It's time to talk about drugs

Bust ... police with marijuana plants in Melbourne last month. Photo: Jason South

The war on drugs has raged for decades with organised crime the only winner. Catherine Armitage reports.

Retired Salvation Army officer Brian Watters was startled to see Mick Palmer's name on the recent Australia21 think tank report which declared the war on drugs a failure and called for a national debate on ending drug prohibition.

When Major Watters was made prime minister John Howard's key adviser on combating illicit drugs, Palmer, then Australian Federal Police commissioner, was his deputy.

Heading the Australian National Council on Drugs from 1998, the two men fought side by side to implement Howard's ''tough on drugs'' policy. Palmer, then part way through what was to be a seven-year stint as head of the AFP, was responsible for implementing many of its beefed-up law enforcement measures.

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Still hardline ... Major Brian Watters backs the tough approach. Photo: Lee Besford

"He was just as strongly supportive of the [tough on drugs] approach as myself," said Watters this week. "If he went down the line with the stuff that was put out by Australia21, I would be be very, very surprised."

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, might also have been surprised to learn her freshly minted Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, lent his name to the report. There were raised eyebrows at Michael Wooldridge's presence, too - as health minister in the Howard government he was responsible for implementing much of the tough on drugs policy.

Palmer is taking no backward steps from the controversial report. His experience in law enforcement, and a drug-related family tragedy, have caused him to rethink his views.

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It's time to talk about drugs