Justice is a Joke

The insatiable hunger to punish drug users is reaching an exploding point. Each week, we are seeing more and more drug users being ceremoniously hunted down by police to appease the public for any drug related death. The growing trend involves a fanatical quest to place the blame on someone or anyone if there is no clear culprit.  It usually involves an overdose where police are left with only a body and not someone they can prosecute. Driven by a media frenzy, drug hysteria and a section of the community who demand justice, you are left with law makers and politicians who must find an offender to charge. There seems to be no room for an accidental death anymore when drugs are concerned.

Acquaintance Gets 10 Years For Supplying Fatal Heroin To College Student

The Times-Picayune 

By Bruce Nolan, 

January 2011   

A federal judge sentenced a 22-year-old New Orleans man to 10 years in jail for supplying the heroin that killed college student Pierce Sharai at a Carnival party in 2008.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle sentenced Gary Toca to 10 years in prison for his role in Sharai's death.

He is the third person to go to jail for his role in Sharai's death. And he's the eighth person to go to jail in connection with overdoses that killed three young people within weeks of each other in early 2008.

Sharai, 19, was a biochemistry major in enrolled in LSU's Honors College when he died.

Earlier reports disclosed that Sharai and friends spent the night of Jan. 19, the night of the Krewe du Vieux parade, doing drugs at a downtown hotel.

Federal prosecutors said Toca, Sharai and an unidentified third person pooled their money to buy heroin that night.

They said Toca made the heroin purchase, returned to the hotel and provided the heroin to Sharai.

Sharai overdosed and died early the next morning.

He was one of seven young people who died of heroin-related overdoses in the first five weeks of that year. Sharai and two others, including 16-year-old Madeleine Prevost, a senior at Lusher High School, were loosely linked by common acquaintances.

Their deaths launched a federal investigation that so far has sent four men to prison for participating in the drug chain that supplied Prevost.

Toca becomes the third man to go to prison for supplying Sharai.

Still another man, Matthew Olvany, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and drug distribution in connection with a third overdose death early that year, that of 21-year-old Zac Moser.

The case above has exposed how dangerous anti-drug rhetoric has become. This sick, new trend to dish out ultra severe penalties when there’s a drug related death has hit new extremes and we, as a society need to demand for it to stop. Three friends chip in to buy drugs and when one of them fatally overdoses, the police charge the person who made the purchase. It doesn’t matter that all three of them pooled their money and he was simply nominated to buy the drugs. The police want someone’s head to roll and those still standing are fair game. 

You would be safe to assume that the police would write this off as a terrible accident. They have, after all, already arrested and imprisoned several people involved in a series of overdoses linked to this death. They have a family mourning the death of their son and a bunch of young friends who are coming to terms with their loss. What drives the police to create even more carnage by sending a young university student to prison for 10 years? Especially when his crime was simply being chosen to make the purchase.

It seems that Gary Toca was a Jesuit Alumni, in the prestigious honors program at the LSU (Louisiana State University)and has no criminal background. Although he once was an addict, he had been clean for over two years and helped with high school students around the city in an attempt to keep them from making the same mistake. He even cooperated with agents in attempts to take down the ring of heroin dealers. What purpose is served by incarcerating Gary Toca? This young man has so much to offer and once, a fantastic future. The only thing stopping him was a history of addiction which he seemed to be managing. Now his future has been ripped out from under him all in the name of justice. What sort of sick fuckers would go to such extremes to ruin this man’s life?

This is so insane yet typical of how a brainwashed nation will act. Day after day we see the authorities, the media and the anti-drug brigade massively exaggerating the harms from drug use. We are bombarded with distorted statistics and cherry picked data that’s positioned to create the maximum hysteria. Yes, drugs can be dangerous,  just like alcohol, mountain climbing and horse riding but demonising addicts and users as ruthless, evil outcasts just leads to mob mentality in some parts of the community. 

