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Newsbrief:
Australian
Prime
Minister
Says
Injection
Room
Violates
Treaties,
UN
Says
No
It
Doesn't
12/12/03
Australian Prime Minister
John Howard, a staunch opponent of drug law liberalization, has attempted
to use international drug control treaties as a reason to shut down Sydney's
successful trial safe injection room in Sydney. Unfortunately for
Howard, his claim that the safe injection room violates those treaties
has been undercut by the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
-- not exactly a hotbed of drug legalizers.
Last week, the Sydney Morning
Herald published excerpts from a letter from Howard to New South Wales
Premier Bob Carr in which Howard claimed that continued operation of the
site could jeopardize Australia's $100 million a year legal opiate industry.
"I am concerned that actions to continue trials... could constitute a breach
of Australia's international treaty obligations," he wrote. The INCB
had reinforced its opposition to the safe injection site, Howard added.
Wrong. What the INCB
said about safe injection sites in its most recent report, in February,
was that they may be useful in combating the spread of infectious disease
and that they did not appear to be efforts to promote drug use. "It
would be difficult to assert that, in establishing drug injection rooms,
it is the intent of parties to actually incite or induce the illicit use
of drugs, or even more so, to associate with, aid, abet or facilitate the
possession of drugs," wrote the INCB. "On the contrary, it seems
clear that in such cases the intention of governments is to provide healthier
conditions for IV drug abusers, thereby reducing their risk of infection
with grave transmittable diseases and, at least in some cases, reaching
out to them with counseling and other therapeutic options."
"It is clear the Prime Minister
has got it wrong," Premier Carr told the Sydney Morning Herald. "He
appears to be using the medically supervised injecting centre for political
purposes."
Visit http://www.incb.org/e/ind_ar.htm
to read the INCB Annual Report online.
-- END --
|
Issue #315, 12/12/03
Editorial: Steve Kubby IS a Refugee |
Canada Denies Refugee Status to US Medical Marijuana Exile |
Fallout Continues in Goose Creek, South Carolina, High School Drug Raid |
DRCNet Interview: Darrell Rogers, Acting Executive Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy |
DRCNet Book Review: "A Drug War Carol," by Susan Wells and Scott Bieser (Big Head Press, $5.95) |
Newsbrief: Bush Campaign Letter Attacks Drug Reform Funders |
Newsbrief: Thai Government to Investigate Itself over Drug War Killings |
Newsbrief: Bolivian Government Shifts Away from "Zero Coca" |
Newsbrief: New Canadian Prime Minister to Revive Marijuana Decriminalization Bill |
Newsbrief: Jamaican Solicitor General Warns Ganja Decrim Could Violate International Treaties, Invite US Retaliation |
Newsbrief: Australian Prime Minister Says Injection Room Violates Treaties, UN Says No It Doesn't |
Newsbrief: Medical Marijuana Approved by German Court |
Newsbrief: West Virginia Supreme Court Grants Private Employers Greater Pre-Employment Drug Test Rights |
Newsbrief: NYC Cigarette Tax Hike Leads to Black Market Violence |
Newsbrief: Cop Kills Cop in Methamphetamine Raid Gone Awry |
DRCNet Temporarily Suspending Our Web-Based Write-to-Congress Service Due to Funding Shortfalls -- Your Help Can Bring It Back -- Keep Contacting Congress in the Meantime |
Perry Fund Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
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