Smoke and Mirrors !

This proposed welfare crackdown seems to rely on the assumption that those who are addicted to illicit drugs are able to cure their addiction voluntarily if the right incentive is applied.  It is big on punishment but light on efforts to provide drug rehabilitation.

Basically, five thousand young people who have recently been granted either Newstart or a Youth Allowance will be required to attend a Centrelink office where they will be tested for residual evidence that they have recently used ice, ecstasy or marijuana.   Those that fail the first test will be recalled for a second later testing and a second failure will see eighty percent of their welfare payments transferred to a quarantined welfare card which can only be used for rent or essentials such as groceries.  The aim seems to be to deprive them of money to buy drugs.

There is no doubt that this will identify chronic drug users whose habit makes them unfit for any type of employment but it will also sweep up the casual user who may pop an ecstasy pill on the weekend party scene or the thousands who use marijuana in the same moderation as they drink alcohol - and these days they merely get a caution for possession for their own use.

Those who work with young people sound a warning.  The deeply addicted are incapable of stopping  use " cold turkey " and they will turn to crime to fund their supply.  Expect an increase in " break, enter and steal " and other forms of street crime because this crackdown does nothing to help the users break their habit.  It is more a public relations exercise than a serious attempt to lower drug use.

The fact that the testing will be directed at suburbs such as Bankstown indicates that it is aimed at the lower end of the social scale where depressed income levels are common.  Drug use is now common across the wide social spectrum and its evidence is just as likely in what are termed the " better " suburbs than those with a solid working class reputation.

This drug crackdown seems to be a " one size fits all "  operation.  It does not differentiate between the chronic drug user and the casual imbiber, but once someone is on that restricted welfare listing the stain on their reputation is similar to that of a term of imprisonment.  Somehow those sort of things have a habit of becoming public knowledge.

Sadly, this initiative is unlikely to have any real impact on the drug scene.  We regularly learn of huge police busts where incoming drugs worth millions are seized, but the drug supply on the streets never diminishes.  Drug imports make their criminal handlers immensely wealthy.  The reward makes many accept the risk and the drug war is something that will never be won.

This crackdown is more a matter of smoke and mirrors designed to impress the public than a real attempt at drug control. Rehabilitation of the addicted usually means taking them into care for a period of time - and that is costly.  Unfortunately the most likely outcome from this initiative is strong resentment from those who have their spending controlled - and an increase in the crime rate.