When someone dies or overdoses, we should be saddened that someone’s wife, father or sister has come to a tragic end. But the reality is morbid and disturbing. There are many self righteous twats who will cruelly say they got what they deserve for using drugs. There are others who understand the complexities of drug use and simply feel sadness for someone else’s loss. They don’t feel the need to judge others for what is a tragic situation. Then there’s those who want revenge but dress it up as demanding justice. 

The latest political football is crime and sentencing. Although we have learnt that extended jail terms, mandatory sentencing or a ‘throw-away-the-key’ policy do not make us any safer, the public demand to be ‘tough on crime’ still dominates the political scene. And those politicians looking to be elected are more than willing to promise a crackdown on lenient sentences and to toughen criminal laws. Their ticket to success is a fearful public and there’s no better panic button than the mention of drugs.

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Drug Law Reform for Middle East But Not Australia

Of all the regions in the world, the Middle East is the most unlikely to consider drug law reform. But drug law reform is an unpredictable process and it can rear it’s head in the most unexpected places.

Most of the countries with tough drug laws tend to have large a religious population with Islamic countries leading the way. Although The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is more liberal than surrounding countries, it is still primarily run by Islamic rules including the co-existence of Sharia law with a more modern civil law jurisdiction. But unlike many of it’s neighbours, the UAE tolerates alcohol and has committed to a robust human rights agenda. Other religions apart from Islam are also tolerated giving the country a harmonious multicultural setting with little public conflict between the various faiths.

Although the UAE may be open to western influences, it is still a far cry from highly democratic countries like Australia, the US and the UK. This makes the decision to investigate drug law reforms - that basically decriminalise drugs - even more significant. 

A drug addict is a sick person and he should be treated as such

-Brigadier General Maktoum al Sharifi: Head of Abu Dhabi Capital Police

You have to wonder why the UAE, who like surrounding nations have severe penalties for drug related crimes, would even consider these new reforms. Especially when other open, fully democratic and secular countries like Australia, remain fixated on useless, failed and cruel drug polices, dreamed up many decades ago.

Current drug laws in the UAE are harsh and counterproductive and there is a mandatory four year prison term for anyone found to have a connection with illicit drugs. But many officials in the UAE agree that the current laws are flawed. The Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance, Saeed Abdul Baseer, said that he would prefer to send patients to rehabilitation centres or give them lesser sentences, but that he was restricted by the law. 

I would be very happy to give them lesser sentence or send them to rehabilitation centres. It is not an easy thing to sentence a young offender to four years in prison. But I have to follow the law.

--Saeed Abdul Baseer: Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Criminal Court.

Hopefully, drug law reform will happen in the near future and serve as a reminder to other governments that rubber stamping failed drug policies, year after year, not only cause more problems than it fixes but is pointless and inhumane. There are alternatives to punitive drug laws which are based on evidence and research and it is the role of elected governments to implement these policies if it’s beneficial to their constituents. Unfortunately, politics is a fickle game with many players more focussed on winning the popularity prize instead of maintaining a fair, civil society for the benefit of all.

When countries like the UAE - that traditionally support Zero Tolerance drug policies - start contemplating the removal of strict drug laws because they are flawed and inhumane, you know that global attitudes are changing. But when the proposed changes are backed up with evidence and research, it should put enormous pressure on other countries to follow suit especially considering the massive damage caused every day by existing laws. 

