Inside

COVER: Substance abuse among the |/ a Pacific’s youth iis a growing problem and 11% one that can no longer be denied. But what I are the solutions? Is the legal system too harsh, and is decrimialisation the answer, as the author of a UNICEF report suggests?

4: Letters 9: Fiji joins MSG 24: A lesson for the Pacific 25: Mineral riches for the Cooks 28: Vanuatu govt lines cut 29: Fake passports 32: Western Samoan independence 41: Food for thought 42: Women in sports 48: Robert Langdon 51: Local environment 53: Samoan culture revived 55: Putting the Pacific on show

Sports

44: In league with Britain 45: More money for Manu Samoa 47: For the love of tennis

Yachting

57: Island cruising

Special Reports

4 4 The

Bougainville

crisis Special reports on the tense sit uation between the BRA and PNG Security Forces, and the innocent bystanders who must contend with the repercussions.

20 Nuc,ear dump

sites eyed

Marshalls consider storing waste and Palmyra is eyed for Russian plutonium.

Views

6: David Barber: Global warming - a hot topic 7: Jemima Garrett: Aid, the coalition and the cuts 8: Alfred Sasako: Fishy deals - is the Pacific losing out?

Feature

35: Focus on Vanuatu

Cover: James Ranuku

American Samoa US$2.5O; Australia A 53.50; Cook Islands NZ$3; Fiji F 52.50 Vat incl; FS Micronesia US$3; Kiribati A 52.50; Nauru A 52.50; Niue NZ$3; Norfolk As 3; New Caledonia cpf2so; New Zealand NZ53.45 incl GST; Northern Marianas US$3; Papua New Guinea K 3; Palau US$3; Marshall Islands US$3; Solomon Islands As 3; French Polynesia cpf3oo; Tonga P 3; USA US$3; Vanuatu VT22O; Western Samoa T 5.50. These are recommended prices only.