YOUR SAY: SHOULD ILLICIT DRUGS BE LEGALISED?

9th October, 2009 Retired American police chief Norm Stamper told a Sydney audience recently that he believed the 'war on drugs' had failed and, as a result, illicit drugs should be decriminalised and regulated in the same way as alcohol. His is one of a number of voices in Australia recently which have called for a re-evaluation of Australia's drug policies. What do you think? Would decriminalisation help? Or do you support the current approach?...

Your Say

Comment left by silent bob I agree with Norm Stamper and am surprised that a christian site is prepared to break away from the scandalizing and demonizing of addicts..Its great as normally this minority of poorly represented people normally are the election time fodder for vote winning politicians. If there were centralized clinics where these "substances" ( no different to the countless other "legal meds" " that can kill and injure) could be obtained for a dollar a day ,it would very quickly end the blackmarket involvement of organized criminals that prey on addicts to perpetuate a horrible catch 22.Much smarter to control,regulate distribute and tax these "drugs" . We have 10s of thousands of lives that could really begin to take control of themselves.The taxpayer would save billions of dollars on policing and could then be funnelled away from a criminal justice issue to a more compassionate (dare i say it "Christian" )medical issue... Properly "medicated" , these addicts perhaps under supervision of a non drug using boss ,could slowly wean themselves off the prescription diamorphine and once have skills ,could reintegrate into the community and have some meaning in their lives..Not to mention the reduction in property crime,bloodborne disease transmission , street drug associations and culture... At the end of the day we should refrain from seeing this as a scandalous and morality driven issue ..because i for one know that if i was a parent or friend of such addicts, i definitely would rest a lot better at night in the knowledge that my son/daughter are being cared for by a govt clinic than fearing and loathing and dreading the phonecall telling me their body has just been found in an inner city laneway... This son/daughter could be anyone of our own children , so why maximise the dangers when we should simply admit that they have been doing it this long , so lets minimize the harms associated with drug use and help and pray they can overcome the addiction but in the meantime stop exposing them to a life of crime and danger

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