Winning goals: Rethinking Crime and Punishment

Extracts in this feature are adapted from I Would Rethink Crime and Punishment By...published today by the thinktank Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

I would reallocate resources within the prison service budget to give a higher priority to rehabilitation, retraining for future employment, and an improvement in literacy standards. During my own prison journey I was struck by the astoundingly high levels of illiteracy among prisoners. Tests show that about a third of all prisoners read and write at skill levels below those of 11-year-old schoolchildren.

I would pursue the idea of prisoners being able to earn extra remission as a result of achieving NVQ qualifications, computer skills and higher literacy standards.

Lord Adebowale: Chief executive of homelessness charity Turning Point

I would rethink social care and regeneration. This is not a moral argument but an economic one. By tackling poverty and social exclusion effectively we can prevent a great deal of crime. One-third of prisoners have a severe alcohol dependency, two-thirds have mental health problems, and one-third say they were in local authority care as a child. For many, prison merely serves as an example of how little value current welfare services add to their lives.

None of this is meant to excuse the crimes they have committed, but it should spur us to action. Providing the right interventions, earlier in life, will be far more cost-effective than prison, and will do far more for the victims of crime. A US study found that every dollar spent on tackling poverty saved $7 in other costs, such as criminal justice.

In the long term, providing effective social care that meets people's whole needs, including education and employment, will be more effective than any criminal justice programme.

Sir Charles Pollard: Former chief constable of Thames Valley Police, and a member of the Youth Justice Board

Let's integrate restorative justice fully into our criminal justice system. Ninety per cent of crime victims find restorative justice helps them get over what happened. Many offenders stop or reduce their criminal activity after being confronted directly with the impact of their crimes on others. And citizens who have participated become more engaged themselves with upholding standards in their local communities. The facts speak for themselves. Restorative justice is an idea whose time has come.

Eric Allison: Prisons correspondent

Imagine that you are ill. You see your GP, who tells you that you have, say, a stomach disorder and prescribes tablet X. A month later, your condition has worsened and you return to the surgery. The doctor tells you to give the medicine time, increases the dose and sends you on your way. A further month goes by, and now you are in agony. Another appointment. You are in the waiting room talking to another patient, who says he has gout and that the tablets the doctor gave him do not appear to be working. To your astonishment, you find that he too is on tablet X. You take a spot survey of those in the waiting room; they are all on the same medicine and not a soul feels better for it.

Surely, it's a case for the General Medical Council to consider striking this clearly dangerous doctor from the register.

An unlikely scenario? Yes, of course. Except that it's a script that is written hundreds of thousands of times a year within the penal area of our criminal justice system. Everybody who gets sent to prison - man, woman or child - receives basically the same treatment... a treatment that has proved time and time again not to work. There are 75,000 people in prison and 75,000 different reasons why they are there. Yet they are all on tablet X.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Nick Ross: Broadcaster

Let justice be done and revenge be had, but let us stop kidding ourselves that punishment axiomatically cuts crime. Given the vast investment in prisons and other punishments, it is extraordinary how little scientifically credible research has been done on its effectiveness in reducing wrongdoing.

Perhaps - from a purely crime reduction perspective - some people should be locked up longer and others should be told to go home. I want to find out, and this is too important for us to go on relying on convention, gut feeling or political inclination.

Meanwhile, our focus on punishment distracts us from the thousands of more immediate, and often cheaper, steps we can take to redesign products, policies and services to make the prospect of detection more certain and, better still, to make crime less tempting and less easy to commit.

Lord Hurd: Former home secretary

I would make a determined effort to stop the rise in prison sentences. Judges and magistrates send more people to prison for longer, not because there is more crime but because they feel that public opinion demands it. So our prisons are overcrowded as never before.

In these conditions, the chances of reforming a prisoner are slim. More than half reoffend within two years of release. Prison has not "worked" for them or for the community. The two keys to progress are: provide those who pass sentences with convincing alternatives to imprisonment, and do everything possible to help prisoners on release to find a job and a home so that they do not immediately drift back into crime.

Dame Anita Roddick: Founder of The Body Shop

Let's put an end to the myth that prison works. Politicians must stop looking to America for tough ways of dealing with crime.

I'd feel safer knowing that crime prevention measures are in place, alienated communities are socially included, and that mentally ill and drug-dependent offenders are treated, not punished. It's a crime too that so many vulnerable women are in jail. We waste so much human potential if we are unimaginative when responding to crime.

Erwin James: Writes a column, Life Outside, for the Guardian

Let's first of all take the responsibility of punishment, including the prison system, away from the main political arena. The only political involvement in my model would be from an all-party home affairs committee that would engage with and oversee what I would ensure was a fully independent body responsible both for sentencing policy and prison conditions.

This body - let's call it the Prisons and Sentencing Council (made up, perhaps, of teachers, social workers, doctors, beat police officers, probation officers and academics) - would base its policy decisions on information gathered by its dedicated teams of specialist researchers. The courts would carry out sentencing according to these policies, and the court appearance would be the time for the person in the dock to be subjected to public opprobrium and private shame.

The arrival at prison for those sentenced to a period of incarceration would mark the beginning of the rebuilding process. Prisons would be establishments that would encourage personal development and responsibility through therapeutic counselling, academic education and the pursuance of creative activities.

The prison journey, however long it might be, would be constructive and geared to lead to the eventual successful reintegration of the imprisoned person back into the community.

Ann Widdecombe: MP for Maidstone and the Weald, and a former prisons minister

If prison is to work it must be purposeful and prisoners must spend their days in education and work. Offending behaviour courses must be properly linked with post-release supervision.

At the moment, we take people who are poorly educated and come from unstructured lifestyles, lock them up in idleness, and then open up the prison gates expecting them to leadindustrious, law-abiding lives. It is cloud cuckoo land.

I would like to see a government plan for introducing full working days into every prison by 2012.

Juliet Lyon: Director of the Prison Reform Trust

Why not reduce the reach and aspirations of the criminal justice system and put prison back where it belongs - as a place of absolute last resort.

A tragic, unintended consequence of improving prison, before reserving it for serious and violent offenders only, has been to turn it into an under-resourced, capacious social service struggling to dispense drug treatment, low-level mental healthcare and basic education.

I would call on other public services to shoulder their shirked responsibilities and invest more in preventive work and support for vulnerable families. Above all, I would look to an authoritative, confident government to reduce fear of crime and create a justice system based on proportionality and fairness, not on vengeance and populism.

Tony Adams: Former Arsenal and England footballer; founder of the Sporting Chance Clinic

I would do more to help people with drink or drug problems. I spent time in prison through a drink-related incident. The long and short of it was that I was completely out of my head - a simple case of a man having problems with alcohol.

I spent three months in prison and, astonishingly, received no education in the areas of alcohol and drug abuse. Inside prison I was with people with similar problems to mine; they'd been out of their heads on mixtures of alcohol, cocaine, crack or whatever - but ultimately they had committed crimes that, in the clear light of day, they would not have done. If you give people education on the drugs they have been using and also introduce them to a high level of physical and calming exercise there is a dramatic fall in the number that reoffend.

Jonathan Myerson: Writes a Society Guardian column about his experiences as a Labour councillor in Lambeth, south London

What's the problem with youth justice? Young offenders never have to say sorry. Yes, referral panels are a step in the right direction. But after his first offence, the average teenage-on-teenage mugger sits and listens to his brief make tortuous, often legalistic excuses on his behalf, but never has to face up to it and say: "I did it. I'm sorry. It was wrong."

Meanwhile, months pass between crime and trial, and by the time sentence is announced the new offender has usually already reoffended and is lost to any hope of rehabilitation.

So my proposal is simple. Henceforth, the mugging victim will have a choice: he can make a statement and proceed through the courts, or the offender can be brought before him, in a controlled setting, and the offender has to look him in the eye and say sorry. Genuinely. And if he does, that's the end of it. No further action.

Mary Riddell: Columnist

Take children of 14 and under out of a criminal justice process designed for adults. Child courts would address welfare issues and place those found guilty of grave offences, such as killing, in local authority custody, close to home.

Older children, up to 18, would also be removed from the care of the prison service and the young offender institutions that produce a grievous toll of unhappiness and suicide.

Treating children more humanely would send a powerful message to a system inclined, across the board, to focus too much on punishment and too little on rehabilitating the vulnerable of all ages.

· Extracts in this feature are adapted from I Would Rethink Crime and Punishment By... published today by the thinktank Rethinking Crime and Punishment. Copies are available free. Details:

By Johnathan Aitken posted 20 January 2004

Rethinking Crime & Punishment

Related:

England and Wales

London police may moor prison ship on Thames
UK: The London police are holding discussions about possibly mooring a prison ship on the River Thames in a bid to ease pressure on the spiralling prisoner population.

Prisons accused of ignoring age trend
UK: A 70-year-old prisoner who uses a wheelchair has to pay "unofficial helpers" six chocolate bars a week to help him get around and to collect his meals, according to an investigation by the chief inspector of prisons into the growing number of elderly inmates.

Scandal of society's misfits dumped in jail
Up to 70% of inmates in Britain's jails have mental health disorders. In the first of a three-part series, Nick Davies hears their shocking stories.

Australia

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

Isolation, psychiatric treatment and prisoner' control
The 2003 NSW Corrections Health Service (now Justice Health) Report on Mental Illness Among NSW Prisoners states that the 12 month prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in prison is 74%, compared to 22% in the general community, and while this includes substance disorder the high rate cannot be attributed to that alone.

Where the Norm is Not the Norm: HARM-U
In the absence of public policy, this paper is an attempt to shine a light through the rhetoric and test for coherency in the policy and function of NSW’s only supermax prison, the High Risk Management Unit. Its present use will be compared with the ‘vision’ flogged by the Premier and the Department of Corrective Services (the Department) at its inception in 2001.

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Government justice not personal justice
Mr Brett Collins of Justice Action said, "Victims should be looked after properly by implementing restorative justice measures and victims should be compensated for their pain and suffering. " However prisoners are entitled to serve their sentences in peace and privacy as well."

Sentencing: Violent crime and practical outcomes
In addition introducing restorative justice programs giving the offender a chance to interact with the offended person if they wish and visa-versa. People are not "dogmatic" therefore should be given a second chance opposed to Life means Life!

Carr Govt dramatic increases in the NSW prisoner pop...
Following the opening of the 500 bed Kempsey prison, and a new 200-bed prison for women at Windsor the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and community organisations specialising in the rehabilitation of prisoners, have expressed concern....

New Zealand

More jails will create more crime says expert
NZ: Once a world leader in restorative justice, New Zealand is regressing by locking more people up for longer, visiting expert Sir Charles Pollard says.

USA

Prison System Fails Women, Study Says
State policies designed for violent men make female offenders' rehabilitation difficult, an oversight panel finds. "If we fail to intervene effectively in the lives of these women and their children now, California will pay the cost for generations to come," said Commissioner Teddie Ray, chairwoman of the subcommittee that produced the report.

Child Offenders on Death Row
Recent Australian studies of alcohol and cannabis use show that girls are increasingly inclined to behave boldly. But boys out number the girls, two to one; and three to one in the juvenile justice system, mortality figures, speeding infringements and car crash statistics.

Restorative Justice and the Law
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."-- Marilyn vos Savant.

Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America. This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America. The series is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather a broad thematic overview. A related eForum article, "The Wet'suwet'en Unlocking Aboriginal Justice Program: Restorative Practices in British Columbia, Canada," can be read at:

The Long Trail to Apology
Native America: All manner of unusual things can happen in Washington in an election year, but few seem so refreshing as a proposed official apology from the federal government to American Indians - the first ever - for the "violence, maltreatment and neglect" inflicted upon the tribes for centuries.

Fed Govt threatens force over mental health spending!

The Federal Government has threatened to coerce the states and territories to spend more on mental health services.

Parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne says Commonwealth funding for mental health services increased by 128 per cent between 1993 and 2002, while state and territory funding during that time increased by just 40 per cent.

Mr Pyne says while substantial improvements have been made, developments have not been consistent across all states and territories.

"If the Commonwealth is pulling its weight, we expect the states to pull theirs," he said.

"So through negotiation, coercion and simply working together, I guess that's the way we'll try and bring about an improvement in the states' performance in the mental health area."

"The states have a responsibility to provide the right services to people who are suffering with mental health," he said.

By Just Us 29 November 04

Deaths in Custody, Police Powers and Mental Illness
The NSW Police Force should not have a role in the psychiatric diagnosis and medication of the public. Police are not medically trained in this speciality.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

At The Ministers Pleasure?
20 people have been recommended for release from Long Bay Prison Hospital yet they are still there.

