What are we defending here?

We are not defending drugs.
We are defending the people who take drugs.

We are not defending crime.
We are defending the people who are forced into crime.

We are not defending violence.
We are defending the people driven to committing violent acts to maintain their drug supply.

We are not defending prostitution.
We are defending the people for whom prostitution is the only viable option for generating the income required to fund a major drug habit.

We are not defending lawbreaking.
We are defending the people living within a legal structure which does not understand or support them, and which compels them to break the law in order to buy the very substances which are fundamental to their ability to function.

Defending these people is a noble and worthwhile thing. I am proud to be making the effort.

If a picture can paint a thousand words (and I suppose it can)...... then surely a thousand words can paint a picture. Here goes:

CRIME ...written by The Crusader

Junkies must steal to support their habit
If they see something they can hock, they’ll just grab it
The crimes can be extensive
But that’s because the drugs are so expensive

I’ll tell you what –
You won’t find my old boss
Working up the Cross
To pay his antidepressants off

No – but addicts have to do that
We don’t deserve that crap!
We are 90% of the population
In an impossible situation

So what do we deserve?

We deserve to be subsidised…
To go to the pharmacy and stand on the end of the line
(Right behind the antidepressants guy)
Look the pharmacist in the eye
And have our script filled
A proper little bottle of proper little pills
With proper cotton wool on top
Pay the couple of bucks that it costs
Make it out of the shop and home for a shot
Without being considered a criminal
And better still
Without being considered a junkie

By its very definition
To refer to this condition as ‘drug dependency’
Demands leniency
Because a diagnosis of drug dependence
Turns patients…
…into offenders

You want to stop the crime?
You really want to end it?
Then just give us the drug on which we’re dependent!
We don’t want to steal your car
But we have to, with the drug laws the way they are

Check it out-
For every drug-related crime
For every addict doing time
For every person whose life is wrecked
By junkies doing what crooks do best-
For every woman and every child
Who feels unsafe in a world gone wild
For every thief and petty crook
For every cop that throws the book…

The drug laws
are the cause

DON'T FUCK WITH THE SYSTEM

Although the current system of drug laws and law enforcement is unfair, biased and cruel, it is still the system.

Don't fuck with it!

Hide your drugs. Put a pin on your mobile phone. Code name your drug contacts in your mobile. Cover your tracks. Speak in code to your drug associates. Be careful. Remember there are drug dogs and unfair searches out there. Remember that the cops and other officials are dedicated to upholding the law as it stands - not as you or I would like it to be.

Because the punishments are severe and you can go down HARD.

CURRENT TRAFFICKING PENALTIES IN AUSTRALIA

Have you ever wondered what our current penalties are in Australia? The following information is taken from the website of the Australian Institute of Criminology.

Commonwealth of Australia

Crimes (Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act 1990

Substance	Concentration	Small quantity	Trafficable quantity	Indictable quantity	Commercial quantity
Heroin	Pure	If less than trafficable quantity then max. penalty is 5yrs	1.5g 25yrs		2kg life
Cocaine	Pure		2g 25yrs		2kg life
Amphetamine	Pure		2g 25yrs		2kg life
LSD	Pure		0.002g 25yrs		2g life
MDMA/MDA	Pure		0.5g 25yrs		0.5kg life
Cannabis	cannabis	If less than trafficable quantity then max. penalty is 2yrs	100g		100kg
	oil		2g	2kg	2kg
	resin		50g	50kg	20kg
	(penalty)		10yrs	life	life
Source: Commonwealth of Australia. Crimes (Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act 1990. Penalties given are in relation to sale/supply/trafficking of quantities of the amount shown or higher only. Cannabis penalties for sale and supply only, no penalties for cultivation or possession are shown. Source: Australian Institute of Criminology http://www.aic.gov.au/research/drugs/responses/legislation/penalties-cwth.html

USEFUL LINKS

To the right of this blog, you will find some useful links for more information about drug issues. Please check them out - I have included some really cool links.

