5% of Aussies Consume 30% of Nations Booze | Government Increasing Spending on Drug Deterrence and Support | How the Drug War Ends
All the drug policy and related news from the past week in one place.
Hello!
Happy Saturday and welcome to issue #75 of Drugs Wrap, a weekly compilation of the top stories in drug policy from across Australia and around the world.
Fair bit on this week. We’ve seen eye-opening reports into the nature of problematic alcohol consumption, with new data showing that just 5% of Aussies consume just over a third of total alcohol sold in the country.
The government has announced a raft of new funding to tackle the ‘scourge of drugs’, including support for treatment measures (good) but also more spending on policing (not so good).
NSW has also been accused of dragging its heels over drug law reform and, given its been two years since the ice inquiry with nothing to show for it, I’d say this is about right.
In the US, The Nation has published a special edition on drug policy in which they suggest there is growing consensus on the fact that criminalisation doesn’t work and that politicians on the left and the right are seeking alternative solutions.
Finally, the Power Trip podcast I’ve been writing on for the last few weeks has released its final episode - link at the bottom - along with a truly disturbing video of a participant in a MAPS clinical trial. The video, released at the wishes of the participant, shows therapists re-enacting sexual assault on a woman while she is under the influence of MDMA to treat PTSD. It raises serious questions about the nature of the evidence to support the legalisation of this kind of therapy.
MAPS director Rick Doblin has sort of addressed these issues in a recent talk, a report on which you can find here.
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You can also follow the Drugs Wrap Psychedelia playlist on Spotify for new ‘psychedelic’ music caught in the email filter.
Let’s get to it.
Just 5% of Aussies Consume More Than One Third of the Country’s Alcohol
A recent report has shone a light on the serious nature of overindulgence in Aussie drinking culture by revealing that just 5% of Australians drink just over a third of all alcohol sold in the country.
The research, published by Latrobe University’s Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, also found that Australia’s heaviest category of drinkers, the top 5%, consume almost eight drinks a day each.
It’s troubling news that Luke Hutchins, of the Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education, who commissioned the study, said should prompt controls on alcohol consumption and advertising for at-risk drinkers.
‘Alcohol has devastating impacts on families and communities across the country, contributing to a range of short-term and long-term harms including increased anxiety, injury, chronic diseases such as cancer, and family violence’, Hutchins said.
He also argues that alcohol companies are aware of this issue and are exploiting people by profiting off of those who drink at unsafe levels.
‘These profits come at the expense of the health and wellbeing of families and communities across Australia’.
‘It has never been easier for alcohol companies to target people who drink heavily and who might be experiencing alcohol dependence. By design, alcohol companies are using digital marketing to easily identify, and target people based on purchasing history to push their products around the clock’.
NSW Hearings Shows Slow Progress on Two Areas of Law Reform
The New South Wales government is dragging the chain on two major law reforms and the state’s legal practitioners want urgent progress.
This is in spite of last week’s report that NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman is ‘ambitious’ for drug diversion measures to be introduced.
Michael McHugh, president of the NSW Bar Association, has said the state government has made no progress on treating personal drug use as a health issue following estimates hearings in the NSW parliament.
It has been two years since the ice inquiry recommended the decriminalisation of the use and possession of prohibited drugs for personal use. There was also an alternative recommendation that suggested resourcing be increased for specialist drug assessment and treatment services and that this be done in conjunction with a legislated diversion program.
‘Diverting drug users towards health intervention, education and rehabilitation is not being ‘soft on crime’, nor does it mean this behaviour is not without consequences. It is being smart on crime, with the focus on harm reduction for drug users – not drug dealers’, McHugh said.
‘A depenalisation model is not a radical approach. It has been adopted in a number of jurisdictions around the world, and a number of depenalisation programs are already operating in NSW, including the Cannabis Cautioning Scheme’.
‘There is no sense in throwing more public money at a model which does not work. We know that the current model is simply perpetuating a cycle of drug use and that personal drug use is on the rise’.