Jails-The new asylums?
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Asylum seekers -- no, not what you think -- but those who are so disillusioned with the current approach of our mental health system that they believe we should go back to the old ways and rebuild the asylums.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN N S W
Ms CLOVER MOORE (Bligh) [4.43 p.m.]: Today I speak about the shocking situation for people with mental illness, and call for urgent government action. There have been calls for reform of mental health services as far back as the 1983 Richmond report, followed by the 1988 Barclay report and the 1993 Burdekin report.

Conditions in the HRMU
Justice Action is trying to obtain documents on behalf of prisoners held in the Goulburn High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) from the Federal Attorney General's Department, Corrective Services Minister's Conference regarding the process described below, in which the Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia were adopted. This documentation will help explain the justification for the conditions in the HRMU.

Forensic Hospital at Long Bay
NSW should reject the government decision to set up a secure forensic hospital at Long Bay - or in any place where it can be influenced by the Department of Corrective Services (DCS) (or probably Corrections Health Service (CHS) for that matter).

Escape from hell?
A third person has escaped from the Adelaide's Glenside psychiatric hospital as health authorities prepare to begin a second review of security.

Escape proof but not so the prisoners mind
Fewer prisoners escape from prison these days because they're "cemented in" by materials that do not break and by legislation that can keep prisoners in jail until they die.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
Life in jail is an ordeal but it's a much harsher sentence for the child of a prisoner, writes Paola Totaro. 30 July 03

History of trauma dogs sole parents and the government
Australia's sole parents including those who were squarely divided by the Family Court of Australia which include tens of thousands of lone mothers on welfare benefits have experienced rape, physical assault, torture and mental health disorders at some time during their life, a new study shows.

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

Child detainees 'living in a nightmare', report finds
A report being released today documents disturbing evidence about mental health for children in detention centres.The report is a joint work by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, NSW University and NSW psychiatrists.

The children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

One in six youth deaths caused by alcohol: report

ALMOST one in six deaths amongst young Australians can be attributed to the irresponsible consumption of alcohol, research by the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) has revealed.

In figures released today, the study shows that 2,643 people aged between 15 and 24 died from alcohol-attributable injury and disease between 1993 and 2002 around 15 per cent of all deaths in the age group.

Young people most at risk live in rural areas, and by region in either the Northern Territory or Western Australia.

The latest National Alcohol Indicators Bulletin, compiled by the Perth-based NDRI, also showed 22 per cent of injuries which lead to young people being hospitalised could also be traced back to risky drinking.

More than 100,000 youngsters were hospitalised for an alcohol related illness or injury between 1993 and 2002, the research found.

Tanya Chickarees, NDRI research fellow and alcohol policy team leader said a number of states and territories had shown an increase in alcohol-attributable deaths, following a period of national decline in the 1990s.

"There was a really encouraging decline in deaths and hospitalisations up until about 2000, but now we are just starting to see a reverse," Ms Chickarees said.

"A great amount of tax is generated from alcohol, but we are starting to think now that the costs are so high, attributable to alcohol, that what is made, the profit, is becoming less (important)."

Dr Chickarees said one of the most marked changes in recent years was the increase in drinking deaths and injury amongst young Australian women.

The institute believed this could be attributed to changes to tax on pre-mixed drinks in 2000.

"Pre-mixed drinks essentially became cheaper for young women than what used to be their preferred beverage, straight spirits or bottled wine," Ms Chickarees said.

"These pre-mixed beverages in my opinion are targeted at young people, and when this tax change happened, there was a massive increase in sales.

"Surveys around the country have been saying that young women are drinking more than they ever have, and we are now bearing our more evidence to support that."

Amongst other findings in the research were that a man was four times more likely to die from an alcohol-attributable death than a women, while the most common causes of alcohol-attributable death for young people were road injury, suicide and violence.

Young indigenous Australians are more than twice as likely as their non-indigenous counterparts to die from alcohol-attributable causes.

Death rates among indigenous youth have not improved in the last eight years, the study concluded.

The rate of alcohol-attributable death among young people who live in non-metropolitan areas is about 1.7 times greater than for their city dwelling counterparts.

The study showed the Northern Territory has the highest number of alcohol-attributable deaths among 15-24 year olds, with 4.0 deaths per 10,000, while WA had the second highest rate, 1.3 per 10,000.

The ACT, with 0.6 deaths per 10,000 had the lowest national rate.

The National Alcohol Indicators Bulletin was released ahead of next week's APSAD "Beyond the Drug" 2004 National Conference, being held in Fremantle, where national and international speakers will present research on drug and alcohol issues.

By Mad Broth 12 November 04

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by there mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found. The research, which fuels growing concern about alcohol-related harm, is the latest to consider the contentious question of whether alcohol is a "gateway" to hard drug use.

Abra Cadabra
No magic bullet? This is a chronic condition! Government's Legal Drug alcohol is costing Australia billions: study.

Wine glut alert!
Wine glut alerts bank to grape grower debt and we need to be aware there's no magic bullet here either, it is a chronic condition just like the other one?

You're one of my kind?
Over 80% of the population consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 11% of males and 6% of females drinking daily. In terms of risk of harm in the long term, 10% of males and 9% of females drank alcohol in a pattern that was risky or high risk. In terms of short-term risk, 24% of males and 17% of females drank at least once a month in a manner that was risky or high risk for short-term harm.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

Alcohol pickles your brain
Pickle point; a leading professor Dr. Bud said after releasing his report on the problems associated with alcohol.

Submissions to the Inebriates Inquiry?
The Act allows detention of inebriates in proclaimed places, which no longer exist. The chief magistrate, Derek Price probably kicked it off with his submission to the Alcohol Summit. He also gave evidence, which was basically 'Repeal the act as it does not work, and get a new act based on the Mental Health Act'.

Australian drivers licence dangerous weapon
We have the photo, the random gun searches, the random drugs searches, the alcohol breath test, and now the drug test that doubles as a DNA swab.

Sentencing innovation breaks vicious circle of jail terms
"Three months' jail for one punch in a pub fight is too much," said the victim. The victim's comment counted because he and the offender, Robert Bolt, a Nowra Aborigine, were making history in the first case of circle sentencing, a new way of deciding punishment for indigenous offenders.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Another lethal party drug article...This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Alcohol and other Drug Use in Australia
Over 80% of the population consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 11% of males and 6% of females drinking daily. In terms of risk of harm in the long term, 10% of males and 9% of females drank alcohol in a pattern that was risky or high risk. In terms of short-term risk, 24% of males and 17% of females drank at least once a month in a manner that was risky or high risk for short-term harm.

Alcohol Poisoning

National murder rate down, report

Australians are killing each other at a substantially reduced rate, new national homicide figures show.

The figures, released by the Australian Institute of Criminology under the National Homicide Monitoring Program, show there were 297 homicide incidents resulting in the deaths of 324 people during 2002-03.

That represents a 15 per cent decline from 381 deaths in 2001-02 - giving Australia a current national homicide rate of 1.6 per 100,000 population, the equal lowest rate since the program started in 1990.

Report authors Jenny Mouzos and Marie Segrave stressed that the murder rate remained volatile and subject to yearly fluctuations.

It ranged from a low of 297 incidents in 1997-98 to a high of 354 incidents in 2001-02.

The 2002-03 figures also show some ongoing trends. Men account for two-thirds of victims and 87 per cent of offenders.

More than half of all offenders were affected by alcohol or drugs, or both, at the time.

The Northern Territory continues to have the nation's highest murder rate of 8.6 per 100,000 population - 17 victims, the majority indigenous people.

The most common factor leading to murder for males was an argument or altercation (22 per cent) while for women in was a domestic dispute (51 per cent).

More than half of all murders occurred in a residential location.

The study found knives and other sharp implements were the most common murder weapons, used in 36 per cent of cases, followed by assault using hands and feet (21 per cent) and firearms (16 per cent).

Of the 53 firearms victims, 29 were killed with handguns. Of the 44 identified offenders who used firearms to kill, 37 were not licensed to own guns and resorted to use of unregistered illegal weapons.

The study also cited some unusual murder and manslaughter cases.

They included a tour guide who advised travellers it was safe to swim in a crocodile-infested billabong.

By Homicide Figures 7 June 04

WA: Corrupt cops and blind toothless politicians

A WEST Australian One Nation MP has called for corporal punishment for teenagers involved in drunken fights on Perth's streets.

The city has been blighted by a series of drunken battles involving youths and the police in recent months.

But the next commissioner of the West Australian police force could come from outside the state in the wake of the Royal Commission report that effectively labelled the service the worst in Australia.

Geoffrey Kennedy QC's $28 million report yesterday labelled the service "mediocre", blaming lack of leadership for corruption as extensive as that found by the 1987 Fitzgerald inquiry in Queensland and NSW's 1997 Wood commission.

I don't see a West Australian One Nation MP calling for corporal punishment for corrupt cops. Who incidentally are supposed to be leading the community by example?

So in reality they want the kids to behave but they don't know how to behave themselves and these are corrupt cops telling children what to do. Sure, they're going to believe you.

A 90-minute running battle between 3,000 youngsters and a riot squad on Australia Day.

Several officers were injured after police in riot gear were pelted with bottles and rocks at two separate incidents at Kalamunda and Trigg.

Frank Hough, MLC for the Agriculture region and national state director of One Nation, says a generation of untouchable teenage thugs and criminals deserves corporal punishment.

He says it's about time the nation stopped coddling wayward youth and brought back discipline.

Hough is seeking the reintroduction of the birch, a type of whip-like collection of sticks used for corporal punishment.

Dear Mr Hough,

The buck has to stop somewhere and it seems that if you want kids to have confidence and trust in the community they must be led by example.

The corruption in your police force is an example that violence begets violence and if people don't have a proper role model then it seems unlikely to trickle down into the community.

The two-volume report, arising from Commissioner Kennedy's 20-month probe, found evidence of significant and sustained police corruption over 20 years, and evidence of widespread verballing and perjury was reliable.

However, only two of the 121 officers investigated by the commission have been charged with criminal offences, with further charges unlikely.

Four officers have been stood down, two disciplined, 16 are facing disciplinary charges and five have resigned.

If people have no confidence in the police force then there is no law and order.

If you want to belt someone into submission then they are going to belt someone into submission down the track.

Bad lesson for today!

But instead if you invite the kids into the decision making process then you will find out why they are drunken and violent. Not just that, but you also get an obligation by the kids, if they come up with an idea that will help you solve the problem.

Parents face cure for delinquent offspring

There are usually better ways of introducing parents to better Parent Effectiveness Training and not necessarily in an election year or when delinquent offspring have already got into trouble.

By Example 4 March 04

Related:

Cops Leak: Bulldogs accused of rape at Coffs Harbour
Police are warning media outlets they may face criminal charges if they release confidential information about investigations.The call comes after the details of an assault on a woman at Coffs Harbour were read on a commercial radio station in Sydney yesterday morning.

Redfern police 'need to be made accountable'
POLICE have no right to demand increased support to patrol Redfern in the wake of one of the worst death in custody cover-ups by police in Australian history.

Fatal accident prompts police pursuit probe
A fatal car accident in New South Wales has prompted a review of the procedures police use during high-speed pursuits. Police say a man and a young girl were killed when a speeding car crashed head-on into another car at McGrath's Hill in Sydney's north-west.

Capsicum spray killed Brisbane man
A 26-year-old man has died in Brisbane after a scuffle with police in the inner-city suburb of Highgate Hill. Police say they went to a unit complex just after midnight to speak to the man. Inspector Ian Robinson says police used capsicum spray and the man collapsed and died.

Riot in Redfern over death in custody
The reported claim that 50 police were injured during rioting in Redfern over a death in custody is nothing more than a counter claim required to balance the argument that Thomas Hickey wasn't chased to his death by police.

Fatal accident prompts police pursuit probe
A fatal car accident in New South Wales has prompted a review of the procedures police use during high-speed pursuits. Police say a man and a young girl were killed when a speeding car crashed head-on into another car at McGrath's Hill in Sydney's north-west.

Victorian author Raymond Hoser attacked
The case has been reported in some media, but severely misrepresented by the ABC who falsely implied that Hoser himself made a false claim about a magistrate Hugh Adams taking a bribe. The facts of the matter are as follows: On 21 December 1988 Policeman Ross Allen Bingley made the statement of fact that Adams had been bribed to wrongly convict Hoser of Theft and assault charges. This was tape-recorded and has been transcribed since. Hoser was innocent and exonerated on appeal.

NSW Police Force: Bent cop Cribb should be treated no different
34-year-old police inspector Shane Cribb, who shot a man shouldn't be treated differently than any other person charged with the same offence. The Daily Telegraph this morning is calling for special consideration for the cop.

One arrested in random raids: Police
A man has been arrested at a house in Punchbowl in one of 10 simultaneous raids on properties in Sydney's south-west this morning.

Random police raid terrorised residents
A police task Force randomly targeting gang warfare [and criminals green lighted by police themselves], is investigating nine murders and one disappearance, including a shooting death that sparked a dramatic random dawn raid in south-western Sydney yesterday.

Three men arrested over deadly drug feud
In a day of extraordinary developments in investigations into gangland violence [and police corruption], in southwest Sydney, armed plainclothes detectives from strike force Gain swooped on three men in the shopping area of the Star City Casino complex at about 2.30pm.

Drive-by shootings: test your political IQ?
Sydney was being controlled by around a thousand gun-toting young men and a new jail was needed to put them in, the NSW opposition said on Friday, in the wake if Sydney's drive-by shootings.

NSW drug wars: family feud not responsible for shootings
Do New South Wales citizens have to be diverted from the truth about a drug infested gangland killing? Why did the police lie? Why did the Premier lie? What is wrong with our government and police, are they on the take? Are they on drugs? Are these people being drug tested?

NSW Opp calls for greater police powers
The New South Wales Opposition has used the latest fatal shooting in Sydney's south-west to call for police to be given powers to conduct random car searches.

Hollingsworth: Whistleblower meeting at Mensa
The speaker will be Kim Hollingsworth, another idealist woman police whistleblower who reported corruption within the service and wouldn't back down, despite suffering financial and emotional distress, as a consequence of Police victimisation of her.

First degree murder? Or Noble Cause Corruption?
A "STUDENT" who was alleged to be involved in a murder and armed robberies is being sent to university, after turning police informant, the man has been given indemnity from prosecution relating to a string of serious offences. These include a hold-up in which shopkeeper Khiem Lu was stabbed to death.

Australian drivers licence dangerous weapon
In the hands of police the Australian motor vehicle driver's licence has become, and soon becoming a very dangerous and powerful weapon that can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Licensed to drive, be intimidated, be harassed, and interfered with?
NSW Police should not be given any more power to stop drivers going about their business. These new powers are just a substitute for the recent attack on privacy, whereby police wanted to search for guns by stopping drivers randomly.

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released the National Deaths in Custody Program annual report for 2002 Between January and December 2002, there was a total of 69 deaths in custody in Australia. There were 50 deaths in prison custody and 19 deaths in police custody and custody-related police operations.

Police WarLords set to take over Sydney again
Police warlords are set to take over Sydney's suburbs because police are not being supervised properly.

Jailed man's conviction to be reviewed
The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal will today review the conviction of a man, after claims in the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) last year that police planted weapons and faked suspects' confessions.

Rookies step up to ranks of Keystone-Cops?
Officers untrained in major criminal investigation are being posted to the state's elite body of detectives.

The inaugural Australian Police Summit
The inaugural Australian Police Summit (APS) will take place 18-19 June 2003 at the Australian Technology Park, Sydney. APS is Australia's only dedicated event focusing on all aspects of Law Enforcement and Policing.

NSW Police! Soothsayers or slayers? Strategy part 3 Permit denial
Part three: Refuse to grant a permit for another planned march because they manipulated the populist view. How? By exploiting your argument and eroding the public's confidence in peaceful demonstrations and by using the media to tell their lies, then using that as a weapon against peace.

Police violence fractures Peace movements?
The resolution also criticised New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner Dick Adams for creating a threatening environment by mobilising excessive force for the protest.

No confidence in 'Force' when service is out the door
How are shopkeepers and service staff going to feel today knowing police are vulnerable to be attacked while serving customers at the counter of a police station?

Every dog has his day: Brammer resigns
The Police Integrity Commission found that Brammer, along with other senior police, had at times displayed a lack of support for the former police reform body, the Crime Management Support Unit.

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Black Knight Moroney to give evidence?
Accusations about former high-ranking NSW policewoman Lola Scott's alleged failure to act against paedophiles have dominated a federal crime inquiry hearing in Sydney.

The NSW Police Force
The NSW Police Force has stopped production on its new movie Viking. Viking, showing in NSW Parliament House and in the suburbs of Sydney recently.

Crime victim group wants say in money allocation
A spokesperson from Justice Action Mr Brett Collins said, "Victims should be properly compensated regardless of the source and that is currently the law. The law says you don't need to find even the offender to get compensation. This is an attempt by the opposition to create a law and order issue-involving victims when there is in fact no issue!

Abolition of 800 year old double jeopardy law a crime
The 800-year-old rule prevents a person who's acquitted of a criminal charge from ever being re-tried for that offense.

When real safety is jeopardised in NSW
Perception of crime is still a problem in NSW, with a new Productivity Commission report showing the state's citizens feel less safe than most of their counterparts.

Terry Falconer: KILLED IN CUSTODY
TERRY FALCONER CASE: Terry Falconer was picked up by a uniformed policeman and two detectives on work release from Silverwater jail. Handcuffed and found two weeks later chopped up in chicken wire at Wauchope and dumped below the tide mark. Two fishermen found Falconer.

The body in the seven bags still hides its secrets Who is going to report this failure by the NSW police to solve this most important crime? When there is evidence that the perpetrator was the police who are the same people who are investigating the crime or said to be investigating the crime. The diversion here is that bikies committed the crime even though the head of Rebells bikie gang worked for the NSW police for 22 years in an elite tactical response group.

Call to Bronwyn Bishop's Federal Crime Inquiry
I call on Bronwyn Bishop to allow me to produce first evidence about police corruption and to be able to attend Parliament House Sydney without fear of conviction.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
After the Wood Royal Commission the real gang behind the gangs at Kings Cross moved from Kings Cross to Cabramatta. After the killing of John Newman, who was gunned down in front of his home by a person not found and a weapon not found, but by a person who was alleged to have conspired to kill Newman for political purposes, was framed and jailed.

'Police Integrity Commission' Why do you lie like that?
A Police Integrity Commission inquiry which took more than a year, heard more than 50 witnesses - many of them senior police - and cost millions of dollars, has recommended that no action be taken against anyone.

Australia: politicians should watch police
In Sydney yesterday the Opposition police spokesman, Andrew Tink, urged Federal Labor MPs to allow the public hearing of the claims, which include that senior police, the PIC and the Ombudsman's office were failing to investigate legitimate complaints of misconduct, including corruption in the police promotion system.

The community questions ICAC's slagging and fobbing you off?
The ICAC, Commissions, Ombudsman, Police Integrity Commission (PIC), and numerous Tribunals etc, are all arms of government set up as an insurance police for the government's 3 or 4 year election terms. In short they'll be out of office by the time you may be lucky enough to have your matter heard.

