that Australia is about to learn , although a hard lesson, a lesson none the less,that not alot of voters understood. That he who holds both houses unconditionally controls the country. Hopefully starting at the next elections

we will find more and more parties like the Greens getting elected to the senate and more "discussion" in the senate that the Government of the day wants to pass.

 

The last election imho was won on the interest rate vote, the fact that the government does not control interest rates didn't make a difference, what did was the political spin put on it. In the end, how ever "middle Australia votes, is how we will be governed. Luckily fror us "middle Australia" is slowly becoming less conservative.

[Luke Skywalker]

Lots of seats are held on a couple of hundred votes, and it only takes one person to inspire the confidence in others to vote for someone other than the major parties.

 

Every vote counts, that's the beauty of it. If you don't make an effort to tell the system you're pissed off, then nothing will happen.

 

We may well find that our laws will only become more and more regressive as time goes on unless we start to stand up and count ourselves as citizens. Simply because we use, or produce cannabis for consumption by the public, doesn't make us evil. We have families, desires, and needs. I'd like to see the day when the hard earned knowledge and effort that has gone into the underground cannabis production sector becomes legitimised and commercialised. Well, to some degree. I know of so many people who could still make cannabis production a viable business for the medicinal and recreational markets at a fraction of the current prices induced by an artificial black market.

 

Ask your friends, if they've used cannabis, under the current system of laws, they're criminals who should be in gaol. If they want to change that, they have to tell someone, and the only way to do that in a democracy is to either change the minds of those in power, or change the people in power. We have a glorious compulsory and preferential voting system, which gives even small groups a chance to become elected if there is enough initial voters. What have you got to lose?

[v dub]

i think the problem that is not being addressed is the massive use of meth & coke at the present time. These drugs give herb a bad name due to unwarrented association.

 

Also the stimulant addictions are being largely ignored like heroin problems in the past. The government takes the moral high ground, but doesn't do anything, policing is grossly ineffective (i can get these substances just as easy as boze & ciggies) and the users are demonised or self destruct.

 

Crazy shit, and nobody with the power to do anything does.