Pubdate: Wed, 21 Feb 2007
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Copyright: 2007 News Limited
Contact:  http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/113
Author: Heath Aston
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hallucinogens.htm (Hallucinogens)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

BONG TOLLS THE CHEMICAL AGE

NOT so long ago a gathering of teenagers wasn't a party until someone 
stuck a piece of hose in the side of a plastic bottle, blended some 
marijuana with half a cigarette and passed around the bong.

Sucking down a cone -- preferably in one burning lung-full -- was a 
quick route to being considered cool for a teenager back in the 1990s 
and the decades prior. Channelling the angst of Kurt Cobain also 
helped. But that time (and Cobain) have passed. A growing number of 
young people are now choosing not to smoke pot.

Although cannabis continues to be the most-used illicit drug in 
Australia, a survey released this week found it was being rejected by 
the under 30s.

One in three now consider stoned people "unacceptable". Previous 
generations just considered them friends.

It took my generation some time to wake up to the fact 
chemically-cultivated "hydro" had mental health consequences (it also 
took them some time simply to wake up). Most 30-year-olds know 
someone whose head never quite made it back from Scoobytown.

Today's youth view marijuana as dangerous, addictive and a gateway to 
harder drugs. According to the sponsors of the survey -- prescription 
drug maker Pfizer -- there is an emerging awareness that today's 
chemical-laden cannabis is nothing like the "ditchweed" being rolled 
and puffed in the carefree '70s.

If fewer teenagers are toking on joints and sucking on bongs, are we 
seeing the emergence of a new generation turning their back on illegal highs?

Not exactly, according to the National Drug and Alcohol Research 
Centre's Paul Dillon.

While fewer young people are smoking marijuana, the drug landscape 
has shifted with the emergence of chemicals such as ice and ecstasy.

With the assistance of NDARC, here is a rough guide to the drugs 
being used by today's teens and 20-somethings:

. METHAMPHETAMINE (ice and speed):

Amid a sustained heroin drought, ice has become the second-most 
commonly taken drug after marijuana.

It is easily produced in backyard labs, supplying 73,000 users nationally.

A recent report found almost one in 10 Australians aged over 14 -- 
1.5 million people -- had tried ice or speed.

"For parents ice is one of the new drugs they simply don't understand 
because it wasn't around when they were younger," Mr Dillon said.

. ECSTASY:

Ecstasy use is comparatively lower than ice and speed but poses a 
risk because of its unfounded reputation as a "safe" drug.

The party drug is back in the spotlight after the possible 
ecstasy-related death of 20-year-old Northern Beaches dance teacher 
Annabel Catt on Saturday.

"After an ecstasy death there is normally claims in the media about 
how dangerous the drug is. Young people think 'that's not my 
impression of the drug' so they throw the baby out with the bathwater 
and close their ears to any warning they hear after that," Mr Dillon said.

"You hear a lot of young people saying that ecstasy is not as bad as 
alcohol. This is clearly ludicrous. All drugs have risks and they 
need to be aware of that."

. GHB (fantasy):

A clear liquid that looks like water, GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate) is 
a depressant that slows the heart and breathing.

Although chemically it is nothing like ecstasy, it is often called 
liquid ecstasy because of it's euphoric effect.

"GHB users feel fantastic and high but if they have that little bit 
too much it's easy to fall into unconsciousness and you can die."

. LSD:

Commonly referred to as acid, LSD is a hallucinogen. Although 
relatively rare, a 2005 survey found 5 per cent of all Australian 
16-year-olds had tried the drug.

. COCAINE:

Use of cocaine is rare among young people because of its prohibitive 
cost and short supply. Only 3 per cent of high school students have 
tried cocaine.

. HEROIN:

The scourge of the '80s and '90s is now also in short supply.

. AlCOHOL:

Drug experts insist alcohol should be considered among illicit drug 
usage because it is so often mixed with other drugs.

"It's the No. 1 problem by a mile. About 1500 young people die every 
year from drug-related causes and half of them are due to alcohol. 
It's not just mixing alcohol with cars, it's overdoses, falls, all 
sorts of ways of dying," Mr Dillon said.

Family Drug Support: 1300 368 186

Alcohol and Drug Information Services: 9361 8000

Drug Intervention Service: 9754 6200 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake