100 DEAD NOT ENOUGH
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Over one hundred Victorians (mostly young) have died of
accidental drug overdoses this year. After a spate of publicity by the
Herald-Sun about the extent of the illegal drug problem in many
parts of Melbourne, the Kennett regime has been forced to hold an
inquiry into this ever expanding public health disaster. In a
statement devoid of any reality Kim IL Kennett has stated they
would look at all options except legalisation of illegal drugs.=20
At the same time the drug summit was called, the public were told
that the State government had massively reduced funds to pay for
detoxi@lcation centres. I assume they needed these funds to bail out
their friends in City Link and the Grand Prix. Illegal drug use can be
tackled in two ways. You accept the fact that some people will use
drugs and you try to minimise risks by developing a social policy in
regard to drug use or you prohibit some types of drugs and use the
State to uphold this prohibition.=20
Prohibition has been the major plank in the drug policies of all State
and Federal governments since Federa@ion. It's obvious that
prohibition has only added fuel to the fire it has not doused it.
Prohibition creates an artificial market, this artificial market attracts
the people who wish to make a quick profit. The need to find the
money to fund a habit creates criminals of many people with a drug
habit. As large @mounts of money are needed to @atisfy a habit,
people tend to @ecome dealers, incorporate other people into their
lifestyle and lecome involved in personal and property crime.=20
@he best way to break the back of this industry is not prohibition
but the removal of financial incentives rrom the illegal drug trade.
@aking illegal drugs legal and =B7ncorporating these substances into
he public health system, creates @n environment where users are
not forced to become outlaws. If illegal drugs were treated in the
same manner as legal drugs (alcohol and cigarettes), those who
choose to use drugs would not need to run the gauntlet of
criminality. They would be able to use existing health services and
be educated about the pros and cons of drug use. Unless all drugs
that cause addiction are treated in the same manner and legalised,
the number of deaths associated with illegal drug use will continue
to climb.
CULTURAL AND ETHNIC
GENOCIDE - INDIGENOUS
AUSTRALIANS CONTINUE
TO PAY THE PRICE OF
COLONISATION
Most Australians have little if any knowledge of successive australian
governments attempts to wipe out indigenous Australians. Most know about the
deaths and massacres that accompanied white colonisation. Few know about
successive
governments attempts to destroy a people. In an effort to throw
some public light on this period of Australian history and in an
attempt to understand the despair of many indigenous survivors of
the Australian governments forced assimilation policies, the
national
"stolen generations" inquiry began to take evidence from indigenous
Australians on Tuesday at Cape sarren Island in South-Eastern
Australia.=20
During the first seven decades of this century all the State
governments practised a policy of forced assimilation Of
indigenous children who had been dispossessed from their lands.
Governments consciously embarked on a policy of stealing
Aboriginal arld Torres Strait
Islander children from their parents and placing them in care. The
whiter a child's skin the more lil@ely that they would be stolen by
the authorities. These children were then fostered out to a
succession of families, placed in State run orphanages or placed in
mission care. Most led lives that were devoid of any family contact,
love or community, when they turned 16 they were released into the
general community.=20
The legacy of children being removed from their parents generation
after generation has had a profound impact on the lives of many
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who are alive today. Imagine
living on the fringes of society waiting for your children to be
stolen by the police or welfare workers. Many mothers lost five, six
or more of their children to the authorities. Try to imagine how you
would feel, try to imagine the hole in your soul as your children
were torn away from your bosom.=20
Thousands of children who were stolen by the State are still alive,
many of them have children of @heir own. Much of the pain and
grief they bear is passed onto their children. No wonder many
indigenous Australians find it difficult to cope with life. The
present inquiry into the stolen generations of indigenous people has
a duty to acquaint Australians with our disgusting past. It also has a
profound duty to give the government and society directions on
how best to compensate these survivors. It's no good saying we
weren't personally involved. We share the benefits of successive
governments policies of ethnic and cultural genocide. As we share
the benefits of white colonisation we should repay the debts we owe
indigenous Australians.=20
FREEDOM PRESS
http://www.lglobal.com/TAO/Freedom