N.T: War on drugs must be won – NT News – November 27, 2017
Commission Illicit Drug Data Report clearly demonstrates the scourge of drugs in the Territory is not going away anytime soon.
And the message of their dangers is not being absorbed.
Our law enforcement officers are doing the job required of them, with arrests for using and selling drugs skyrocketing over the term of the 2015-16 report.
And while Territorians are also being busted with illegal steroids and hallucinogens in growing numbers, authorities are finding fewer drug laboratories.
In many respects, the latter is a positive because the drug traffickers instead have to run the gauntlet of importation — domestic or international — and the risks which come with that, to get the goods on to Territory streets.
What is majorly disappointing is that the messages associated with drug use and where it can lead are not getting through, despite the one good fact the use or sale of heroin and other illicit opioids remains almost non-existent in the Territory.
Instead, we saw arrests over amphetamines, including ice, were up 57 per cent — second only behind Victoria.
These are soul destroying, society destroying drugs. They tear the fabric of families apart. Three-quarters of drug arrests and seizures in the NT during 2015-16 were for cannabis — the largest proportion of any state or territory. For more http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/opinion/war-on-drugs-must-be-won/news-story/75b8d5ac5d4e74ce4743b7bf26b89dd5