The Drugs Don't Work...

WHY on Earth would you try to take drugs in or out of South-East Asia?
Countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia have pretty strict anti-drug laws (you're cuaght, you're dead), yet stories here in Australia have told of four different groups or individuals who've gambled with authorities and come off second best.
The earliest of the four was Nguyen Tuong Van, who was caught with 396 grams of heroin at Singapore's Changi Airport in 2002. Van had agreed to smuggle the heroin from Cambodia to help pay off the debts of his drug-addicted brother, but was caught as he passed through the security gates at Changi Airport. Those steps through the gates were his last as a free man; he is due to be executed on December 2.
Then came Schapelle Corby. The young Queenslander was found with 4.1kg of marijuana in her boogie board bag when she landed in Bali in October 2004; while she says the drugs weren't hers, two customs officials and two police officers say she admitted they were. Further adding to the intrigue is that the bags weren't locked, police never used gloves when holding the outer bag, while the inner bag was apparently not checked for fingerprints.
Corby is now in jail serving 15 years for the offence.
Then came the big one: the so-called "Bali Nine" in April this year. This case is on-going, but from this article it seems the Australian Federal Police knew what was going to happen, contacted the Indonesian authorities beforehand and gave them free reign to take action.
Five people were arrested at Denpasar Airport in Bali, with four found to have heroin strapped to their bodies; while another four were arrested at a nearby hotel. All nine are on trial or will face trial shortly; all nine face the death penalty, including the four "drug mules" who say they were forced into doing the run.
Just to finish things off, former underwear model Michelle Leslie was found outside a Bali party with two ecstasy tablets in her handbag. Leslie's case was newsworthy not just because she was the latest in a line of Australians caught with drugs overseas, but also because her good looks made for good photos. Leslie is now free after serving three months in a Bali prison; she had been found guilty but only had to serve that time because it was said she was addicted to drugs of some kind (news reports generally suggest this was a prescription for attention-deficit disorder).
Four cases, four lots of headlines; four of the same or four very different cases?
They're all very different cases.
Take Van for example. It's generally acknowledged that he did his drug run to help his brother, who had allegedly run up a huge drug bill. The drugs weren't meant for sale in Singapore; the bad luck for him was that he was caught there, where any more than 15 grams is grounds for a hanging.
Given that at the time of writing he had just over three days to live, it would appear a harsh price to pay for his brother's sins. This is the position taken by many protesters both here and in Singapore, especially since Van has cooperated with authorities fully and has shown remorse for his actions.
Yet as the Singapore Government rightly points out, heroin is a killer: that's why it's illegal. The Singaporeans also point out that as a sovereign country they have the right to make their own laws, which people living or visiting must abide by.
While it's easy to have sympathy for Van and suggest his death sentence should be reduced to life imprisonment or a long sentence, calls for a nation-wide minute's silence or for Prime Minister John Howard to miss the Prime Minister's XI cricket match agains the West Indies because of the hanging are wide of the mark.
We use such things to remember those who served our country, not for those who've been caught breaking the law.
Corby is a case unto herself. Many in Australia believe her story that the marijuana was put in her bag by an airport baggage handler, yet there is still the suspicion that she was perhaps a little naive and perhaps thought she could get away with it. Her story has never changed though.
The Bali Nine face an uncertain future. Indonesian prosecutors want the death penalty for all nine; it remains to be seen if the four drug mules - who all seemed to be scratching for a penny beforehand - are spared because of their circumstances. The fate of the other five seems to be about as promising as an American walking down an Iraqi street wearing the stars and stripes and a t-shirt saying "Fuck the world, I'm American".
The less said about Michelle Leslie the better: her case changed so often that it's hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction.
But all four cases beg the one question:
Why use drugs?