Media Release:

16th October 2008

Reading Progressive Party's PR Hazardous To Health  

Sensible Sentencing Spokesperson on Drug Issues nearly choked when she read the Progressive Party's Press Release entitled “Early Intervention to reduce crime.”

Christine Davey can't wait to see the details, which apparently include a package covering drug and alcohol abuse, to see how this fits with Mr Anderton's Harm Minimisation stance as Minister responsible for the current Government's Drug Policy.

Under Harm Minimisation, the Government funds brochures which tell us how to use P 'safely'. Ms Davey has communicated with Mr Anderton many times on this issue, telling him that this is irresponsible and undermines the message parents are trying to give their kids, which is DON'T USE DRUGS!!!

The Drug Harm Index has revealed that illicit drug use cost NZ $1.3 billion in 2005 and 2006. This is how the results of failed 'safe drug use' are being measured. Not included in this Index is the damage caused to the drug user and his / her family, which cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Progressive's Press Release tells us: “We can spot them with increasing certainty as newborns, as school entrants, as young offenders and as early adult offenders. If we want to make New Zealand safer, we need to intervene early.”

Dead right Jim – this is not rocket science. And often the first people who can identify them are the parents. But currently Police aren't the least bit interested in intervening in someone's illicit drug use until they've committed ANOTHER crime. They conveniently overlook the fact that using P is a crime in itself.

Early intervention is absolutely imperative, before too much brain damage is done. Parents must be given the support they need when they report their kids are using illicit drugs BEFORE they start committing the crimes, and the kids must be given the treatment they need to stop their journey down this road to addiction and crime.

So given that Mr Anderton has finally seen the light, Ms Davey fully expects his next Press Release to tell us his Harm Minimisation Policy has gone,  replaced by a Zero Tolerance Policy with mandatory treatment, which will at last give us a fighting chance at turning NZ's 'P'  problem around.

Now THAT would be worth voting for.

ends

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