AFL superstar, Ben Cousins, has it all. Movie star looks, extraordinary athletic ability, silky football skills, heaps of money and fame. He wants for nothing.
Shane Robertson (not his real name) has nothing. No self-respect, no money, no fame. He want for anything.
The only link these two young Australians have is their addiction to illicit drugs.
Cousins, with the support of a wealthy AFL club and a close family, is able to tackle his addiction at an exclusive drug rehabilitation centre in the United States.
No such safety net exists for Robertson. He has robbed his family, lost his friends and lives on the street. His rehabilitation includes a trek across the Kokoda Trail with a group from Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets.
The debate on illicit drugs ranges between zero tolerance, harm minimisation and decriminilisation.
A major impediment in finding a solution to the drug problem is the opportunity for quick profits on a massive scale. Drug dealers who have never had a decent job are flush with cash and able to cruise the streets in late model BMWs. The insidious influence of their evil trade reaches into all our social, sporting, commercial and political institutions.
The reasons people take drugs are as complex as human nature itself. Drugs offer a temporary escape from the daily misery of a poverty stricken environment for many. Peer pressure is an important factor in our schools. For others from more privileged backgrounds it is a cool way to get a buzz.
Nobody is immune from the insidious influences of the drug trade.
Solutions to the problem are just as complex. Early intervention, education, effective policing, drug courts, injecting rooms and rehabilitation are all part of the debate in arguing the pros and cons of zero tolerance, harm minimization or decriminalization.
There is no argument that we should do our utmost to discourage the use of drugs and to support those who have become addicted to them.
On the other hand there is a strong argument for those who deal in drugs to be treated as harshly as we would treat a murderer or a rapist. Drug pushers rob children of their innocence, destroy family relationships and imperil local communities. There should be no greater crime than the destruction of a young persons mind through drug addiction.
Drug pushers are a cancer in our society. It matters not whether it is the sale of a few tablets at a nightclub or the distribution of heroin on the street. It all has the same outcome – the destruction of our greatest resource – the mind of a young Australian.
The challenge for our political leaders is to develop and implement a zero tolerance policy for drug pushers with harsh punishments for those who indulge themselves in the trade.
Tags: Law and Order
