Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jul 2014
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Copyright: 2014 News Limited
Contact: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/readers-comments
Website: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/113
Author: Andrew Carswell
Page: 1

WE'RE A HIGH SOCIETY

Australia Comes Top of Global List for Recreational Drug Use

AUSTRALIA has hit a new low by getting high, with revelations our
nation can claim an unenviable gold medal for recreational drug users.
The United Nations 2014 World Drug Report has found Australia ranks
first in ecstasy use, second for opioids, third for methamphetamines,
fourth for cocaine and seventh for cannabis - with experts warning our
drug use is rising. AUSTRALIA, a country of sports champions,
innovators ... and drug takers.

The nation has the inglorious distinction of having the highest
proportion of recreational drug users in the world - an embarrassing
new low, albeit from getting high.

Our collective craving for a hit is only set to heighten, with the
number of drug users continuing to rise steadily.

The frightening statistics in the United Nations 2014 World Drug
Report confirm Australia as leading the world in the use of party drug
ecstasy, third in methamphetamines and fourth in cocaine.

Of greater concern is the addiction to prescribed or black market
opioids such as codeine and morphine. We rank second only to the US,
with 3.1-3.6 per cent of people between 15 and 65 considered regular
users, mostly women.

More than 10 per cent of the working-age population regularly use
cannabis, with 1.9 million people aged 15-65 using it in the 12 months
before figures were collected in 2010.

And we top the pile on ecstasy use, although data suggests it is the
only drug category that is declining.

"Expert opinion points to an increase in the consumption of cannabis,
cocaine, hallucinogens and solvents and inhalants but a decline in the
use of ecstasy," it said."There is a wide range of drug analogues and
new psychoactive substances currently available in the Australian
illicit drug market."

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Dr Alex Wodak said
Australia's burgeoning appetite for illicit drugs was fuelled by both
a cashed-up and unfettered new generation and an underclass of
Australians disadvantaged by growing social and economic inequality.

"There is certainly greater demand for drugs and that is likely
because of economic and social conditions. People on one hand have
more money to spend and on the other there are more people who are at
risk - and those that are at risk are getting worse because of high
unemployment, poor job prospects, lack of optimism," Dr Wodak said.

He said the rise in drug use was being matched by an increase in the
number of deaths attributed to overdose. More than three people die
each day from a drug overdose, the majority caused by a rising tide of
opioid pill popping by women.

"What is more concerning is (that) overdoses are rising fast. They've
been rising steadily for some years," Dr Wodak said.

Australian National Council on Drugs, executive director Gino Vumbaca,
said the sheer volume and availability of a host of recreation drugs
was providing a smorgasbord for a young generation.

He also blamed authorities for relaxing their fight against the
scourge of drugs - a battle they appeared to be winning 10 years ago.
"Drug use was going down and we were dealing with a critical level of
overdoses because a lot of investment and attention was going into the
issue," he said. Australia features in many worthy top-10 lists,
overcoming our small population relative to other nations through
sheer ability and application. From athletics to academies of
learning, Australia consistently reaches the highest echelons. But
there is one top-10 list Australia would do well to avoid.
Unfortunately, in percentage terms, we are currently at the very top
of an international list ranking ecstasy consumption.

We also feature extremely highly in use of many other dangerous drugs,
including cannabis, methamphetamines, cocaine and prescription opioids
such as codeine and morphine.

To say this is a matter of concern would be to severely understate the
urgency of addressing Australia's drug problems. Ecstasy - surely the
most inaccurately-named drug in chemical history, considering its
addictive and sometimes fatal properties - is a proven family-wrecker
and motivation-destroyer. The fact that about 3 per cent of
Australians have used or are using ecstasy is a shocking reminder of
just how widespread this insidious drug is within our community.

Almost as worrying is the high proportion of Australians who the
latest UN report identifies as regular users of marijuana. Some
parents, possibly having used marijuana themselves in their younger
days, may be more relaxed about their own children smoking this drug
than they are about other, presumably harder drugs. This lack of
concern is misplaced. Marijuana is vastly more powerful than it was in
previous decades. Consider it a drug of at least equal risk to any
others.

For some time, Australia has avoided the high rates of prescription
opioid abuse seen in elsewhere. This latest report signifies that,
lamentably, we are now catching up. Very quickly, we have become the
world's second-largest opioid consumer in percentage terms.

Again, there may be some who view this group of drugs as less than
dangerous due to the fact that are provided by prescription. Again,
this view is profoundly mistaken. As a means of dealing with severe
pain, opioids have a very useful medical application. As a
recreational drug, it is destructive to the point of being deadly.
This report is long-overdue wake-up call. As a nation, we have a drug
problem. But it can only be solved at a personal and family level.
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MAP posted-by: Matt