Pubdate: Sat, 19 June 1999 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Contact: http://www.smh.com.au/ Author: Michael Dawson WAR GAMES I would like to issue a challenge to each of the four "Drug Warriors" mentioned in today's Herald (June 15). To the "Political Warrior", Mr John Howard: Please justify to the Australian people the immense cost of running a discredited US-style war on drugs instead of spending that public money on health, education and community infrastructure. To the "Scientific Warrior", Dr John Anderson: Please provide peer-reviewed proof of your unsubstantiated claims about the possible harms associated with cannabis use. To the "Religious Warrior", Major Brian Watters: Please provide comprehensive 12-month comparative data (including drop-outs, deaths and relapses) for drug-dependent people enrolled in abstinence-only programs versus those in maintenance-therapy programs. To the "Legal Warrior", Mr Ross Goodridge: Please prove beyond reasonable doubt that the issue of drug misuse should be the province of the legal and not the medical profession. Dr Michael Dawson Department of Chemistry Materials and Forensic Science UTS Sydney - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake