Military gets Tough on Drugs

Dear Sir,

It's not all smooth sailing for Prime Minister John Howard and his $6 million "Tough on Drugs" campaign.

Recent allegations that his own air crew used illicit drugs demonstrate just how silly his 'war on drugs' is. Until recently, military personnel with drug and alcohol problems had the option of attending the tri-service rehabilitation centre at the Richmond RAAF base. Now, defence force policy is to demand that the 'offenders' give reasons why they shouldn't be kicked out.

The purge at Robertson Barracks over the past few years and in South Australia more recently, clearly demonstrates that it is defence policy to destroy the lives and careers of young Australians if they provide just one 'dirty urine sample'. It seems that according to defence, one 'dirty urine' is proof that you are a 'drug addict'.

This assertion has been lapped up by the corporate media, who continue to refer to these military 'offenders' as 'addicts' when in fact they have only tested positive to illicit drugs on one occasion – on tests that are known to provide false positives. A significant proportion of the ejected personnel - including Johnny's aircrew - actually tested positive to amphetamines or cannabis.

Neither of these drugs is capable of bringing on any physical dependence, so why have the media pushed the 'drug addict' line? To sell a few more papers perhaps? To take our focus off the war in Iraq? Whatever the agenda, this new zero-tolerance approach to 'illicit drugs' in the military is deplorable. It is ironic that the very people the Prime Minister sends to fight illegal wars are now being persecuted at home for choosing to take illegal drugs. Many of these people have returned from wars overseas and it is inevitable that they will suffer some form of post traumatic stress
disorder.

It's no great leap to suggest that this may manifest itself in problematic drug and alcohol use. Rather than provide them with all of the support and assistance they require – our government turns on them. It's Vietnam all over again, only this time the stakes are much higher. The PM's war on drugs has now become a war on our own troops.

Yours truly,

Gary Meyerhoff
Network Against Prohibition
Rapid Creek

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/donate.html
Pubdate: Friday, 30 September 2005
Source: Territory Times (Australia)
Author: Gary Meyerhoff (letter to the editor)
Email: territorytimes@iprimus.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Territory Times

Escaping insanity

I am one of the growing numbers of Australians who struggles to maintain sanity in the midst of a world that’s gone mad.

One way to maintain that sanity is to ingest various substances -licit and illicit - to take the edge off things and help us get through each week.

I smoke pot every day (unless of course I am in a place like the USA or Brunei), and I regularly use other illicit drugs.

Living in Darwin, I have a choice of substances with which I can escape. Imagine living in some remote Indigenous communities.

Some have prohibited alcohol, so that’s not an option and thanks to the NT Police Remote Area Drug Desk, the price of one ‘stick’ (1.2 -1.4g) of cannabis can be up to $100. That’s four times what we pay here in Darwin. The ridiculously high cost of cannabis out bush makes petrol sniffing a whole lot more attractive to young people who see no way out from their current circumstances. This is another negative consequence of Clare Martin’s war on cannabis.

Gary Meyerhoff, NAPNT
Rapid Creek

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/petrol.html
Pubdate: Thur, 29 September 2005
Source: National Indigenous Times (Australia)
Author: Gary Meyerhoff (letter to the editor)
Contact: http://www.nit.com.au/contactus/
Email: mail@nit.com.au
Copyright: 2005 National Indigenous Times
Website: http://www.nit.com.au/
Url: http://www.nit.com.au/opinion/story.aspx?id=5695

Servicemen persecuted

IT'S not all smooth sailing for Prime Minister John Howard and his $6 million "Tough on Drugs" campaign.

Recent allegations that his own air crew used illicit drugs demonstrate just how silly his "war on drugs" is.

Until recently, military personnel with drug and alcohol problems had the option of attending the tri-service rehabilitation centre at the Richmond RAAF base.

Now, defence force policy is to demand that the "offenders" give reasons why they shouldn't be kicked out.

The purge at Robertson Barracks over the past few years, and in South Australia more recently, clearly demonstrates that it is defence policy to destroy the lives and careers of young Australians if they provide just one "dirty urine" sample.