Reagent Test Kit Use Amongst People Who Use Ecstasy in Australia
New research from the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre has found that people who use stimulants like ecstasy often seek information about its contents and engage in drug checking practices.
However, they have also found there is more need for education around the limitations of colorimetric reagent test kits as well as expanded access to information around drug contaminants and dosages.
Continued Funding to ‘Tackle Scourge of Methamphetamines’
Budget previews have been coming thick and fast before Tuesday’s big announcement. Health Minister Greg Hunt has said that the Morrison Government will extend the National Ice Action Strategy (NIAS) and invest more than $315 million over four years in the ‘ongoing fight to reduce the impact of ice, other drugs and alcohol’.
This investment is alongside an additional $27.9 million being committed to support other critical drug and alcohol treatment projects in areas of identified need.
With this announcement, the government will invest around $830 million in alcohol and other drug treatment services and programs over the next four years.
‘For too many Australians, illegal drugs are still an insidious scourge on our community, robbing families of their loved ones’, Minister Hunt said.
Psychotropic Drugs ‘Misused’ and ‘Overused’ on Elderly and Disabled
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has identified that psychotropic medicines are being misused and overused, particularly with older people and people with disability.
In a joint statement, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission said that inappropriate use of psychotropic medicines had been recognised as a safety and quality issue in health care.
Australian Technology to Disrupt Illegal Drug Trade Into the United States
BAE Systems Australia has said that they will export ‘world leading sovereign defence technology’ designed and developed in Australia to detect and disrupt illicit drugs entering the United States.
The company announced it will deliver a multi-mission digital high frequency (HF) receiver system to the US Government’s Maritime-centric Over the Horizon Radar (MASOR) project which is now a critical part of the war against drug imports into the United States.
New International Mail Testing to Stop Mail-Order Drugs and Weapons
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has announced that the government is employing a new National Forensics Rapid Lab to detect incoming international mail containing drugs.
The custom-built lab, based in Sydney, will use ‘new, world-leading’ capabilities to scan mail in real time. The rapid lab test will screen 300 suspected packages each week, giving Australian Federal Police ‘unparalleled opportunities’ to intercept illicit goods
‘We’re cracking down on the smugglers who are targeting Australia by hiding their illicit imports alongside large volumes of legitimate mail,’ Andrews said.
‘Under our leadership, total funding to the AFP has increased to $1.7 billion, while in the last Federal Budget the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission received an almost $52 million boost to combat serious, organised criminals.
‘This significant investment has ensured the development of this impressive new capability. Using this real-time, rapid testing capability, we’ll keep legitimate mail flowing, and keep Australians safe from illicit drugs, chemicals, firearms, and weapons’.
This Week in Weed
‘It’s Not Legal in Australia’: TGA Boss Pulls No Punches on Delta-8 THC
GPs Opposed to OTC Medicinal Cannabis but Most Agree It’s Safer Than Opioids
Patients Using Illicit Medicinal Cannabis are More Likely to Be Younger and Male
Melbourne LGA to Conduct Feasibility Study Into Setting Up a Medicinal Cannabis Business
Canopy Growth Finds Link Between CBD and Improved Menstrual Health
Legalising Cannabis Doesn’t Raise Youth Use, Shows Study Backed by Industry Coalition
50 Years Ago, Congress' Own Expert Commission Demanded They Repeal Cannabis Prohibition
Bowel cancer: Medicinal Cannabis Could be Used to Treat Condition
Around the World
How the Drug War Dies
The Nation has a special focus this month on drug policy and the drug war, featuring articles on everything from psychedelics to prison law reform.
This piece, from author Maia Szalavitz, details how a new consensus is emerging on both the left and right of US politics that criminalisation is simply not working.
‘The change since the 1980s and ’90s is striking: Political rhetoric, at least, has done a 180. Back then, mainstream politicians were unapologetically all-in on drug policing, whereas now it has become almost obligatory to say, “We can’t arrest our way out of this”.’
