Retired NSW Judge - "War on drugs failing"

[Jess Stone]

War on drugs failing: ex-judge

 

FORMER royal commissioner and inaugural National Crime Authority chairman Don Stewart says attempts to deal with the growing illicit drug problem through traditional law enforcement methods have failed.

The retired judge, who headed a royal commission into drug trafficking in Australia in the 1980s, says illegal drug use should be treated as a public health issue.

 

"I have slowly come around to the point where I believe the handling of it in a criminal way is never going to work," Mr Stewart told The Weekend Australian. "Punitive measures will not work. We can't go on the way we are."

 

In a book to be published next week, Mr Stewart says the five years he spent as a NSW District Court judge before retiring in 2003 had convinced him illicit drugs were "a problem of gigantic proportions".

 

"The use of such drugs has become part of our culture, particularly among young people who treat such use as the norm," he says in the book.

 

"Prohibition of alcohol didn't work in America, why should prohibition of other drugs that people want work anywhere else?

 

"All sorts of solutions are put forward, but as more and more experienced people recognise, there cannot be total elimination, only reduction."

 

As a royal commissioner, Mr Stewart carried out the first detailed examination of drug trafficking in Australia, including the operations of the notorious "Mr Asia" drug ring.

 

As chairman of the NCA he travelled around the world looking at law enforcement strategies in the war on drugs.

 

He found that Britain and France admitted to stopping only about 10per cent of illegal drugs crossing their borders.

 

In an interview to mark the release of his autobiography, Recollections of an Unreasonable Man -- From the Beat to the Bench, Mr Stewart said he had no reason to believe Australia was any more successful in stopping illicit drugs entering the country.

 

Governments were afraid to move away from the law enforcement approach to illegal drugs because "people feel safer leaving it the way it is", he said.

 

Mr Stewart said he had become a "great fan" of the Alcohol and Drug Service at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, headed by Alex Wodak, which was helping lead the way in detoxification programs.

 

"I am as convinced now that the medical solution is the only way forward as I was once convinced that the criminalisation approach was best approach," he said.

 

Mr Stewart's book claims that the NCA "lost most of its clout and had lost its way" before it was succeeded by the Australian Crime Commission in 2003.

 

article: The Australian

 

Blog-The Australian - post a comment on this article.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Jess Stone

[Budman2012]

Cheerz for the read Jess ..

 

Hmmm , took him (Judge Stewart) a while but at least he's come to his senses finally

Now if Every other ignorant person around this subject would only come to theirs

Many people have said for many years that drug use should be treated as mentioned .. a Public Health issue ..

I think Its a reasonable idea .. as there is a minute minority of users who have difficulty with the drug itself .. and the majority of users with no problems would just be left alone It makes sense to me , as the vast majority of Cannabis users at least , are causing no harm to anyone or themselves (Disregarding smoking hazards) ..

 

It does seem that this is the way it is heading , they are much less harsh to personal users these days and often the sentence is a medical rehabillatation or education course anyway ..

It's the Police that have to be taken out of the equation , and the whole ridiculous mentality of "The War on Drugs" ..

But the Cops are the only ones that invade our personal privacy .. and that needs to change so we can regain our rights to privacy.

 

Budman

[Jess Stone]

The blog on the Australian about this story isn't to bad ,so far,I haven't read all of the posts but theres plenty agreeing with the judge,of course once again I urge everyone here to post on it particularly postings to good links as there asking for this help! Believe it or not I didn't rant in any way and I imagine it will pop up tomorrow .I have posted on the Australian before no troubles so it should be there soon.

Cannabis blog the Australian

[Chato]

hey jess props to ya mate, you fighting the good fight and i for one am especially pleased you've tempered your replies. i hear an undersatand your passion on this subject and i along with many others could contribute much to this debate in the way of unjust stories but that might not get us very far..

 

keep posting your info mate, keep encouraging other stoners to be pro-active and keep fighting the good fight in a way we can all be proud of.

 

peace

c

[pipeman]

I like this line of thinking and think it should be encouraged. ie disagree with drug use but still support decriminalisation. There are a lot of people out there who won't touch any illegal drugs and will not sympathise with us at all but may still join the fight for law reform.

[DownUnderDoper]

It's the Police that have to be taken out of the equation , and the whole ridiculous mentality of "The War on Drugs" ..

But the Cops are the only ones that invade our personal privacy .. and that needs to change so we can regain our rights to privacy.

 

Budman

 

The cops really don't have much choice in this budman.. they can (to an extent), and sometimes do let some smaller drug matters slide, but the reality is that their efforts are directed from above.. even places where cannabis possesion (pers growing) is still illegal but treated with ultra low priority like Holland, that was still a directive from the Dutch parliament.

 

Judges are in a position to hand down more lenient convictions and can direct juries to some extent, but they too are constrained by legislation and political directive.

 

This has to come from politicians, they are the only ones who can change the law.

