Drugs and alcohol

“O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains! That we should, with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts!” 

                                                                                                                       Shakespeare

Australians fought bravely against lots of enemies and won many battles. We built hundreds of memorials and vividly remember all heroes and casualties. World Wars alone lasted nearly a decade and claimed over 100 000 casualties (military and civilian, Aus. only). Every year we celebrate Remembrance Day, but never bother to mention the war that we lost, which also claimed more victims than any other. This war started on the very first day of the arrival of the First Fleet and still goes on today. Every year it claims more than 20 000 Australians and the total number of casualties exceed all war dead we ever had several times. No other war claimed so many victims and received so little attention.

Alcohol, smoking and drugs are much bigger killer than Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin or Bush (worldwide around seven million people die each year). Yet amaizingly none of our politicians has enough guts to stop this silent massacre. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs generate enormous amounts of money which are more than enough to buy, silence or remove any politician standing in the way. For every million $$ made by the powerful drug, tobacco and alcohol industries (legal and illegal) taxpayers pay billions for the extra healthcare, law enforcement and other services required to cope with this disaster (e.g. - about 8 billion/year for alcohol only). And this is not the worst – many people become permanently ill and incapacitated for the rest of their lives. Nondrinkers are not immune to this problems too – many thousands become victims to alcohol and drug related assaults, car accidents, rape, robbery, abuse, domestic violence, etc. It is estimated that up to 70% of violent crimes are comitted under the influence of alcohol alone. Hundreds of babies also learn about tobacco, drugs and alcohol the hard way – they suffer brain damage and many other serious problems caused by their irresponsible parents.

The list of all tobacco, drug and alcohol diseases is much too long to publish but apparently not big enough to stop many people abusing their health. Powerful marketing, advertising, promotions and other social factors supply an abundance of innocent, unsuspecting victims every day. It takes a while for the victims to realize how harmful some habits can be, and when it happens it is often too late. We want to help these people before it’s too late. We shall focus our effort on the following measures:

• Ban all alcohol and tobacco advertising and sponsorship (many developed countries did it long time ago...)
• Free drug, smoking and alcohol addiction treatment and medication shall be offered to everyone willing to quit (Subject to achieving permanent results. People who aren’t successful shall be required to pay back all costs)

• Ban the sale, import and manufacturing of all tobacco products (effective after 10 years notice period). During the intermediate period tobacco tax shall be adjusted to cover the entire national healthcare expenditure for all smoking-related cases and problems.

• Support and finance anti-drug, alcohol and smoking education and advertising campaigns in schools, universities, government and private businesses, clubs, pubs, parks, sport venues, etc.

• Ban alcohol consumption in all public areas – streets, parks, sports venues, ovals, gardens, parks, beaches, etc. Alcohol consumption often fuels rude, irresponsible and violent (frequently criminal) behaviour staining our outdoor experiences and damaging property and the environment. There are thousands of licensed venues (in addition to our homes) where we can safely enjoy a drink or two and still have great fun.
• We shall reduce the demand for illegal drugs by introducing heavy fines and serious other penalties for drug buyers, not only dealers. After all, it is the buyers' demand and money that foster this trade and corrupt our system. There is little difference in offering a bribe to someone for breaking the law, and offering money for illegal drugs. Penalties for drug dealing shall be strengthened and brought in line with those used in countries with low drug crime rates.

• Many people believe that modest amounts of alcohol may be beneficial for older people by reducing the risk of some types of cardiovascular disease. We don’t want to penalize these responsible drinkers and shall be happy to reimburse all taxes they paid for the equivalent of glass of wine or a can of light beer per day. This rebate shall only be available to people over 40.

• Bottle, can and other packaging deposits shall boost recycling and reduce pollution. Alcoholic drink  bottles and cans are major polluter and serious safety concern. We shall ban the use of glass bottles for alcoholic drinks (after a notice period of 5 years) which are often used as weapons and causing many serious and fatal injuries . Also see Environment

• For all alcoholic drinks we shall introduce volumetric tax based on actual alcohol content (this shall replace the wine equalization tax which is neither effective nor fair). Alcohol taxation shall be adjusted to incorporate all public expences required to combat all alcohol-related problems (direct and indirect). The new tax margins shall be updated every year and based on statistics obtained from ABS.

• The government shall offer generous financial assistance and other support to grape producers in effort to diversify their product range and reduce their alcohol production.

• The revenue collected from alcohol and tobacco taxes shall not be used for other purposes than healthcare (incl. rehabilitation)

• Upon closure of the tobacco industry the government shall provide suitable employment for all people who lost their jobs.