"Drug epidemic is making us all sick"

[miickEe]

Interesting article by some wank job in today's Sunday Mail. He seems to sway back and forth with which side he is on the argument, but he makes some pretty fucked up inconclusive statements.

 

I thought I should write a letter to the editor, simply because it pissed me off so much that I thought it warranted one.

 

The letter I sent reads:

 

"This is in response to Terry Sweetman's disheartening and misinformed article titled "Drug epidemic is making us all sick". I'm sorry to hear that your perspective and opinions have been influenced so sickly by your prejudices and fear of the unknown. Sadly, this is the main view held by a society of double-standards.

 

Judging by your article, it seems you completely understand the causes of drug addiction and the lifestyle that gravitates around it. It’s also a shame that one cannot express sarcasm in written form as accurately as it is spoken.

 

Associating drug use with criminal behaviour only exacerbates criminal activity and alienates otherwise constructive members of the community. The grossly ineffective prohibition of “illicit” drugs has caused almost irreparable damage to our society.

 

You would be naïve and utterly stupid to think that you can stop people from using drugs by means of prohibition; what has the past several decades shown us? Whilst you preach of the dangers of illicit drug use, I read about youths dying as a result of binge-drinking and hospital beds being occupied by cigarette-fiends who should know better.

 

We should focus on the health of society as a whole and treat drug use not as a criminal but a social health issue. You don’t solve problems by throwing money at it and ignoring it; but then you have to ask yourself who has most to gain from prohibition if it isn’t society."

 

 

Author: Terry Sweetman

Date: 5/08/2007

Source: The Australian (p.63)

Copyright:

 

"Drug epidemic is making us all sick

 

Drugs, illegal drugs. Don't use them, never have. Yet just about every day, there is some kind of intrusion on the margins of my life by some cretin who sinks a needle into his or her arm, snorts some toxic vapour or scrambles his or her brains with glue or paint fumes.

 

Or some marijuana-smoking clown topples over the edge into psychosis or a dangerous schizophrenic episode.

 

Home invasion is a neighbourhood sport in some suburbs, driving a wedge of fear between the elderly and teenagers. However, most turn out to be drug-related raids or get-square assaults over grubby money.

 

We have become so inured to drugs and violence, drugs and robbery and drugs and neglect that we have started to confuse victims with perpetrators.

 

We are routinely invited to show mercy on addicts for their transgressions. But I am fast running out of patience with the concept of pity for those who have no one to blame but themselves for their misery.

 

Only last week, a court was asked to show mercy to one William John Minter, a bloke who did two separate 10-year terms for armed robbery and was recently found with a stash of heroin and cocaine.

 

I could only roll my eyes as I read that a shrink had found the poor sould was "irrevocably institutionalised".

 

He was given five years in the slammer to be suspended after four months.

 

So an institutionalised man with a history of armed robbery and a liking for extremely heavy drugs will be out by Christmas. Pointless.

 

It's become so bad that judges can pick amphetamine freaks just by looking at their charge sheets, according to Judge Julie Dick, who gave a toe-rag by the name of Django Dziduch a three-year stretch for a string of offences including armed robbery, sneak thieving, and assault. Yet he will be eligible for parole in October. Pointless.

 

Not only did speed encourage people to steal and fund buying, she said, but it gave them a feeling of invulnerability that made them bold.

 

Maybe, but it doesn't make them very ambitious. Last week to heroes wielding sticks held up a store. Drugs.

 

And then there was a woman who injected her teenage daughter with speed to keep her alert for a shift at a fast-food restaurant.

 

This 34-year-old so-called mother was given a year but will be out after two months. Pointless.

 

There's no profit in lambasting judges, who are hamstrung by laws, precedents, practicalities, and the pointlessness of most punishments.

 

And there is no point in pretending that junkies have any control over their lives or that they necessarily deserve mercy. Stupidity must come with a price.

 

That war against drugs around the world has done for addiction what the invasion of Iraq has done for democracy.

 

This war catches a lot of small fry, occasionally nabs a kingpin, pushes up the street price of the drug of the moment and never keeps up with the inventiveness of the lab-rats and their suicide-of-choice chemicals.

 

If as many people died, were neglected, terrorised or orphaned by disease as they are by drugs, the use of drugs, the pursuit of drugs and the abuse of drugs, we would declare a national emergency.

 

If it were a plague, we would lock up the carriers of contagion, forcibly treat them, and keep them contained until they no longer posed a risk.

 

In the hysteria over terrorism, we have accepted an erosion of our liberties and handed matters of life and death to people we don't know, don't much trust and don't much like. Yet we are not prepared to take measures even half as tough against a scourge that costs more lives and misery than mad Osama bin Laden could dream about.

 

If we don't beat the drug plague that is destroying our society, Osama and his pals can sit back and watch."

[sunnycoaststoner]

nice read dude.your letter is great. he sumed himself up well " dont take drugs never have " as for the bit about a marijuana smoking clown topples over the edge into psychosis or a dangerous schizophrenic episode. dont think i have ever known anyone to suffer from those illnesses from only smoking pot, not saying that it doesn't happen but is pretty slim chances of. this man is the misinformed "clown" who would be more likely to fall into this category due to his alcohol and tobacco abuse not to mention his kkk gown in the wardrobe or the dvo his ex wife has on him for touching her up one too many times, damn woman COOK MY DINNER!!! ignorance is more damaging to society than smoking a bit of pot!! crimes may have been commited while on drugs to support a habit that is very expensive due to prohibition driving the prices sky high but i bet that none of them were commited while stoned on mj....

[miickEe]

What annoys me is that he's relating drugs to crime on one level and totally dismissing the obvious links.. between illegality, criminal activity, poverty, unemployment, etc - typical "junkie" attributes. Whilst in the article he expresses his disdain for the consequences of illegal drug use under prohibition, he praises prohibition itself in light of the drug war. Some of his comments are derogatory and prejudicial, I think he needs to change his goddamn attitude.

[Al B. Fuct]

We should focus on the health of society as a whole and treat drug use not as a criminal but a social health issue. You don’t solve problems by throwing money at it and ignoring it; but then you have to ask yourself who has most to gain from prohibition if it isn’t society."

 

Great letter- and a killer bang in your closing 'graf.

 

Really nice work.

 

Makes anyone so disposed to favourably consider prohibition seem arbitrary and capricious, if one considers the effects of the War On Some Drugs honestly, logically and with bases in evidence.

 

The bumpersticker phrase should be 'Drug abuse is a health problem not a legal problem.' Even Daily Tele readers and TT/ACA viewers would get that one. Too bad the editors are zero-tolerance shills. Public opinion is, quite often, what you tell the public it should be.

[Frazz]

Yep good stuff micKee ... i just checked back on the original article by Terry Sweetman and noticed Paul Dillon posted what amounts to a grave warning to anyone contemplating voting Liberal !! .. in Quotes below ;

 

I have been asked to reply to this story and give my views on drug abuse and the lives and futures it can take with it.

 

I am Head Information Officer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in Sydney (soon to be Deputy Health Minister if we all keep our votes for Liberal) and I have done extensive research on this topic and believe that some drugs CAN be used recreationally with little to no troubles, but only for a short time

Cannabis has recently shown to cause psychosis from as little as one joint

All these drugs, even marijuana causes people to steal to support their habit, and 98% of house break ins ARE drug related as this article says.

 

I think it is time to finally shut down the injecting room, needle exchanges and any harm reduction programs as they have clearly failed us since the mid 80's. Bring on Zero Tolerance for Junkies. Posted by: Paul Dilon of Sydney http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...5012447,00.html

 

That quote is not complete but gives you an idea where that bum Dillon is coming from

As for T Sweetman ... .. well what else can you say except the man is a shocking newspaper hack !!, how this mans writings can actually find their way to newspaper columns is a testament to the ever expanding right-wing gutter press of Rupert Murdoch

 

[mull]

Author: Terry Sweetman

 

If as many people died, were neglected, terrorised or orphaned by disease as they are by drugs, the use of drugs, the pursuit of drugs and the abuse of drugs, we would declare a national emergency.

