The Day I Talk About Druggies

I vaguely remember that November last year, I commented on the death sentence of Australian Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore because of drug smuggling. In this past week, another 4 Australians have received the same death sentence for a similar offence, only this time, they are being held in Indonesia.

You may wonder why, after so many harrowing cases of unsuccessful drug dealing, that people still resort to doing it? Did they really think that Indonesia wouldn't punish as severely as Singapore did? Have they simply forgotten about the amount of trouble Australian model Michelle Leslie got into for possessing Ecstasy in Bali less than a year ago?


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This is a segment of the Narcotics Drugs Act in Australia, stating the punishment for drug possession and drug dealing:

NARCOTIC DRUGS ACT 1967 - SECT 20 Punishment of offences

(1) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of this Part is guilty of an offence against this Part punishable upon conviction by, subject to subsection (3), a fine not exceeding Four thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding a period of ten years, or both a fine not exceeding that amount and imprisonment for a period not exceeding that period.

(2) An offence against this Part may be prosecuted summarily or upon indictment, but an offender is not liable to be punished more than once in respect of the same offence.

(3) Where proceedings for an offence against this Part are brought in a court of summary jurisdiction, the court may commit the defendant for trial or, with the consent of the defendant, determine the proceedings, but, where the court of summary jurisdiction determines the proceedings, the court shall not impose a fine exceeding One thousand dollars or sentence the offender to imprisonment for a period exceeding two years, but may impose both a fine and a period of imprisonment in respect of the offence.

(courtesy of http://www.austlii.edu.au/)

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This brings to question the power of the Australian government in curbing narcotic problems of the country. Why do they always have to resort to pleas for lighter punishment (in the case of their citizens being sentenced to capital punishment), which are usually to no avail? Is there something that they can do about it? Have they noticed that there has been an increasing trend of drug taking? Or are they just closing one eye.

Apparantly, many Australian youths don't see a problem with drugs. They think that it's just an alternative lifestyle that should be available to everyone. I reckon proper education should be given on narcotic drugs. The line between democracy and bureaucracy is blurred. You give your people freedom to choose their lifestyles, they're bound to abuse certain rights and cause social problems. The case in point: drug smuggling.

Maybe it's because I'm brought up in Singapore. I just think that liberty should be eraned, not freely given. Adn a druggie lifestyle should never ever be condoned.