March 10, 1999
Issue
Facts that speak for themselves
- 84% of government drug spending is to police drug use; 6% on treatment; and 10% on education.
- 83% of people are in prison for drug-related crimes.
- There are only 21 juvenile detoxification centres in Australia
- Most prisons have no drug or alcohol treatment programs.
- 70% of crime in Victoria is drug related.
- The world drug trade earns $300 billion a year — second only to arms trade.
- The Australian drug trade earns $7 billion a year — bigger than the tobacco industry.
- Marijuana was made illegal in the 1930s, heroin in the 1950s.