 

If it were a plague, we would lock up the carriers of contagion, forcibly treat them, and keep them contained until they no longer posed a risk.

 

In the hysteria over terrorism, we have accepted an erosion of our liberties and handed matters of life and death to people we don't know, don't much trust and don't much like. Yet we are not prepared to take measures even half as tough against a scourge that costs more lives and misery than mad Osama bin Laden could dream about.

 

If we don't beat the drug plague that is destroying our society, Osama and his pals can sit back and watch."

 

Good lookin out miickEe

 

Starting with Terry's first quoted paragraph; if as many people died from the affects of disease, as they do from cannabis, it would be a public health miracle!

This article is terrorism. And lumping cannabis in with any other drug is a con. As relevant as lumping alcohol and tobacco together.

 

Next para; we don't lock up people with disease, we lock up people for terrorism under the guise of the war on drugs. Which you are fighting Terry, and doing a nice job of keeping the value of war high.. I mean oil.. I mean drugs..

 

Finally; in your last para Terry, you want to give up rights that we already don't have! What's the plan, death penalty?

Do you need gas chambers?

Osama and his pals ... sit back and watch is all they can do anyway, idiot. And I mean idiot in the nicest way.

 

 

Fraz, good work on that quote from Dillon. Interesting to see him making his political motivations known. NDARC, surveys, data gathering, vested interests, propaganda, politics.. yep that sounds about right

[Al B. Fuct]

Yep good stuff micKee ... i just checked back on the original article by Terry Sweetman and noticed Paul Dillon posted what amounts to a grave warning to anyone contemplating voting Liberal !! .. in Quotes below ;

That quote is not complete but gives you an idea where that bum Dillon is coming from

As for T Sweetman ... .. well what else can you say except the man is a shocking newspaper hack !!, how this mans writings can actually find their way to newspaper columns is a testament to the ever expanding right-wing gutter press of Rupert Murdoch

 

 

Fraz, hold your fire. I think someone is impersonating Paul Dillon in that comment. While NDARC is the govt's own outcome-based research facility, where in times when govt pollies want their spin on a drug issue, they run to NDARC looking for info to cherry pick to support their case, the real Paul Dillon is a respected academic and drug policy writer and researcher. The real one actually is the Media Liason Officer for NDARC. Would the real Paul Dillon have typoed his own name? Probably not.

 

I VERY seriously doubt Dillon would have telegraphed his wish for anyone to vote for a particular party. I also can be very confident the real Paul Dillon would never, ever have said this:

 

Especially Ecstasy which is often laced with horse tranquilisers, PMA (a deadly hallucinogenic amphetamine), cocaine, heroin, ice, crushed glass (to make the pill absorb faster by cutting the lining of the stomach), hydrochloric acid, cement mixer, and other life-threatening products. Pure Ecstasy can also and does kill on a weekly basis across Australia, especially the liquid form called Fantasy or Liquid Ecstasy which is commonly used to clean concrete and melt metals.

 

Cannabis has recently shown to cause psychosis from as little as one joint, and ecstasy is mostly the killer drug PMA and crushed glass with little to no MDMA (pure ecstasy) in the tablet.

 

Heroin is mostly cheese (over the counter sickness tablets crushed to a powder mixed with Panadeine Stong Pain and only the hard core addicts are still injecting it, moving onto the deadly designer drug Ice which is like speed, but much more dangerous.

 

All these drugs, even marijuana causes people to steal to support their habit, and 98% of house break ins ARE drug related as this article says.

