
Issue No 5		19 March 1999

Piers Watch

Piers on Drugs

By Peter Lewis

One thing I love about Piers' work is his total lack of self reflection; a failure to see the double-standards that exist even in articles that run side by side.

Take last Thursday's column. On the left of the page is a rant against the Greens for their progressive drugs policy, which includes shifting the focus from looking at heroin as a crime problem to a health and social issue and decriminalising marijuana.

Rather than engage in this valid debate, Piers opts to accuse the Greens of writing "this ridiculous policy ... under the influence of toxic substances under the light of a Byron Bay moon".

He then accuses the Greens of ignoring the "numbers of people who currently pass through the criminal courts charged with extremely violent crimes which they claim are due to cannabis-based psychosis".

Yet to the right of the page is a little piece titled "Vineyards continue to blossom" which can only be interpreted as an advertisement for the wine industry. Margin's verdelho is described as "stunning"; Lehman's shiraz is "a real knockout".

But wait. No mention of the social costs of alcohol? The violence inside and outside the home caused by alcohol abuse? The "psychosis" experienced by long-term abusers of the drug? The large number of deaths on the road where alcohol is involved?

Indeed, medical experts were this week warning that cask wine was five time more dangerous than heroin, with 10 alcohol-related deaths per day.

Any mention of this?

Not a word. Instead an unashamed plug for the drug: "with export sales rising so spectacularly it might be worth tasting these wines before they disappear overseas."

But that's not all. At the bottom of the page he invites us deep into his psyche with his eulogy to Phantom creator Lee Falk. One can only wonder what role this hero had in Piers' own development.

He describes the Phantom as "quiet, elusive and always a fair fighter" who would fight off "a scrum of assorted villians" so he could enjoy a glass of milk in peace. The parallels are delectable.

It makes you realise what a complex character our Piers actually is, fantasising about his fight against evil until he emerges as his very own super-hero; the masked columist: a wine-supping, Phantom-loving hombre who hates drugs.

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Issue 5 contents

Interview: Towards An Information International
FIET general secretary Phillip Jennings talks about the development of the Union Network International and its potential to organise globally.

Unions: The Integral Price of Loyalty
Workers at Integral Energy are asking for their share of the fruits of power reform.

History: A Very Public History
Historian Ray Markey and Public Service Association General Secretary Janet Good take a look at the unionďż˝s first 100 years.

Review: Bullworth - Beattyďż˝s Political Rap
Warren Beatty makes some gutsy calls in his new film about a politician who, when all else fails, tries the truth.

Campaign Diary: The Ultimate Punt
As the leaders slug it through the final weeks of the campaign, the armchair critics get their chance to work their pet election theories.

» Streamlined ILO To Focus On ďż˝Decentďż˝ Work

» Kelty Sees Global Minimum Wage On Horizon

» International Superunion Given Go-Ahead

» FIET Takes Hammer To Debt Wall

» Is The World Bank Anti-Union?

» Lectures Cancelled Over University Pay Claim

» 100 Reasons Why Public Sector Unionism Will Survive

» Maccas Death Call

» Cleaners Time Out Hours Cut