The National Drug Strategy link is the official site of the Australian Government.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is an American site comprising police and narcotics officers who have "changed sides" in the War on Drugs and now support the ideas discussed herein.

Enjoy!

FROM THE DEALER TO THE DOCTOR

Let's begin at the beginning. Addicts have to score far-from-pure drugs at exhorbitant prices, via the black market. From underworld criminal types who you wouldn't want to take home to meet mother.

This is the start of the criminal element. It's the whole reason why addicts have such good criminal connections, and why it is so common for them to turn to crime to fund their habit.

I SEE A NEW WAY.

Imagine... just for a moment... allowing total availability of all drugs. Having pharmaceutical grade versions of ALL CURRENTLY ILLICIT STREET DRUGS available on prescription from the chemist.

Addicts would go to their GP, get a consultation and a script, and buy their drug of choice cheaply using the discounted Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme.

Do you see the GOOD in this scenario, or only the BAD?

The benefits to both addict and community would be so enormous - let's take a closer look at some of the more obvious ones.

BENEFIT TO ADDICT:

• No need to associate with criminals of any kind.
• No need to chase a drug supply - availability guaranteed.
• No need for high black-market prices - all drugs available at very low cost on PBS.
• No more need for crimes to be committed. Just as a diabetic does not have to mug anyone to afford his insulin, or a depressed person does not need to hold up a service station to fund his antidepressants.
  
• Strength and purity standardised - it would mean that each time you took the same dose of a particular drug, you would get the same effect.
• No accidental overdose. No surprises. No cut. No drug labs. No low-grade drug peddlers. No rip-offs.
  
• No need to abscond from work and family commitments - a simple trip to the GP and chemist is vastly different from waiting around (sometimes for days at a time) in filthy drug houses and lurking in the shadows which is the current standard.
• Ability to monitor consumption with the assistance of a GP. This is a basic medical service currently unavailable to a vast number of people who are regular users of some extremely dangerous drugs.
• Freedom from the knowledge that the getting and the using of the drug is illegal.
  
• Addicts would be given the choice of using their drugs openly and without shame.
  
• Freedom from discrimination and stigma - which means increased self-esteem and basic human dignity.
  

BENEFIT TO COMMUNITY:

• The end of all drug-related crime!!! Car thefts, muggings, holdups, break-and-enters, prostitution, fraud, embezzlement and drug trafficking would become issues of the past.
  
• A new freedom to live in safety, whether at home, work or on the streets.
  
• No more families being blown apart by drug-related arrests and incarcerations.
• Knowledge that a basic human dignity has been restored to a major section of the population, leading to increased understanding and acceptance in the community.
• Increased public tolerance towards this disease - the Disease of Addiction. Increased awareness and understanding of the disease.
  
• Knowledge that friends and family who may use drugs are doing so safely, under medical supervision.
  

What a wonderful world this would be.

Welcome

Hi, I am the Drug Crusader... welcome to my blog.

This blog is for YOU whether or not you use drugs. Everyone is affected by the issues discussed here. You will find this blog of particular interest if you fall into one of the categories below:

• ADDICTS who are forced (through the illegality of their drug of choice) to perform acts of a criminal nature in order to fund their drug habit.
• VICTIMS OF DRUG-RELATED CRIME who want to make society safer for everyone.
  
• LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS who are fed up with the injustices created by a system that is simply not working. Anybody connected to the Australian Criminal Justice system, including magistrates, probation & parole, lawyers etc.
  
• D&A PROFESSIONALS who work with addicts and want to help. This includes counsellors in hospitals and rehabs.
  
• DOCTORS who are treating sufferers of the Disease of Addiction.
  
• POLITICIANS in positions of authority who have the opportunity to change the wrongs at a legislative level, and make them right.
• FRIENDS AND FAMILIES of people who are drug dependent, who want to know more about addiction, drug-related crime, and what they can do to help.
  

The message: addicts are not criminals. They are good people in an unwinnable situation.

Read on to find out more. I hope you find this blog interesting and informative.