Australia - I was right on 'evil' drugs, says PM (Aus)

[Lunar Loops]

Don't know much about the guy, but he seems like a knee-jerk right winger. John 'Cliche-laden moral guardian to all' Howard seems to wield the bush, sorry brush, of generalisation with amazing deftness. This from theage.com.au:

I was right on 'evil' drugs, says PM

PRIME Minister John Howard has launched a passionate attack on illicit drugs and a strenuous defence of his own zero tolerance attitudes, saying the Australian community has finally caught up with him in recognising that marijuana is evil.
Campaigning in the marginal Brisbane electorate of Moreton yesterday, Mr Howard let fly over community and political tolerance for so-called recreational and party drugs.
His outburst follows the travails of AFL football star Ben Cousins, and also recent controversy over a school playground incident where young children in NSW are suspected to have taken ecstasy tablets.
Mr Howard said more appropriate names should be applied to illicit substances.
"I think one of the things we have to do is stop glamorising them by calling them recreational drugs or party drugs. All drugs are evil."
"I have for 11½ years preached a policy of zero tolerance. It was ridiculed eight or nine years ago, even by people in my own party. They were wrong. And many people in the Labor Party were wrong.
"They wanted to legalise marijuana. I was always opposed to that. At long last the community, in some ways, has come to its senses on marijuana."
Mr Howard said that drug law enforcement was a state issue, but Canberra had intensified efforts to educate the community by running "very provocative ads" about the dangers of drug taking, and providing extra funds to combat the use of "ice".
"They are evil, all of them, and there should be an uncompromising social condemnation of drugs," Mr Howard said.
The Prime Minister, a former tobacco smoker, said Australians needed to change their attitude towards drug users.
"Why can't we have the same attitude towards drugs that a large section of the community has developed towards tobacco?" he said.
"I mean it's become virtually a criminal offence for people to smoke. I used to smoke and thank heavens I gave it up a long time ago. Now you are a pariah if you smoke."

[stoneinfocus]

Most of the MJ-Smokers I know do successfully work, have a job or study.. I can´t see any evil in them, doing any kind of party-drugs, most of them you even wouldn´t believe them taking drugs.

I see only very kind and good minded people being arrested for possessing drugs and getting their lives destroyed, physically and mentally and alcoholics which were better off smoking a joint now and then...

Anyone who call for zero tolerance wouldn´t even be able to built a house, cause you need tolerance and adjustment everywhere, where a part needs to be put fit, this can be translated to society, with alöl the different charachters and people.

As I see it, zero tolerance = no brain or insane

[Nature Boy]

This guy comes across as a complete lunatic. Anyone who wishes to instill mass stigmas on sections of society in this Machiavellian way is extremely dangerous. People think Bush is bad? This guy makes Bush seem like a straight-up guy.

[Petethemeat]

It always makes me laugh when people consider drugs 'evil'. They are an inert substance which simply does what it is designed to do.

Another one is when they compare prohibition to disease erradication. People in general don't want to catch polio- there is no 'demand for disease' nor a multi-billion dollar market.

[FuBai]

That sort of moralistic rhetoric is exactly what Australia is likley to be inclined towards after the recent incidents there, so it is likley to have a reasonably powerful impact and lead into the rhetoric-votes-rhetoric spiral. We have to recognise that we face deeply emotive manipulation and that we have to respond in kind. We need pictures of the horrors of prohibition, we need to take these examples and show the public how these would be far less common under legalisation etcetera. All politicians are more clever than they let on sometimes - it's the only way to get and stay at the top. I don't think he is an idiot, I think he's combining ignorance with the pursuit of votes, rather than simple stupidity.