Australian Prime Minister John Howard launched a harsh attack on drugs and drug users as he campaigned in Brisbane Wednesday -- and he didn't spare marijuana. He also claimed that his harsh anti-drug stance has been vindicated by swings in Australian public opinion.

Howard has always been a drug war zealot and stalwart foe of any liberalization of drug laws, but what set him off this week was a scandal surrounding an Australian soccer star and an incident in New South Wales where young children at a school playground are suspected of having ingested ecstasy tablets. The problems could be at least partially addressed by semantics, Howard suggested.

"I think one of the things we have to do is stop glamorizing them by calling them recreational drugs or party drugs. All drugs are evil," the prime minister opined. "I have for 11 ½ years preached a policy of zero tolerance. It was ridiculed eight or nine years ago, even by people in my own party. They were wrong. And many people in the Labor Party were wrong."

Howard also patted himself on the back for standing up to a mysterious "they." "They wanted to legalize marijuana," he said. "I was always opposed to that. At long last the community, in some ways, has come to its senses on marijuana."

Australians need to change their attitudes about drugs, Howard chided. "They are evil, all of them, and there should be an uncompromising social condemnation of drugs," he said. "Why can't we have the same attitude towards drugs that a large section of the community has developed towards tobacco?" he asked.