Pubdate: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Copyright: 2001 The Sydney Morning Herald Contact: http://www.smh.com.au/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441 Author: Jay R. Bacik Note: Headline supplied by newshawk TIME FOR EDUCATION NOT CAPITULATION It may be that Peter FitzSimons has put his head into one scrum too many, or that he failed to read further into The 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey. This survey showed that most Australians do not support his call for the legalisation of drugs. Less than 30 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over support the legalisation of marijuana even for personal use, and less than 10 per cent support the legalisation of heroin, cocaine or amphetamines. The Rev Ted Noffs, the founder of life education centres in Australia, said in 1979: "Drugs will be with humankind from here on out. When we realistically accept this situation, we realise that there is only one thing that matters: the education of our children. The question of how we reduce the demand for drugs is a question of the philosophy of life; if you like, a spiritual question ... It is a question about the meaning of life itself and its values, of what we consider a human personality to be, of what we understand by human existence." He was and is right. Now is the time for education not capitulation. Jay R. Bacik, Life Education Australia, Potts Point, April 18. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew