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Aboriginal Health
Drugs and Alcohol
Campral - the drunkard's friend?
Summit Strives for new approach to drug use.
Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Common Questions about Methadone
Methadone Maintenance Treatment
Naltexone prescription for heroin addiction
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Professor Jim Rankin, NRAHS senior staff specialist in D&A, was at the State's historic drug summit in May. Originally planning to attend for just three days, he found himself unable to leave as the week progressed.
"I do think it is reasonable to say politically, there were people who went there with a strong existing condition for no change. On the other hand, clearly people who came with a conservative point of view changed their thinking. They saw what we have wasn't working."
The week's output was good, he says. It is now a question of what the Government does with it, but he does not think it can avoid a significant increase in funds.
"We need to work out ways of more equitably distributing resources and we will have to attend to the issue of keeping people out of the criminal justice system."
Premier Bob Carr emphasised the drug problem should be seen primarily as a health and social issue. From the GP point of view, the summit reinforced the concept that the ultimate solution is community based in consultation with key contributors, with the role of the GP of primary importance.
Prevention was another key area delegates agreed on, and GPs are also integral to this. Dollar wise, prevention is the cheapest option, Jim says, with intensive drug treatment costing significantly more, and keeping a person in prison more again. For every dollar spent on health, the return is $7. This compares with a zero return for every dollar spent on legal options, illustrating the need to keep people out of and divert them from the criminal justice system. On the issue of medically supervised safe injecting rooms, Jim says this is only seen as a solution in places where drug use is chronically high and there is strong community support, such as Kings Cross. The chance of safe injecting rooms coming to rural areas is "zilch" as there is not sufficient need. However, he does acknowledge the problems rural areas confront, including the provision of adequate services on funding about half that of metropolitan areas.
The conference moved away from the zero tolerance model of the US, coming out against increasing the use of the law in dealing with the drug problem. Instead, it was in favour of policies consistent with abstinence and harm minimisation
"Irrespective of what the government does, I think it was a unique event in the history of parliament," Jim said.
Discussion
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Summit Strives for new approach to drug use. |
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Summit Strives for new approach to drug use. justice, justicedawn@juno.com Posted 10/8/2000 12:29 PM I believe that people that have a drug problem should go to rehabilitation, instead of sent to jail or prison. When they are released from doing time for being under the influence of a controlled substance the person is worst then she/he started. Let me tell you something, 3 warrants for under the influence this person received 1 year in the county jail, with no record or no arrests. This person got out went straight to using after being taken away from parents and her first born. Inside this person learn how to defend herself from not one but 1 guard and 3 other inmates, the beatings and rape she took but they finally left her alone. Why? She worked as the officers night cook, and, many officers took to this person, with the knowledge this person had, she was able to help the guards with all sort of financial and mechanical things plus gave good sound advice on personal problems. One day, this person finally had it, so person worked out 2 to 6 hours a day, and, boy did t Society today, better think about what they are doing to people who get addicted to drugs and the only person my friend hurt was herself. She sent her first child with her parents and use her skills in jail and prison to make her own honest money to support herself even sent quite a bit to her son, in order to provide for him. But, because she will always have to worry about the label on her record, because, felonies do not get exsponged if you went to prison and did time, but rather if you got convicted of a felony and did probation, you can have dropped to a misdemeaner, because, places do not want to know about those only felonies. And, no one bothers to ask you about the crime you were convicted of, they just put this label on you criminal, danger, deadly not a good decent citizen. Well, I pray everyday that someone changes these laws against people who only have one crime and that is addiction. monde, monde@involution.org Posted 14/7/2001 3:08 PM I am an addict from the US whose life has been saved by harm reduction: first, by the needle exchange program while I was in active addiction, and then, by methadone maintenance, which got me off heroin, and ended my life of prostitution and poverty, while putting my body in a state which made it possible for me to be functional. I have told the story of the needle exchange incident on one of my web pages (http://involution.org/randomonium/gettingthepoint.html) If you ever had a doubt that needle exchange saves lives, please read it and see what occurred in my life in 1990. Today, our current government in the USA is frightening a larger and larger segment of the population. It has become the case that the per capita prison population now exceeds that of China. Privatized prisons have become reality and now some corporations are employing prisoners for such dangerous tasks as mining and low-level work in factories. These prisoners are paid about a dollar a day for 8 hours of work. About 70% of them never committed a violent crime and are in prison solely for drug transgressions. There's something frightening about this and it's starting to frighten people who once people who were all for more law enforcement against drugs. It's essentially slavery being reborn in a new form. Drugs are becoming the excuse not only to jail people, but to put deeper and deeper surveillance into people's lives without their even caring. It's truly shocking how many people will believe anything is for the greater good if the ones instigating it claim it's 'for the children'...'it's to keep them save from Drugs...' Do I wish I had never taken heroin, even once? Every day. Why did I take it, then? Back when I was younger, I figured since my government had lied to me about pot (claiming that a few years of using it would turn me into a brainless troglodyte) it could very well be less than truthful about the addictive capacity of opioids. Sadly, I found out opioids WERE that addictive. Maybe if I'd not been lied to about other drugs, I would have believed this. |
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