[Indycar]

Seems fairly common nowadays, quite a few ex-judges/coppers are coming out of the closet and making similar statements. Mainly in the USA, but good to see an aussie for a change.

 

Just wish they'd admit it while workin' for the establishment. Their statements may have a bit more punch then. It's too easy for the hardcore prohibitionist to write em off once they've retired.

 

As most of us know, it should be dealt as a health problem rather than criminal. But yeah, Budman summed up what i think of it all.

 

Cheers for the read Jesse.

 

[freddie]

Thanks for the link Jess. I've just written something in the blog.

 

I think i'm going to type out a few letters this week so they will be ready for next time. I'm not always happy with what i write first thing in the morning. Keep these links coming. It is great to see someone still fighting the good fight for as long as you have.

[Al Fish]

"Prohibition...goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

 

Abraham Lincoln

December, 1840

 

 

Well three cheers for Don Stewart. Only took all his life but finally he worked it out!

"Prohibition of alcohol didn't work in America, why should prohibition of other drugs that people want work anywhere else?”

 

His lifetime of idiocy has landed him a healthy Superannuation fund built on the lives of his many victims – direct and otherwise. Now that he is retired he can finally see the light and give an interview to ensure the sales of his tawdry memoirs!

 

The District Court of New South Wales always attracted an idiosyncratic Bench – not as good as the Supreme court and with little of the practical streetwise understanding of the Local Court. Don Stewart would no doubt have been a Barrister-at-law before his appointment to the District Court Bench. And Australian Barristers hide their incompetence beneath the sombre mysticism of black robes - worn in mourning for the death of Charles II in 1685! And you believe it?

 

When confronted with the truth in oh so many cases that came before him, the illustrious Don Stewart, with horsehair wig and ermine sleeved robe, perverted both himself and his profession by giving bizarre and morbidly absurd judgments from on high - prepared to act with nothing but blatant self-preservation as his only consideration.

 

“As chairman of the NCA he travelled around the world [at taxpayers’ expense] looking at law enforcement strategies in the war on drugs” and yet only in the comfort of his retirement has he realised that none of the law enforcement strategies he was privileged to witness actually worked! And so now out of the goodness of his heart he has decided to have his autobiography: ‘Recollections of an Unreasonable Man -- From the Beat to the Bench’ published!

 

The subtitle – ‘From the Beat to the Bench’ - reminds me of the late Justice Yeldham who used to pick up boys in railway station toilets with the full knowledge of the Police who assisted to keep it quiet, his brother judges and the NSW State government at the time.

 

Believe me, the Australian legal profession is a dignified one!

 

.

[Jess Stone]

The cops really don't have much choice in this budman.. they can (to an extent), and sometimes do let some smaller drug matters slide, but the reality is that their efforts are directed from above.. even places where cannabis possesion (pers growing) is still illegal but treated with ultra low priority like Holland, that was still a directive from the Dutch parliament.

 

Judges are in a position to hand down more lenient convictions and can direct juries to some extent, but they too are constrained by legislation and political directive.

 

This has to come from politicians, they are the only ones who can change the law.

 

I disagree with the assertion the cops hands are tied,I think they are bludgers and cowards on this issue and absolutely in some countries the drug policy has been enormously influenced by the police of that nation for the better,think Holland,Canada,Britain and the same arguement applies here and elsewhere but in reverse. The cops in Holland etc refused to administer the cannabis laws and governments looked into the issue and agreed however here and in the USA police forces have ridden the backs of MJ to easy bludger promotions and funding through easy non-violent busts of mainly small time cannabis growers and users and the cops look good ,have big fat case solved files that are nearly entirely smalltime MJ busts. Thje cops are really dishonest about the topic of MJ,you hear the clowns crapping on about MJ and then in private ALL cops will admit they would rather approach a bunch of stoners than a bunch of dangerous drunks yet the lies continue from them. 30 years ago it was not that uncommon if caught with an ounce the standard buy of the day to be told to "get on your way" with the MJ still in your possession ,cops would brag at the station they had a big tip off for heroin and raid a place only find a bit of smoko and they would leave rather than embarrass themselves back at the station with a pathetic MJ possession after bragging about a big smack bust for instance,this sort of stuff did happen sometimes but not these days,police are lazy ,cannabis users are non-violent,they make easy large stats to make the cops look good etc.

 

Is this tempered enough?

Jess Stone of http://www.drugtestscam.com (27 February at 01:08 AM)

 

Hallelujah,its about time someone like Don Stewart spoke up,any thinking person should have come to this conclusion years ago. It cannot be right when ,< a href="http://www.hempembassy.net/hempe/resources/ProposedLaws.pdf">growing plants</a> in NSW can attract a prison sentence of 24 years,laws like these are draconian in the extreme and there can be no possible justification to have and support such laws . Clearly the most effective strategy to control drugs would be legalisation or if we are to be truly honest RE-legalising drugs that were formally legal and did not cause wholesale destruction of society at the time ,in fact the western world progressed at an amazing rate during a period of legal access to cannabis,opiates ,coca and other drugs!