Those still calling out for tougher drug laws really need to be questioned about their motives. Locally, we are witnessing a surge in politicians who are implementing even more draconian drug laws without sufficient scrutiny from opposition political parties and the media. But what is most disturbing about this current push for tougher drug laws are the reasons used by our elected politicians to support their case. To put it bluntly, they are mostly using misinformation, popular myths and outright lies in their attempts to fool the public. Where’s the scrutiny and the demands to reveal their source of information? Why isn’t the media asking them to explain why their claims are contradictory to the latest research and evidence? The fact is that most claims by politicians who are pushing for tougher drug laws are wrong and this helps to keep the public misguided about effective solutions. Previous propaganda masters like Chris Pyne, John Howard, Bronwyn Bishop etc. are being joined by Mike Rann, Colin Barnett and Ted Ballieu as part of a deceitful, agenda driven group who are prepared to mislead the public about drugs. It’s incredibly frustrating to hear elected officials like Michael Mischin, Christian Porter, John Brumby, Michael Atkinson, Steve Fielding, Peter Debnam, Nicola Roxon, Andrew Stoner, Mary Wooldridge, Peter Wellington, Mark McArdle, Michael Wright etc. make unsubstantiated claims when it would only take 15 minutes on the internet to find the facts. No other issue has ever attracted so many people who are willing to publicly lie even though the truth is just a few clicks away via Google. It may have worked before the advent of the internet but the ability to check facts almost instantly, should pressure politicians to substantiate their claims before they are exposed as frauds. If only other politicians and the media would be brave enough to expose them.

Overhaul Of UAE Drug Laws Considered

Haneen Dajani and Hassan Hassan (Courts and Justice Reporter)

The National

Jan 2011

ABU DHABI // An overhaul of the nation’s drug laws could mean offenders no longer face prison sentences.

Anti-drugs officials told The National that Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, had ordered all concerned authorities to evaluate current anti-narcotics laws and suggest reforms.

Generally, the overhaul will consider new methods to punish or treat convicts, especially repeat offenders, such as social and community services.

Brig Gen Maktoum al Sharifi, the head of Abu Dhabi Capital Police, welcomed the idea of reforms, saying the law should not consider a drug offender a criminal, as it currently does.

“A drug addict is a sick person and he should be treated as such,” Brig Gen al Sharifi said. “Alternative punishment would be more effective. A drug offender could be just an addict, not a criminal, but after locking him up for years he could come out involved in crimes such as stealing, drug dealing, et cetera.”

Alternative punishments police have proposed include community service, such as cleaning the streets, schools or voluntary work.

Major reforms proposed by rehabilitation centres include allowing family members to turn in drug offenders to avoid prosecution. Currently, only if abusers themselves seek rehabilitation will they avoid going to jail.

“Addicts would be under the influence of drugs and would not think clearly, so those around them should be allowed to help them,” said Dr Hamad al Ghafiri, the general director of the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) in Abu Dhabi. “We want to encourage people to seek treatment, so we should assure them that they will not face prison for doing so.”

Another major reform, Dr al Ghafiri said, would be the creation of a data-tracking system that would link clinics across the nation to avoid prescription “shopping”. He said many patients had used old prescriptions for addiction-treatment medicines provided by the NRC to obtain extra doses by visiting different clinics across the country. Abu Dhabi, he said, had already linked its clinics and pharmacies.

Experts said drug offenders were usually treated as criminals rather than victims or even patients.

Saeed Abdul Baseer, the Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance, said that he would prefer to send patients to rehabilitation centres or give them lesser sentences, but that he was restricted by the law. The minimum sentence for drug crimes is four years – a regulation especially punitive to expatriates who cannot be admitted to rehabilitation centres.

“I would be very happy to give them lesser sentence or send them to rehabilitation centres,” the chief justice said. “It is not an easy thing to sentence a young offender to four years in prison. But I have to follow the law.” 

Faiza Moussa, a lawyer who deals with drug cases, said jail sentences were not an effective deterrent.

“Drug addiction is more of a psychological problem,” Mrs Moussa said. “I dealt with defendants who lapsed too many times. They go to prison and then they are released, they would have been properly coached or rehabilitated.”

She suggested toxins should be removed from the body of drug offenders before considering any punishment. After removing toxins, she said, the offender should be referred to a specialist, who would try to turn them away from lapsing back into drug use. She also suggested jails should have workshops to train inmates on how to be a productive member of society after leaving prison.

“Most of drug addicts are either unemployed, uneducated or with social problems,” she said. “If they teach him a certain profession to start a business after they leave prison, I think most of them would not return to drugs.” 