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

2,500 crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
Evan Whitton: Either two things occurred. If you said you didn't join the police force to extort money from working girls, your papers were marked 'not suitable for plain clothes' and you were sent back to uniform.

How to become corruption resistant in NSW
Don't trust those who cannot prove themselves with the little amounts of trust you give them. Just because they have a letter of perceived trust doesn't mean they can be trusted.

This is not how you eat 'antisocial behaviour'
Process corruption, perjury, planting of evidence, verbals, fabricated confessions, denial of suspects rights, a solicitor to induce confessions, tampering with electronic recording equipment, framing. Generally green lighting crime, and I say Murder, including the kids who overdosed on heroin. No doubt.

Black Knight - Long way to go home
In line with the current climate of police corruption and the demise of the reform unit set up by Wood, these facts ought to have been a good reason to leave Moroney out of the package as Commissioner.

Deeds
I am disturbed by Governments 'actions' in relation to shuffling the police service. Clive Small seconded into Parliament like a cocky in a perch. A breach of the fundamental Separation of Powers Doctrine does not in my view allow the thought of intervening, planning, or shuffling to stack the deck of our police service. The one that suppose to be autonomous according to Lord Denning. Where the Parliamentary Secretary can ask the commissioner of police to 'report' then sack him if he is not satisfied with such report.

Australia's Political Underworld...& their enforcers
The promotion of law and order means money to big business. Profits from insurance, security fixtures, patrol services and the like can only continue to grow if the perceived threat of uncontrollable crime wave escalates. In the past few months there have been many examples of the true nature of our blood thirsty politicians and their sinister attempts to spoon-feed a not so gullible public with their repetitious rhetoric.

Truth
Who is telling the truth? Well I guess Dr. Ed. Chadbourne or Mr. Peter Ryan may have the answer to that. Dr. Chadbourne sacked by Peter Ryan and more specifically in my view because he elected deputy commissioners Dave Madden and Andrew Scipione as the best men in the service in relation to his qualifications to make a recommendation in his capacity as human resources.That is if you believe that a Dr. can be corrupted.

Honesty
What is happening between the Police Service and politics is quite extraordinary at the moment. If stand over tactics don't work tell half the truth honestly and follow the example of sheep. Another word for it is sleaze, yeah. Another word for it is workplace harassment. Another word for it is bribing a Police Officer. Another word for it is misleading Parliament.

Tele Tales
Most people I know don't buy the Daily Telegraph. Why? Because of the lies and propaganda purported by them.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerous senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Corrosive
Clive Small is Bob Carr's choice for the new Police Commissioner. It could only be the case considering his, Small's special appointment into Parliament House. Small who suffers from the little person syndrome is the ideal bend over boy who gets shuffled through his corrupt actions. Rolling the legal system for him after the fact, just like his predecessor Roger the dodger Rogerson.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Same boat
The Premier, Bob Carr, relies on a militia. A gang of bikies and our Police Service, to show all of us he is no murderer. He should be taken to the task along with his partners in crime like Clive Small to account for those people who like my self have been maliciously assaulted and who have complained, without any service and those who cannot speak for themselves who were murdered, like Terry Falconer. Terry murdered in custody.

Good Cop
Why have our democratic institutions broken down? It's not just the criminal justice system. The Anti-Corruption Network webmaster@anti-corruption-network.org exposes the same issues. A group of white-collar workers who say they have suffered as follows:

Dangerous
I refer to the Daily Telegraph article 22 March 2002 under the heading Priest quits advisory job.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Warren Lanfranchi, or Sally-Anne Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Submissions to the Inebriates Inquiry?

The Social Issues Committee is doing this inquiry. It came out of the alcohol summit. The Act allows detention of inebriates in proclaimed places, which no longer exist. The chief magistrate, Derek Price probably kicked it off with his submission to the Alcohol Summit. He also gave evidence, which was basically, 'Repeal the act as it does not work, and get a new act based on the Mental Health Act'.

It might be noted that Part 3 of the Act related to inebriates committing crimes and that this part of the act has not been used since drunkenness was abolished as a crime. The orders given by the Court are apparently often ignored, but also quite often inappropriate according to the health groups.

I think the government would rather keep the terms of reference narrow. In the issue of drug-related crime, whatever new act comes can suggest more therapeutic approaches.

Derek Price was keen to say how innovative the Courts had been in using alternatives to sentencing drug-affected people, but one could argue how empty the glass was as easily as how full it was in terms of the rise in the prison population, which is the actual measured outcome.

You may care to, come up with a more full model! It has been suggested to me that the Drug Court could be the Drug and Mentally Impaired Court, but we do not have any evidence suggesting this yet.

By Alcohol Summit 3 December 03

Related:

Port Lincoln Mayor has lost the plot!
Controversial Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis has called for drug addicts to be given a lethal injection to cut rising illicit drug use on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

NT Drug house laws: Sign, sign everywhere a sign...
Tracks of a different kind will be laid in the Northern Territory of Australia in September as dozens of illicit drug users converge on the city of Darwin for the 2nd Darwin International Syringe Festival.

QANTAS drug testing: Pooping on people?
Some people struggle more than others do in order to survive. People take drugs to get through their life. Whether it's illegal or not has no bearing on what an employee can do for you as an employer.

Alcohol Abuse: You're one of my kind?
Special Minister of state John Della Bosca says there is only a small percentage of people who are alcoholics, but that small percentage has a disproportionate impact on their own health and costs to society. Small percentage? Excuse me? Do I need a calculator? Or do I need a new set of eyes? According to the statistics at least two million people abuse alcohol?

Australia: Wine glut alert?
Wine glut alerts bank to grape grower debt and we need to be aware there's no magic bullet here either, it is a chronic condition just like the other one? You know, Abra Cadabra.

Australian Alcohol Abuse: Abra Cadabra, I want to reach out and grab ya No magic bullet? This is a chronic condition! Government's Legal Drug Alcohol is costing Australia billions: study. Alcohol-related incidents cost the Australian taxpayer more than $7 billion in a single year. Of that sum, $2 billion arose from loss of life, pain and suffering. The report says in 1998 alone more than 2,000 Australians died from alcohol abuse.

Drug law blamed for hep C epidemic
THE federal Government's conservative tough-on-drugs policies have triggered an explosion in hepatitis C infections, a secret health department report has found. And the disease has become an "epidemic", with half a million Australians likely to have the debilitating virus by 2020.