 

I think it is time to finally shut down the injecting room, needle exchanges and any harm reduction programs as they have clearly failed us since the mid 80's. Bring on Zero Tolerance for Junkies.

 

This looks like the nefarious work of the infamous Gary Christian of Drug Free Australia. Christian is well known for distorting data about harm minimisation and filling politicans' inboxes with his slanted zero-tolerance crap.

 

I've popped a note over to Paul over at UNSW to see that he's aware of this nonsense.

[Al B. Fuct]

aha... I was right.

 

I asked Paul:

 

From: Al B.

Sent: 06/08/2007 03:33 PM

To: Paul Dillon

Subject: Your comment?

 

Hi Paul,

 

I wouldn't think you would typo your own name... but this comment, where

the writer ostensibly identifies themself as you, appears in The Aus,

attached to this story:

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...5012447,00.html

 

I have been asked to reply to this story and give my views on drug abuse

and the lives and futures it can take with it.

 

I am Head Information Officer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research

Centre in Sydney

(soon to be Deputy Health Minister if we all keep our

votes for Liberal)

and I have done extensive research on this topic and

believe that some drugs CAN be used recreationally with little to no

troubles, but only for a short time and everyone drug-using lifespan must

end at one point. Be it gaol for drug related crimes such as ongoing

possessions, drug and drunk driving and causing an accident, dealing or

trafficking drugs for money to support the habit, or death from an overdose

or extreme malnutrition or simply quitting drugs. There is no future at all

in taking drugs. Especially Ecstasy which is often laced with horse

tranquilisers, PMA (a deadly hallucinogenic amphetamine), cocaine, heroin,

ice, crushed glass (to make the pill absorb faster by cutting the lining of

the stomach), hydrochloric acid, cement mixer, and other life-threatening

products. Pure Ecstasy can also and does kill on a weekly basis across

Australia, especially the liquid form called Fantasy or Liquid Ecstasy

which is commonly used to clean concrete and melt metals.

 

Cannabis has recently shown to cause psychosis from as little as one joint,

and ecstasy is mostly the killer drug PMA and crushed glass with little to

no MDMA (pure ecstasy) in the tablet.

 

Heroin is mostly cheese (over the counter sickness tablets crushed to a

powder mixed with Panadeine Stong Pain and only the hard core addicts are

still injecting it, moving onto the deadly designer drug Ice which is like

speed, but much more dangerous.

 

All these drugs, even marijuana causes people to steal to support their

habit, and 98% of house break ins ARE drug related as this article says.

 

I think it is time to finally shut down the injecting room, needle

exchanges and any harm reduction programs as they have clearly failed us

since the mid 80's. Bring on Zero Tolerance for Junkies.

Posted by: Paul Dilon of Sydney 4:10pm August 05, 2007

Bold emphasis mine.

 

Is this your craft or is someone being a bit 'Liberal' with your

reputation?

 

Regards

 

Al B.

 

Paul Dillon replies to me:

 

Subject: Re: Your comment?

From: Paul Dillon <p.dillon@unsw.edu.au>

Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 16:27:32 +1000

To: Al B.

 

 

Nope - nothing to do with me! I better contact someone and get it removed

,,,,,,, you'd think someone would check something like this!

 

Many thanks for letting me know - much appreciated.

 

Paul

Sent from the blackberry device.

Faculty of Medicine, UNSW.

 

MediaWatch has been dealt in. Noise Ltd has a real bad habit of letting ppl post really heinous, defamatory nonsense in their comments and never verifying if the person named as the author actually wrote the comment.

 

I think Mr Dillon may be owed a bit of compo by Noise Ltd, don't you?

[miickEe]

Thanks for the comments, feel free to write your own letters to this maggot. I think if you google Sunday Mail + Terry Sweetman you'll find his email, that's what I did. Of course I didn't send him a personal email (letter was sent to the editor), I think he is due for one real soon.

[Luke Skywalker]

Can't wait to see if MW take this up, right up their alley....