So, I'm assuming we're all up to speed on the case of the 14-year-old kid from New South Wales who got pinged buying weed in Bali and is now facing a serious jail term? If not, Google is your friend, but long story short, what I just said. The Indonesian laws on drugs are pretty intense, and so he's looking at some hard time in an adult prison should he get convicted. Needless to say, Australians everywhere have fired up their racism engines and started demanding he be released, or tried over here, or any other ridiculous load of crap. This includes our Prime Minister, who dropped the delightful clanger of saying that Australia supports his plight. Guess what, Julia? We don't all support his plight. Try him in Indonesia, following Indonesian laws.
Now, that view may surprise a lot of people. It's no secret I'm pretty pro drugs, I don't support jail sentences for minors or minor offences and I'm not exactly the biggest fan of governments telling people how to act. However, that isn't the issue here. Let's start from the beginning.
I won't go into great detail about why I think the kid is more a victim than a criminal, but it should be obvious. It has been revealed he's a troubled lad who smokes a lot of weed, so he's probably in need of at least a bit of therapy. I mean, recreational weed, go for your life. Heavy, regular use to cope with emotional stuff... well, it isn't the weed that's the problem there. So the act of purchasing the stuff with the intent to smoke it privately is definitely a minor offence, we're all agreed there.
There's a lot of information to support the idea that harsher penalties DON'T deter others, that they cost the state a lot of money and they turn otherwise minor offenders or just dumb kids into more hardened criminals who are more likely to commit bigger crimes later down the track, so again, probably isn't in this kid's best interest to be in prison. On a human level, I sympathise, if he does get convicted, it's gonna be a hard slog for him.
However, part of being a functioning member of society involves following the law. Now, in the relatively free country of Australia, there's a lot of room for common sense to prevail. I mean, if I get caught with a small amount of weed on me here, not a huge deal. No criminal record or anything. Sure, the laws could be way, way better, but everyone (and I mean everyone) gets away with at least a bit of illegal shit every now and then, partly due to the fact that as far as social liberalism goes, Australia does have a little bit of it. Indonesia, on the other hand... well, you've seen their drug laws. What this means is, you have to weigh up the risks. I wouldn't dare try and buy drugs over there, just because of the much stricter penalties. Doesn't mean the laws are right, just means their more tightly enforced. Pure statement of fact. I think the law is wrong in this case, and I think there are some serious human rights violations happening here, but he broke Indonesian law in Indonesia. There's no possible reason, whatsoever, for him to be released without trial, or to be tried over here, or anything like that.
A big part of this is the inherent first world racism that comes with relations with a nation like Indonesia. We are educated white folks, they are povvo brown people. Clearly we are smarter and more correct. Except we aren't, that's racist, we must respect their laws as much as we'd want them to accept ours. As an individual nation, we cannot just impose our will on another nation as if we're morally superior, especially when our own legal system is pretty immoral as it is. Maybe a UN body can have a look at it, but it's not our place to be telling them what to do, how to govern or what laws to enforce. If that bothers you, you're probably racist.
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