‘Back then, Democrats and Republicans tried to outbid each other in terms of who could create the longest, harshest sentences for drug offenses and the most onerous corollary consequences, like banning formerly incarcerated people from public housing, student loans, food stamps, and other welfare programs. But today candidates vie to appear more compassionate—even Donald Trump signed a criminal justice reform bill’.
All the articles are worth a read and you can find them at the link above.
EU Report - MDMA Use Drops Due to COVID Lockdowns, Other Drugs Rise
The closure of nightclubs and bars during COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe is likely behind a significant drop in the use of party drug MDMA last year but consumption of other substances such as cocaine and cannabis kept rising, an EU study said on Thursday.
Conducted by the Lisbon-based European Union drugs agency (EMCDDA), a study of wastewater from nearly 45 million people in 75 European cities revealed that the use of most drugs, except MDMA, increased last year.
Around half of the cities where the study was conducted, ranging from Barcelona to Oslo, recorded increases in detected residues of cocaine, amphetamine, cannabis and methamphetamine in wastewater.
‘The results show both a rise and spread for most of the substances studied, reflecting a drugs problem that is both pervasive and complex’, EMCDDA director Alexis Goosdeel said in a statement.
A 2021 report by the United Nations showed a big increase in drug users worldwide due to the pandemic. It said many turned to drugs due to poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Singapore's Anti-Drug Strategy Has Kept Situation There Under Control, Says Home Affairs Minister
Singapore's comprehensive strategy against drug abuse has been ‘successful’ in keeping the drug situation there under control, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo.
Speaking virtually at the 65th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), Teo said Singapore's strategy is underpinned by strong community partnerships and public support.
"Our strategy aims to reduce both drug supply and demand through upstream preventive education, strict laws and rigorous enforcement, and effective rehabilitation," she said.
Singapore has some of the harshest drug laws in the world. Consumption alone can get you 10 years in prison while the country executed 400 people between 1991 and 2004, mainly for drug trafficking.
India Seeks More Liberal UN, WHO Policies to Treat Drug Abuse Patients
India has urged the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring in more liberal policies, such as telemedicine and a take-home protocol for controlled medicines, for treating patients with drug abuse disorders.
With patients unable to visit hospitals due to the pandemic, and many forced to discontinue treatment midway, there was a growing need to adopt alternative arrangements, India said at the 65th meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs.
‘We have appealed to WHO and UNODC to come up with strong guidelines and scientific evidence for treatment of drug-dependent patients in India and the world’.
‘We urged the international authorities to bring policy reforms on access to controlled medicines like methadone and buprenorphine’.
South Korean Government to Clamp Down on Illegal Online Sale of Drugs, Narcotics
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it would work with seven private and public institutions to intensely monitor marketing sites on the internet until December to root out the illegal online sale of medicines and narcotics.
The ministry will request the Korea Communications Commission to delete or block illegal marketing and promotion sites caught in the inspection and refer repeated offenders to prosecutors.
Anyone who sells, introduces, markets, or purchases drugs or narcotics online is subject to punishment.
The Psychedelic Selection
Magic Mushrooms as Medicine in Australia
Alcoholism & Psychedelics: Clearmind Trials Reveal Certain Psychedelics Help Reduce Alcohol Consumption In Mice
Little Evidence on How Psilocybin Therapy Interacts with Existing Psychiatric Treatments, Review Finds
Biomind Labs Opens a New Clinical Psychedelic Research Facility
Psilocybin Is The Most Studied Psychedelic
Connecticut Lawmakers Approve Bill To Fund Psilocybin And MDMA Therapy
The Brave New World of Legalised Psychedelics Is Already Here
Demand for This Toad’s Psychedelic Toxin Is Booming. Some Warn That’s Bad for the Toad.
Engineering to Neuroscience: Meditation, Psychedelics, and Unlocking the Mysteries of the Brain
New Partnership Launched With the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience , King's College London and COMPASS Pathways
Listen: Power Trip Episode 9: The Complainers Group | New York Magazine
Watch: You Won’t Feel High After Watching This Video | The Cut
I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and I look forward to sharing all the latest with you next Friday.
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