It seems that according to defence, one "dirty urine" sample is proof that you are a "drug addict". This assertion has been lapped up by media, who continue to refer to these military "offenders" as "addicts" when in fact they have only tested positive to illicit drugs on one occasion on tests that are known to provide false positives.

Whatever the agenda, this new zero-tolerance approach to "illicit drugs" in the military is deplorable.

It is ironic that the very people the Prime Minister sends to fight illegal wars are now being persecuted at home for choosing to take illegal drugs.

Rather than provide them with all of the support and assistance they require, our Government turns on them. It's Vietnam all over again, only this time the stakes are much higher. The PM's war on drugs has now become a war on our own troops.

Gary Meyerhoff
Rapid Creek

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 27 September 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Gary Meyerhoff (letter to the editor)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283

Toyne must resign

Northern Territory Justice Minister Peter Toyne should resign.

Prison is not a solution to crime and neither does it rehabilitate offenders, genuine or otherwise.

Berrimah Prison has been overcrowded for months.

But all that Mr Toyne and the NT Government have done in response, is to ensure that it stays that way by jailing more and more people.

A war on illicit drug users; targeting of the longgrass community; zero-tolerance policing of young people; and now threats to jail petrol-sniffers.

More than 80% of prisoners are indigenous people. And the NT continues to have the highest rate of incarceration in Australia.

It is time for Toyne to go. Immediately.

Yours truly

Gary Meyerhoff
Network Against Prohibition
Rapid Creek

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 16 September 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Gary Meyerhoff (letter to the editor)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283

Cannabis

I am one of the growing numbers of Australians who struggles to maintain sanity in the midst of a world that's gone mad. One way to maintain that sanity is to ingest various substances — licit and illicit — to take the edge off things and help us get through each week.

I smoke pot every day (unless of course I am in a place like the USA or Brunei), and I regularly use other illicit drugs. Living in Darwin, I have a choice of substances with which I can escape.

Imagine living in some remote Indigenous communities. Some have prohibited alcohol, so that's not an option and thanks to the NT Police Remote Area Drug Desk, the price of one “stick” (1.2 1.4g) of cannabis can be up to $100. That's four times what we pay here in Darwin.

The ridiculously high cost of cannabis out bush makes petrol sniffing a whole lot more attractive to young people who see no way out from their current circumstances.

This is another negative consequence of Clare Martin's war on cannabis.

Gary Meyerhoff
Rapid Creek, NT

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/petrol.html
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Sep 2005
Source: Green Left Weekly (Australia)
Author: Gary Meyerhoff (letter to the editor)
Email: glw@greenleft.org.au
Website: http://www.greenleft.org.au

Victims from the drug war

PAUL Dyer’s article in Monday’s Northern Territory News (August 29) paints a less accurate picture regarding penalties for drug offences in the US. Far from being lenient, the US is up there with countries such as Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand when it comes to being tough on drugs.

A woman I write to in a Connenticut (sic), USA, is up for a 25-year-sentence. If you think this results from a huge drug bust, think again. Possession of 2.72 grams of cocaine was what Vicki Rosepiler was convicted of.

Then there’s this thing they have called enhancement, whereby people on drug charges are encouraged to lighten their own sentences by dobbing others in hearsay evidence. In Vicki’s case, someone claimed falsely that she had 500g of crack cocaine.

I read of another in a Mormon county where a man convicted of selling a small bag of cannabis to an undercover police officer received 55 years.

These extreme sentences seem to be the rule rather than the exception. You would think that this tough approach, and the hundreds of billions spent prosecuting the war on drugs, would have by now achieved its goal, i.e. it’s rid the US of the scourge of drugs. Wrong. Drugs are now available more widely and cheaply than ever. Like the prohibition of alcohol before it, prohibition of drugs has created a gigantic and lucrative black market.

If, on the other hand, the goal was to put lots of people in prison, they’ve certainly been successful there. There are close to 2.5 million people in prison in the US, at least half of them on drug charges.

So, I warn Australians planning to travel to the US that it’s possible your holiday or visit there could turn into a nightmare such as Schapelle Corby’s.

Vicki tells me that even after almost a decade behind bars, she still wakes up every morning and can’t believe this is happening to her.

Stuart Highway
Nightcliff

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Mon, 05 September 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Stuart Highway (letter to the editor)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283