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| The NT News on NAP "...flotsam and jetsam of society..." These words by Magistrate Trigg, were part of a lengthy spiel about the many different people that came before him. The Court reporter (who has never deigned to speak to us) isolated these comments by the Magistrate to suit the NT News formula for NAP. My charges had also been dropped prior to Nicolette's exuberant response, but of course PARIAH like local racism, is forbidden subject matter in the NT News. The real story was obviously the withdrawal of seven criminal charges by the NT Police after their attack on a peaceful gathering. News accented by the recent 'riot' created by yet another provocative NT Police invasion of a NAP smoke-in.
Once again, the real story is ignored in favour of the Editorial bias against NAP, apparent in the NT News. We sent our article regarding the Parliamentary protest, to the NT News, but they prefer to run with their concocted version of events. |
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A cursory glance at the NAP home page is revealing. The "group so concerned by the government's drug legislation" obviously has an interest in the human rights of Aboriginal people. The group is also seen to operate within an international context.
NAP (as we have informed the NT News repeatedly) is part of an international movement opposed to the 'drug war' mentality, that has emanated from the USA. The Northern
Territory (Extract) Others who visited New York and Los Angeles with Stone included President of the Law Reform Commission Austin Asche, Syd Stirling the shadow Attorney General, Brian Bates the Commissioner of Police, Andrew Bruyn the Chairman of Crimestoppers and Don Kennedy the Managing Editor of News Limited in the Northern Territory." Source (ATSIC) NAP believe the militarization of Police, racism and the human rights breaches that comprise the methodology of the 'drug war' are inextricably linked. |
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_________________________________________________ Gary Meyerhoff Phone: (08) 8942 0570 Re: Letter to Editor Dear Sir I feel compelled to respond to the distorted view that your newspaper and various letters to the editor have shown in relation to the Network Against Prohibition. I challenge any assertion that the NAP campaign is simply so that NAP members can “use drugs whenever they want to.” The NAP campaign is based on principles of human rights and fairness. NAP has many members from all walks of life including teachers, doctors, students, parents and young people. Some NAP members use illegal drugs, others do not. However, all of our members have one thing in common, they have all seen first hand the failure of the “war on drugs” and the disastrous consequences this has for some members of our communities and for many people living in the third world. Our campaign is much more complex than just using drugs. We are trying to raise awareness within the community that prohibition and the “war on drugs” have both failed and that their continuation is causing untold levels of harm to many people in our community. Police forces continue to grow in size and their powers are increased. Jails are overcrowded as more and more drug “offenders” are incarcerated for victimless crimes. The “war on drugs” impacts heavily on groups who are already alienated and dis-empowered by our society. Young people and indigenous people are among those who already face a high level of contact with the police and this is only made worse when zero tolerance programs are in place. The second assertion that needs to be challenged is the idea that we are comfortable here in Australia and “shouldn’t rock the boat”. NAP’s campaign is an internationalist one. NAP is a member of international and national networks comprising millions of drug users and human rights activist around the world. We have also recently been accepted as a member of AIVL, the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League. Members of NAP recognise the role that the Australian Government has had to play in the colonisation and domination of many countries around the world. The “war on drugs” is supported by the Australian government and therefore, the Australian government must be made to answer for some of the human rights abuses that are occurring in places like Bolivia, Columbia and Afghanistan – in the name of the “war on drugs”. In Australia we face attacks on our civil liberties and human rights on a number of fronts. The “war on drugs” and situations like the sniffer dogs in NSW and the “drug premises” legislation in the NT need to be challenged. People may not agree with our tactics, however we feel that we are being effective in raising awareness of the damage being caused by the policies of successive Federal and Territory Government’s. The “war on drugs” will end. It is a question of when. NAP will continue our struggle and will continue to encourage others to get involved. If people want further information about the “war on drugs” and the NAP campaign visit our website http://www.napnt.org/ Yours truly, Gary Meyerhoff Coordinator – NAP |
