One of the best ways you can help to change public
opinion is by writing letters to the editor of your daily or local
newspapers or any magazines you subscribe to. The letters page is one of the
most widely read sections of most publications. To increase the probability
that your letter will be published, you should follow some simple rules:
1. Make your letters topical
Write on something which is in the news, or in response to a
recent comment, opinion or letter in the newspaper. Letters which discuss
general policy without addressing topical issues of the day are given low
priority. Write to draw attention to further evidence that prohibition is
not working.
2. Keep your letters short
and to the point
The punchier your letter is, the better. Ideal letters are less
than 250 words. The shorter your letter is, the more likely it will catch a
reader's eye. If you are responding to a complex argument or a detailed
article, your letter may necessarily be longer, in order to address the
issues that have been raised. However, letters that ramble or explore
tangential issues are less likely to be printed. Try to express your message
in short, clear points.
3. If possible, write from
personal experience
If you can include a personal story which will catch the
attention of readers (and the letters editor), do so. Real stories have an
emotional impact which can be particularly powerful in changing public
opinion.
4. Address issues rather than
individuals
It is better to discuss issues rather than to attack
personalities. If you are responding to somebody else's letter or opinion,
identify it before going on to refute the arguments which have been made.
5. Include your name and full
address
If you want your name withheld (not published), you should
include your name with your letter and make it clear that you do not want
your name to be published. Newspapers never publish letters which are
unsigned.
Two points to hammer
Changing public opinion will require a sustained
campaign to correct much of the misinformation which persists on drug
issues. While addressing topical issues, there are several points that you
may wish to raise while presenting an anti-prohibitionist perspective:
1. Prohibition has failed
This is the central message in the campaign for better
drug laws. It is a point that has to be hammered again and again. People are
afraid that any change from the current prohibitionist drug policy will
spell disaster, so we need to constantly remind ourselves and others how bad
the current approach is.
Prohibition has failed because
- Despite the massive resources devoted to law
enforcement, drugs are still readily available in our community.
- People continue to die from illegal drug overdose
because drugs available on the black market are of unknown purity.
- Because there is so much money to be made out of
drugs on the black market, police corruption is inevitable.
- Drug dependent people often steal to pay for the
drugs they are physically dependent on, contributing to high levels of
property crime and increased home and car insurance premiums.
- Prohibition creates conditions which make it
extremely profitable for criminals to traffick in drugs.
- The more dangerous it becomes to traffick in drugs,
the more profitable the drug trade becomes.
2. To make a difference, we've got
to get drugs off the black market.
Why?
- To protect people's
health.
Drugs available on the black market are of unknown purity. People turn
to more dangerous methods of drug administration (eg. injecting) to get
more 'bang for their buck'. Injecting brings with it special risks, in
particular overdose and the transmission of diseases like HIV and
Hepatitis C from unsafe injecting practices.
- To cut the profits of the
drug bosses.
Current conditions make it extremely profitable for organised crime to
deal in drugs. So long as drugs are only obtainable from black market
sources, drug crime will continue to flourish. A report of the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority in 1988*
estimated the annual turnover in Australia for heroin, cocaine and
cannabis alone to be $2.6 billion.
- To reduce police
corruption.
As the current NSW Police Royal Commission has demonstrated, police
officers have been accepting bribes from drug dealers, and probably have
been doing so for a long time. There will always be pressure on young
police to accept bribes so long as black market conditions exist.
- To reduce property crime.
Because of the peculiar economics of the black market, drugs are
available at prices which vastly exceed the cost of their production. An
ounce of marijuana currently costs more than an ounce of pure gold. Safe
pharmaceutical-grade heroin, once used as a medicine, can be produced
cheaply. But when dependent users have to rely on the black market to
obtain the drug at exorbitant prices, some turn to property crime to
finance their addiction.
* Parliamentary Joint Committee on the
National Crime Authority, 1988, chaired by Peter Cleeland MP