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Drug Laws Do More Harm Than Good

The growing global debate over drug laws might be making news overseas but Australia seems to be stuck in a time warp led by the old "War on Drugs" mentality. With some countries actually decriminalising all drugs for personal use - including heroin, ice, LSD, cocaine, GHB etc. - Australia is yet to even have a public discussion about medical marijuana, yet any proposed reform to our antiquated drug laws.

It may seem odd to an outside observer that much of the Australian media and politicians remain quiet while several recent events have exposed how futile and dangerous our current drug policies are. Last week, ABC’s Four Corners program, delivered a harsh wake up call that we are fighting a losing battle against criminals in the illicit drug trade. And just last night, a Sydney police officer was shot and killed while raiding a suspected drug den although no drugs were found on the premises. The bleak reality from these and other events is that our attempts to tackle illicit drugs are not only failing but are dangerous as well.

So why do we have such strict drug laws? It’s always the same answer … to protect us from dangerous substances that ruin lives or kill people. But this is simply not true as most illicit drugs are actually less harmful than the legal drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Either of which, kill and harm more people than all illicit drugs combined. And the reasoning for our strict drug laws become even more questionable since we discovered that they don’t even deter drug use but instead increase the harm to users and reduce the public's safety.

It appears that criminalising drug users can change the way they use drugs, but it doesn't usually stop them using drugs

-- Margaret Pereira - Queensland University of Technology Legal Researcher

It’s a real problem that in 2010, we as a society can allow certain laws remain unchallenged when we know they are dangerous, especially to our youth. Any politician who is complicit in promoting or retaining our dangerous laws that kill and harm people, need to explain themselves. It is no longer acceptable to push dangerous strategies like the "Tough on Drugs" policy for the sake of political expediency. Especially when we are continually being shown how much damage our current practices are causing without meeting any of the set objectives.

Do Drug Laws 'Harm' Drug Users?

Health Canal 

August 2010

The "one size fits all" nature of Australia's drug laws may do more harm than good when it comes to recreational drug users, according to a Queensland University of Technology legal researcher.

Margaret Pereira from QUT's Law and Justice Research Centre has launched a PhD study into young people and illicit drugs and has appealed for Brisbane drug users to come forward and anonymously have their say on their lifestyle.

Ms Pereira said it was important to understand that people used drugs in a whole variety of different ways, some of which were more harmful than others.

She said charging young people for relatively minor offences, such as drug possession, could defeat the purpose of drug law enforcement as a strategy to reduce drug-related harm.

"There's a common belief that young people who use drugs regularly have got a 'drug problem', such as an addictive personality, or some other biological or psychological problem," Ms Pereira said.

"In reality, it is only a small number of illicit drug users who define their drug use as problematic to themselves or others.

"Most young people use drugs recreationally, for fun, pleasure or leisure, and often within nightclubs or rave cultures.

"This doesn't mean that their drug use is completely free of danger, but it does mean that it's important to understand how illicit drugs are being used, and design drug policies that directly target drug-related harm."

Ms Pereira has already started interviewing young people aged 18 to 25 who use illicit drugs either recreationally or habitually.

She hopes to interview a fairly equal number of "regular" and "recreational" drug users. She is also interviewing the police, health service providers and youth advocacy workers to obtain their views about drug policies.

"Preliminary findings from my interviews suggest that when young people want to use drugs, they will, even after they've been charged with a criminal drug offence," she said.

"It appears that criminalising drug users can change the way they use drugs, but it doesn't usually stop them using drugs.

"This finding supports other study findings that criminalisation can have profoundly harmful, unintended consequences on the community and on young people. Charging them for relatively minor offences, such as drug possession, can defeat the purpose of drug law enforcement as a strategy to reduce drug-related harm.

"Another interesting finding from my interviews is the huge range of different drugs young people use and their choice of drug is often based on drug availability."

Ms Pereira said she hoped her PhD research would help build a better understanding of illicit drug use and contribute to effective policy formation.