MJA - BBCD Outbreaks in NSW prisons
Seems some of our friends in & around Corrections Health Service (CHS) were able to take advantage of a couple of recognised cases of needle sharing by HIV positive prisoners to gather data for a study.

Medicinal cannabis trial approved or not marijuana still remains a big hit! THE nation's first trial of cannabis for medical relief will begin in NSW by the end of the year, a move that Premier Bob Carr said yesterday would stop decent people feeling like criminals.

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Drunks propel rise in violent crimes! But who promotes drinking really?
Every day NSW police deal with more than 300 violent offences committed by people who are drunk and they say the number is rising. But they don't say because the government promotes alcohol and only alcohol.

Another lethal party drug article...
This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

Police selling drugs? Bikies selling drugs? Pharmacies prescribing drugs Of course there will be criticism when you cross that thin blue line! You have to realise how the government itself has been corrupted because of the drug scene and the money involved.

Drug rehabilitation: Threats, threats and more threats!
But a spokesperson for Citizens Against Being Forced Mr Ihave Amind Ofmyown said, "Major Watters is John Howard's adviser because he's a bully. Citizens make their own decisions about what is best for them and if you don't like that step down."

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

NSW police cracked up on antisocial behaviour
Hundreds of extra police will be on the streets of Sydney from this afternoon as part of a major blitz on crime and activities as "antisocial behaviour" says the ABC online last Fri 24 May 2002.

Alcohol pickles your brain
The only two social drugs the Government sanction are cigarettes and alcohol as legal, yet they cause the most damage." He said.

Alcohol Abuse: You're one of my kind?

Come over here, all I got is this thirst, the twenty-first century's yesterday. New drink just came out. Everybody wants it yeah, that's ok hey. So fizz over here and give me your drink, your bubbles are so yum. I've got to let you know. You're one of my kind?

Mad man's broth alcohol woes state-wide - Della Bosca

The Minister heading next month's alcohol summit says alcohol use is prevalent across NSW, not just in particular areas.

Special Minister of state John Della Bosca says there is only a small percentage of people who are alcoholics, but that small percentage has a disproportionate impact on their own health and costs to society.

Small percentage? Excuse me? Do I need a calculator? Or do I need a new set of eyes? According to the statistics at least two million people abuse alcohol?

Question to Mr Della Bosca?

Do you want two million people on your doorstep?

Alcohol and other Drug Use in Australia

Over 80% of the population consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 11% of males and 6% of females drinking daily.

In terms of risk of harm in the long term, 10% of males and 9% of females drank alcohol in a pattern that was risky or high risk.

In terms of short-term risk, 24% of males and 17% of females drank at least once a month in a manner that was risky or high risk for short-term harm.

He says there is a much larger group of people who are exposed to the general harms of binge drinking.

"Chronic alcoholism is common to pretty well all communities in small numbers alcohol abuse seems to be coming a lot more common and certainly there's a lot more attention on binge drinking and young people," he said.

"There's a lot of very young people starting to drink at ages previously we would have thought very inappropriate."

I need my alcohol coz I'm so thirsty. There is something about this drink that gives me a buzz. "How do you feel?" I'm gasping! "What do you think? "Gonna take you all! "Whatcha gonna do? "Gonna live my life! So fizz over here and give me your drink. Your bubbles are so yum. I've got to let you know.

You're one of my kind?

Alcohol Poisoning

By Gregory Kable & INXS 18 July 03

Related:

Australia: Wine glut alert?
Wine glut alerts bank to grape grower debt and we need to be aware there's no magic bullet here either, it is a chronic condition just like the other one? You know, Abra Cadabra.

Australian Alcohol Abuse: Abra Cadabra, I want to reach out and grab ya No magic bullet? This is a chronic condition! Government's Legal Drug Alcohol is costing Australia billions: study. Alcohol-related incidents cost the Australian taxpayer more than $7 billion in a single year. Of that sum, $2 billion arose from loss of life, pain and suffering. The report says in 1998 alone more than 2,000 Australians died from alcohol abuse.

Drug law blamed for hep C epidemic
THE federal Government's conservative tough-on-drugs policies have triggered an explosion in hepatitis C infections, a secret health department report has found. And the disease has become an "epidemic", with half a million Australians likely to have the debilitating virus by 2020.

MJA - BBCD Outbreaks in NSW prisons
Seems some of our friends in & around Corrections Health Service (CHS) were able to take advantage of a couple of recognised cases of needle sharing by HIV positive prisoners to gather data for a study.

Medicinal cannabis trial approved or not marijuana still remains a big hit! THE nation's first trial of cannabis for medical relief will begin in NSW by the end of the year, a move that Premier Bob Carr said yesterday would stop decent people feeling like criminals.

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Drunks propel rise in violent crimes! But who promotes drinking really?
Every day NSW police deal with more than 300 violent offences committed by people who are drunk and they say the number is rising. But they don't say because the government promotes alcohol and only alcohol.

Another lethal party drug article...
This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

Police selling drugs? Bikies selling drugs? Pharmacies prescribing drugs Of course there will be criticism when you cross that thin blue line! You have to realise how the government itself has been corrupted because of the drug scene and the money involved.

Drug rehabilitation: Threats, threats and more threats!
But a spokesperson for Citizens Against Being Forced Mr Ihave Amind Ofmyown said, "Major Watters is John Howard's adviser because he's a bully. Citizens make their own decisions about what is best for them and if you don't like that step down."

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

NSW police cracked up on antisocial behaviour
Hundreds of extra police will be on the streets of Sydney from this afternoon as part of a major blitz on crime and activities as "antisocial behaviour" says the ABC online last Fri 24 May 2002.

Alcohol pickles your brain
The only two social drugs the Government sanction are cigarettes and alcohol as legal, yet they cause the most damage." He said.

Australian Alcohol Abuse: Abra Cadabra, I want to reach out and grab ya

No magic bullet? This is a chronic condition! Government's Legal Drug Alcohol is costing Australia billions: study

Warning! Warning! Will Robinson you mean if alcohol weren't the only legal social drug then people would have a choice about their chronic condition?
Perhaps we could all socialise with a cup of Tea? Not much of a leg opener?

A new Federal Government report released as part of Drug Action Week has highlighted the increasing financial burden of alcohol misuse.

Alcohol-related incidents cost the Australian taxpayer more than $7 billion in a single year.

Of that sum, $2 billion arose from loss of life, pain and suffering. The report says in 1998 alone more than 2,000 Australians died from alcohol abuse.

