Transcript Sydney Tackling ice 170915 - Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation

What lessons should we draw
from methamphetamine?
Dr Alex Wodak AM, President
Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation
Tackling Methamphetamine Conference
Sydney Boulevard Hotel [email protected]
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‘Drivers: select your rut carefully –
you’ll be in it for next 30 km’
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Topics:
• Must select most important questions:
– How did we get here?
– What is to be done?
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How has Australia responded to illicit drugs?
Has Australia’s response worked?
What are other countries doing?
What should Australia do?
What should Australia not do?
Conclusions
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How has Australia responded to illicit drugs?
• International movement started early 20th C
• 3 UN treaties (1961, 1971, 1988)
• UN system established devise policy,
implement, & monitor
• Almost all countries approved treaties,
including Australia
• Countries approving required pass laws
imposing criminal sanctions trafficked, used
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How has Australia responded to illicit drugs? 2
Aims system:
• Prohibit recreational use certain drugs (≈ 250)
• Not interfere their medical, scientific use
• Australia’s 9 governments allocate 2/3
funding to drug law enforcement
• Politicians use harsh language for drug users
• 1985 adopted harm minimisation official
national drug policy – ‘balanced’ approach
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Australian governments spending
illicit drugs 2009/10:
Policy domain
$ million
Percentage
Prevention
157
9
Treatment
362
21
Harm reduction
36
2
Law enforcement
1123
66
Other
23
1
TOTAL
1701
100
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Has Australia’s response worked?
‘However beautiful the strategy, you should
occasionally look at the results’ Winston Churchill
Market
• Production

• Consumption

• Availability

• Price

• Purity

• # Drug types
 New drugs like ice
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Has Australia’s response worked? 2
Outcomes
• Deaths

• Disease

• Crime

• Corruption

• Mass violence 
• Why has drug prohibition survived?
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‘Teach a man to fish and he can eat for a day
Teach a man to sell drugs and he can pay for a
Ferrari by Xmas’
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What are other countries doing?
• Also adopting harm reduction
• Extending harm reduction from drugs to drug
policy
• Netherlands (1970s), Switzerland (1990s),
Portugal (2001) – redefined drugs as
primarily health & social problem
• Americas 2010s – 4 states USA tax & regulate
cannabis, Uruguay, Geneva, Jamaica
• Crisis: UNGASS April 2016 New York
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Australia, ice:
• ‘the war on drugs is … not a war we will ever
finally win; the war on drugs is a war you can
lose’
PM Tony Abbott 29.4.15
• We cannot police, arrest, imprison our way
out of the drug problem
Ken Lay other senior police
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What should Australia do:
• Threshold: redfine drugs as primarily health,
social problem
• Invest drug treatment to improve capacity,
quality, range, flexibility
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Current funding only ½ needed
Need to raise quality other health services
Provide range options from minimal to maximal
Inflexible: hamstrung by law enforcement lens
Need to also prescribe to severely dependent,
treatment refractory
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Why some drug users matter more than others:
• 70% ice users consume < monthly
• Minority consume very heavily, account
disproportionately for crime, probably also
for recruiting novices
• So critical for future growth market
• Need effective way dealing severely
dependent, Rx refractory: probably
pharmacological
• Non agonist Rxs: many tried, all failed
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Why some drug users matter more than others:
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Need a ‘methadone’ for stimulants
But this research made very difficult
Some research been done, need more
Need better agents
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What should Australia do: 2
• Reduce emphasis criminal sanctions – raise
thresholds, reduce penalties
• Increase regulated part of drug market
• Reduce inequality, reduce youth
unemployment
• Increase harm reduction: distribute clean
pipes, establish drug consumption rooms
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What should Australia not do:
• Throw even more money at drug law
enforcement
• Increase penalties
• Believe that ice advertisements will make any
significant difference: mass campaigns small,
temporary benefit, mainly political
• Sometimes make things worse
• Fantasise compulsory drug Rx a panacea
• Keeping sending wrong message: fear & hate
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Conclusions:
• 20th C global drug prohibition evolved, peaked,
now declining
• Many leaders now say: ‘War On Drugs’ failed
• Encouraged more dangerous drugs to push out
less dangerous drugs
• But though drug prohibition failed, like Viagra
for politicians facing elections
• Bad policy = good politics
• High prevalence methamphetamine use,
problems Australia compared other countries
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Conclusions: 2
• Redefine drugs as primarily a health and
social issue: improve drug treatment
• Stop relying so heavily law enforcement,
mass campaigns
• Increase regulated proportion drug market
• Increase drug treatment & focus helping
minority severe dependence, Rx refractory
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