Self-harm a pain escape

SENATOR Nigel Scullion of the Liberal Party stated recently that petrol trafficking is as serious a crime as people smuggling and that; "This is an area where we have moved to have mandatory sentencing - principally because they traffic in human misery."

I think the greater crime is perpetrated by the people who perpetuate human misery by endorsing unworkable and inappropriate laws, such as prohibition. The basics of a market-driven economy is that demand creates supply.

It is impossible to legislate away drug use and misuse, common sense show that.

Equally, people will use drugs to dull themselves from the pain of life, if not their drug of choice then another drug is used.

If Nigel Scullion was sincere about eradicating petrol sniffing then he would acknowledge that conditions in most poor communities, particularly indigenous, bring no hope to the people living in them and that drug use/misuse is a way to escape the pain, if only for a brief period.

If Nigel Scullion and the Liberal Party were serious about caring for indigenous people he would introduce a two-phased approach to drug misuse in communities. He would acknowledge that services should be comparable to what other citizens have access to and that until this occurs depression will manifest into self-harm.

Scott White
Stuart Park

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 13 October 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Scott White (letter to the editor)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Page: 10