Crime and Punishment

I see that bleeding heart drug trafficking Schapelle Corby is back in the news again. She was banged up about 10 years ago for drug smuggling in Indonesia. Claimed that she knew nothing about how the 4kg of cannabis got into the bag with her $2 styrofoam body board, which weighed less the the 4 extra kilos of hooch. Of course she didn't. There's not a single drug trafficker in the world who, when caught, had any idea that they were carrying drugs. Drug traffickers have to be the most unluckiest people in the world, always getting caught at the EXACT moment that some stranger planted drugs on them. Of course she was going to deny everything and try and chuck the blame on to any/everone else. What other defence would she try when caught red handed ? And, of course, she's got absolutely no reason to lie, right ? Neither do the other low lifes who tried to make a noise while seeking favours in return. Geez. Highly believeable. Naturally we all pay to fly our styrofoam body board overseas when we go on holiday, instead of spending half the cost to buy or borrow one there. That's the first thing that everyone packs when they are going on an overseas holiday. Amateur hour.

Things went from bad to worse for Schapelle when the truth started coming out about her whole dodgy crim family with a long documented history of manufacturing and selling drugs. Suddenly the sweet little Aussie girl wasn't so sweet any more. Luck only holds for so long. Didn't help her case much when a couple of drug heavies turned up at her prison for an unexpected "surprise" visit. As you do. Apparently they were in the neigbourhood.

After originally getting rightfully banged up for 20 years Schapelle Corby has slowly had her sentence chipped away. Apparently you can get a year taken off if you have a burnt piece of toast when looks a bit like the king, or if someone notices your lip quivering while you're looking at a picture of the national flag. They probably just got sick of having her around. Now the bully Australian government has jumped in and offered some inter-government deal, which I presume allows for a Free Trade movement of $2 body boards between Indonesia and Australia, in return for a slashing of Schapelle's sentence. Too bad for all those other convicted drug traffickers who's country don't have something that you want. The upshot is that this frequent flyer is likely to be released later this year. Her family are pretty excited about all this, as I presume that will mean there's time for her book to hit the shelves in time for Christmas. If there's an easy buck to be made, you can bet they will be standing right at the front of the queue. New Zealand has a law which prohibits convicted criminals from profiting from the proceeds of crime, meaning that they can't do things like write an autobiography about their crime or punishment. Hopefully Australia has something equally restrictive. It's still taking money for the supply of drugs.

Shame on both governments for caving. Drug dealers are the lowest of the low and deserve to be treated as such. The only way to stem the flow is to be completely non-negotiable with caught offenders. Make the punishment so horrendous that more people will choose not to take the risk. And that's right, it's a choice. I'm of the same opinion when it comes to drug cheats in sport. They didn't make a mistake, they made a choice. The same choice that other athletes chose not to make. None of this "2 years and let them come back" rubbish. They should be gone for good, the consequences need to be that severe when the damages of their actions are considered. The effects of drugs are for life. The punishments should be as well.