viva Australia!

[radiometer]

http://www.mapinc.org/safe/v05/n1564/a01.html

AUSSIE DRUGS WOE IN REPORT

CRIMINALS are growing 5000ha of marijuana in Australia every year, an
area the size of 689 Melbourne Cricket Ground precincts, according to a
US intelligence report.*

The Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) report, obtained by the
Sunday Herald Sun under Freedom of Information, paints a grim picture
of illegal drug use in Australia.*

It says:

AUSTRALIA has one of the world's highest rates of ecstasy and
methamphetamine abuse.*

THERE are 200,000 heroin users in Australia.*

ECSTASY manufacturers are using oil from the sassafras plant to make
the drug.*

COCAINE is being smuggled into Australia on flights from South America,
and importation is set to rise, and AD HOC state laws on precursor
chemicals are hindering the fight against drug makers.*

The DEA's Drug Situation Report for Australia said marijuana was our
"most popular and most abused illicit drug" and named New South Wales
and Queensland as "the primary growing areas for outdoor cultivation".*

It said methamphetamine manufacturing was dominated by motorcycle
gangs in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.*

The report by the US Government's key drug-fighting agency, compiled in
July, said the majority of cocaine was being smuggled into Australia "by
couriers on flights originating in South America".*

Once in Australia, cars and parcel post were used to send the drugs
around the country.*

South-East Asia is cited as the main source of heroin in Australia, with
Sydney being the main point of entry through airports and shipping
containers.*

It said "recent information" indicated that criminal organisations from
Greece, Poland and Vietnam were "involved in the cultivation of cannabis
in Australia".*