IS THE HOWARD GOVERNMENT DOING ENOUGH TO STOP THE DRUG PROBLEM IN AUSTRALIA?
             1n 1999, 737 Australians died of a heroin overdose. This is double what it was in 1993. Prime Minister John Howard was elected in 1996, and only now, after 5 years has he finally acknowledged the drug problem in Australia.
             Recently the government has introduced a 27 million dollar anti-drugs strategy. This strategy, which will include education, crime prevention, law enforcement and rehabilitation, is already underway.
             A parental education booklet was sent to every household last week, explaining to parents the effects drugs have on teenagers and what to look out for. In this booklet John Howard has strongly stated that 'Parents guidance has strongest influence on children than anything else." By making statements such as these he is trying to put the blame on parents, not taking any responsibility on his behalf. He does not seem to realize the majority of children will listen to friends before their parents; all the morals in the world will not stop reckless teenagers.
             To follow up this booklet are a set of television commercials set up to shock viewers. Drug experts believe the ads will only shock the parents watching them. The ads feature teenagers resorting to crime and prostition to feed their habits, the ads also show death as a warning to teenagers of what can happen. The problem with these ad's are they won't work. Why? Because anyone trying drugs for the first time will not be stealing from others or selling their bodies to pay for it. The ads are showing what can happen in very extreme cases. When teenagers use drugs for the first time they will not associate with these ads because they are simply experimenting and wanting to have fun, the last thing on their mind is, will I die like in those ads for smoking a bit of dope or drinking alcohol? It is true that most heroin users started using alcohol and
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