The other $5 billion is from tangible costs including car accidents and fires. Just over 6 per cent of Australians abuse alcohol, while 10 per cent drink at risky levels.

They consume between five and 11 drinks a day. Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia chief executive Cheryl Wilson says there is no easy answer to that.

"We need to be aware there's no magic bullet here, it is a chronic condition," she said.

By Wisdom Witch 24 June 03

THE MAGIC BULLET: But there is an answer? How not to get hooked?

Lethal: Is the substance lethal?

Balance: Do you take the same social drug all the time?

Limit: How much of that social drug do you take at one time?

Moderation: How often do you take that social drug?

It is my understanding the above magic bullet reduces chronic conditions into balanced solutions. So when is the Gov't going to raise the stakes and up the anti by giving grace to other types of social drugs that give us a choice like? Perhaps some good happy herbs or magic mushrooms or something? What about Hash cookies? Marijuana? Buda even? You know. Happy smoke for happy people? NO?

Just the mad man's broth mate. Or are we just a stunted society? Or perhaps the governments just green eyed and hooked on alcohol tax? Looks like a schooner of new mate! Eh?

Related?

Drug law blamed for hep C epidemic
THE federal Government's conservative tough-on-drugs policies have triggered an explosion in hepatitis C infections, a secret health department report has found. And the disease has become an "epidemic", with half a million Australians likely to have the debilitating virus by 2020.

MJA - BBCD Outbreaks in NSW prisons
Seems some of our friends in & around Corrections Health Service (CHS) were able to take advantage of a couple of recognised cases of needle sharing by HIV positive prisoners to gather data for a study.

Medicinal cannabis trial approved or not marijuana still remains a big hit! THE nation's first trial of cannabis for medical relief will begin in NSW by the end of the year, a move that Premier Bob Carr said yesterday would stop decent people feeling like criminals.

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Drunks propel rise in violent crimes! But who promotes drinking really?
Every day NSW police deal with more than 300 violent offences committed by people who are drunk and they say the number is rising. But they don't say because the government promotes alcohol and only alcohol.

Another lethal party drug article...
This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

Police selling drugs? Bikies selling drugs? Pharmacies prescribing drugs Of course there will be criticism when you cross that thin blue line! You have to realise how the government itself has been corrupted because of the drug scene and the money involved.

Drug rehabilitation: Threats, threats and more threats!
But a spokesperson for Citizens Against Being Forced Mr Ihave Amind Ofmyown said, "Major Watters is John Howard's adviser because he's a bully. Citizens make their own decisions about what is best for them and if you don't like that step down."

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

NSW police cracked up on antisocial behaviour
Hundreds of extra police will be on the streets of Sydney from this afternoon as part of a major blitz on crime and activities as "antisocial behaviour" says the ABC online last Fri 24 May 2002.

Alcohol pickles your brain
The only two social drugs the Government sanction are cigarettes and alcohol as legal, yet they cause the most damage." He said.

CWA wants pot legalised

PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

The CWA, keen to reinvent itself and become more attractive to new members, is seeking to change its identity. This year saw the first appointment of a man as its head, with Colin Coakley appointed as general secretary.

While the CWA has long been seen as conservative, Mr Coakley said the perception was incorrect, with the organisation advocating heroin use for the same reason in the past. "This will go to the conference and if accepted will become policy," he said. "It's specific, this isn't a statement on cannabis generally, but for medicinal purposes only.

What they are looking at is cases where it can assist people that are terminally ill." A long-standing relationship with cancer sufferers has led to the proposal, with money raised from craft sales going to related charities and organisations.

Hemp advocate Phil Warner said the plant was severely underutilised in Australia, because of the negative connotations associated with the drug.

Managing Director of Ecofibre, he said the company was about to begin exporting hemp based ice cream and muesli, which is legal in most western countries and made from plants which do not contain drug properties.

There were enormous benefits for cannabis use in the medicinal arena, he said, and in the United Kingdom scientists have perfected a technique to use cannabis as a pain killer, without the euphoric effects. The Australian company has begun work in conjunction with Southern Cross University mapping the DNA of the plant.

A State Government report into cannabis use for medicinal purposes called for greater trials of the drug before it was approved. A spokesman for Premier Bob Carr yesterday said the State Government would address the use of cannabis as a health drug in the next three months, following the developments in the UK and the report.

The NSW Council of churches rejected increased use of the drug under the report's recommendations, fearful it would lead to wider community acceptance. However, nothing was said in relation to the overburdening alcohol problem that kills up to 4000 people a year legally. Actual deaths recorded from 1989-99 4,286 from alcohol.

Ray Roach President of Where Old Enough to Vote said, "Enough was known about cannabis effects on people, with fears it could lead to schizophrenia in one percent of the population.

Those people who are allergic to it have to choose herbs that agree with them like parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme when they're dieing of cancer."

He said. "Enough is known about alcohol, which leads to madness causing 4000 deaths a year.

Alcohol is a man made drug that pickles your brain. So now its time to see what it is about herb's that are so inviting. Perhaps its because God put them there and the fact that its not man made? Medicinal purposes of course. Isn't that why we take herbs?"

By Dr Herb Bud 15 April 03

KOALA BEAR: It's really all about variety. Just think of yourself as a tree climber getting rained on and perhaps with the wind blowing through your fur. From extreme to extreme slowly breaking down as you get older. Now suck a gum leave because of its remedy. Instead of getting uptight about life, just lay on a branch and go to sleep. See the problem is fixed.

Related:

Drunks propel rise in violent crimes! But who promotes drinking really?
Every day NSW police deal with more than 300 violent offences committed by people who are drunk and they say the number is rising. But they don't say because the government promotes alcohol and only alcohol.

Another lethal party drug article...
This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

Police selling drugs? Bikies selling drugs? Pharmacies prescribing drugs Of course there will be criticism when you cross that thin blue line! You have to realise how the government itself has been corrupted because of the drug scene and the money involved.

Drug rehabilitation: Threats, threats and more threats!
But a spokesperson for Citizens Against Being Forced Mr Ihave Amind Ofmyown said, "Major Watters is John Howard's adviser because he's a bully. Citizens make their own decisions about what is best for them and if you don't like that step down."

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

NSW police cracked up on antisocial behaviour
Hundreds of extra police will be on the streets of Sydney from this afternoon as part of a major blitz on crime and activities as "antisocial behaviour" says the ABC online last Fri 24 May 2002.

Alcohol pickles your brain
The only two social drugs the Government sanction are cigarettes and alcohol as legal, yet they cause the most damage." He said.