Pubdate: Fri, 14 May 1999 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Contact: http://www.smh.com.au/ Author: Greg Bearup HELP, NOT PUNISH IS MESSAGE FROM CARR'S FORMER TEACHER Winifred Mitchell remembers young Robert Carr as a diligent and enthusiastic student, keen and open to new ideas. Dr Mitchell was then the now Premier's thesis supervisor at the University of NSW where she had an interest in the history of waterside workers and young Bob was penning his thoughts on the acceptance by the Labor Party in the 1890s of compulsory arbitration. "Oh yes, Robert and I spent a lot of time together discussing ideas then, we have a lot of ideas in common," Dr Mitchell said. Do those shared views extend to the current drug laws in NSW? Dr Mitchell paused. "No, of course not." This morning Dr Mitchell, 82, will lead the women of the Nimbin Older Women's Forum down the main street of Nimbin to bless the Big Joint and the Cannabus Convoy, organised by the Nimbin Hemp Embassy, on its journey south. The embassy wishes to make its views known at the NSW Drug Summit next week and will hold an alternative NSW People's Drug Summit in Hyde Park, behind where the politicians, Christians, parents and some drug experts will argue the toss. The Older Women's Forum of Nimbin has voted to do what it can to help young people who are addicted to drugs and has made moves to be involved in the possible setting-up of a safe injecting room in Nimbin. These women have seen first-hand the destructiveness of drugs, particularly heroin, but they want to help, not to punish. Each Friday they run a soup kitchen for the addicts; they cooked them Christmas dinner, they talk to them, they want them to be included in the community. "The emphasis on punishment has got to stop," Dr Mitchell said. She said that the death of Mr Carr's brother from a drug overdose had clouded his views and closed his mind to finding alternatives. "Of course that was tremendous shock to him but the sort of things we are advocating may have prevented such a death." As the forum met yesterday afternoon there was enthusiastic support from the more than a dozen women in attendance. "Look, it's about time that they just did something sensible," one of them said, in a grandmotherly tone, of the politicians. Dr Mitchell says she has written him several letters on the need for drugs reform and would like to have a "good long discussion with him about it". "He has shown himself a keen and observant student of history," Dr Mitchell said. "Surely he realises that punishment and prohibition has never led to a lowering of crime."s - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea