I got frightened reading the paper this morning. Not because of the influx of refugees heading to Perth, not because of the deadly new ‘planking’ craze and not even because of the accusations against “The Great Seducer” Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Something else entirely which frightened me so much is the fact that I wholeheartedly agreed with something Colin Barnett said.
In the wake of the double tragedy involving Luke Adams, the young man who remains in a coma after being king-hit in Northbridge, and the shocking death of Andy Marshall who was pushed out of a pub window in Cottesloe, I was upset that the WA police continued to blame these horrible incidents on alcohol. Of course alcohol is a contributing factor but as Colin Barnett finally acknowledged today, illicit drugs are also playing a significant role in the increase of violent crime in Perth’s leisure spots.
It is frustrating to read suggestions that it is all down to alcohol that these crimes are being committed because as anyone who does happen to be young and who lives and socialises in Perth can tell you, that is simply not the case. Illicit drug use is rampant in WA and it is both unfair and dangerous to ignore the serious effect this is having on the community.
As The West Australian and the WA police explained last week, the number of crimes occurring in places like Northbridge is not actually rising, but the seriousness of the crimes which are being committed is what is skyrocketing. As I have lamented before on this blog, I am fearful, not for myself, but for my male friends who are more at risk to falling victim to the type of people who are committing these crimes. The crimes I refer to are the glassings, the king-hits, the vicious assaults and sadly, the fire ups which end in tragedy.
My friends and I all drink, but never have any of my friends assaulted someone. Maybe that’s because of the type of people I chose to spend my time with, but maybe it also has to do with the fact that blaming a culture of violence on alcohol alone is ridiculous. The mentality that ‘boys will be boys’ is similarly ridiculous because I have lots of male friends who simply don’t get involved with this type of behaviour- ever, even when they have been drinking.
I commend the Premier for acknowledging the reality of this situation. My heart breaks when I read of the senseless and absolutely unnecessary violence that is befalling these young men. Hopefully the fact that those higher up are figuring things out finally means there will be a better effort in treating the cause, not the symptoms of this deadly exigency.
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