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Saturday 28th June 2003

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MEDIA RELEASE
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DRUG WEEK 2003

“CHILDREN HAVE A DRUG PROBLEM TOO”

Australia’s peak drug community group warns that
harm minimisation neglects the children of drug abuse.

Drug Free Australia Ltd. Executive Director Mr Robinson said today. “Occasionally we’ll all see the headlines, young child dies from drinking parent’s take-away-methadone, but then they are quickly forgotten.”

“For many children whose parents are addicts on illicit drugs, methadone . . . or both, their experience is one of devastating horror and neglect.”

“Lets focus on helping families not drugging them.”

“Unfortunately the current trend is profit driven to build a massive industry around supervising and subsidising addiction, (and we’re saying enough is enough, its time to help people reclaim their lives and families from the grip of drugs).”

“Takeaway methadone (often called methadone for profit) is an example; where the effects on the child can be devastating neglect, or death. The only solution is integrated prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.”

“When you are talking about drugs, prevention of harm should be a national priority, particularly lets remember the children in all of this.”


Website : www.drugfreeaustralia.org.au

For more information contact:

Michael D. Robinson Mobile 0414 719 742
Executive Director
Drug Free Australia Ltd.


BACKGROUNDER …


What is “Takeaway”

“Methadone” is government sponsored addiction management program, with clinically prescribed substitute pharmacy doses of methadone, a substitute for heroin. Despite this many clients use it as a base and simply top up their drug use with whatever cocktails of drugs they can obtain on the street.

Its aim of harm minimisation focussed methadone is to replace heroin with a known pharmaceutical, and then progress the client through to treatment and ultimately rehabilitation. This can happen within 10 days through to a year, but with the current focus of the program many people are still on methadone years, sometimes decades later …. Many simply haven’t lived that long on it.

Commonly (predominantly in NSW) “takeaway” is a multiple dose given to a client for home use. History has demonstrated the willingness of addicts to sell that dose for alternative illicit drugs, and its not uncommon to hear of children consuming “the dregs” while their parents sleep. Unfortunately that early experimentation has been fatal for some.

Coroner’s figures aren’t clear on methadone deaths in adults, or the implications on work place safety or motor vehicle accidents, due to an “anomaly” in recoding of deaths where multiple drugs are present (ie this once again demonstrates the absolute failure of this methadone program to keep addicts off street drugs.)

Takeaway methadone is a treatment of convenience, but not of compliance.

Despite an almost absolute failure to regulate or ensure compliance or even an audit of the program’s own Quality Assurance goals many critics of the program complain that its focus is on addiction management for profit rather than on getting addicts drug free and keeping them drug free.

Recent public meetings around Surry Hills and Paddington attended by representatives from Drug Free Australia, highlighted concerns from local residents that methadone clients where engaging in a crime spree which included stealing, robbery and break and enter with direct links to the methadone clinics particularly due to the well known association between clients supplementing their methadone with a cocktail of illicit drugs purchased from dealers who tend to congregate around such clinics for this purpose.

Friday 27th June 2003

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MEDIA RELEASE
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“Of course it’s important to stop drug use and related drug crime, for the addict and the community, but lets not forget the absolutely devastating horror the children of addicts go through.”

DRUG WEEK 2003

“CHILDREN FORGOTTEN AS DRUG INDUSTRY GROWS”

Australia’s peak drug community group warns drug addiction
industry to remember the children of drug abuse.

Drug Free Australia Ltd. Executive Director Mr Robinson said today. “When you are talking about drugs, prevention of harm should be a national priority, particularly lets remember the children in all of this.”

“When you have early childhood nurses talking with mums who only think about is the drugs you have to ask why aren’t we focussing more attention on getting those mums drug free? It must be a national priority to prevent all drug abuse.”

“Methadone, and injecting centres have become a massive industry with their own public relations support but the emphasis on supervising addiction, and subsidising addiction is misguided. Its an industry that demands more money but who is standing up for the children who desperately need their parents to be drug free?”

“Lets remember the children. Whether addicts are on illicit drugs, methadone . . . or both, they are neglected children and are forgotten about by the industry, their parents, their only hope is that the community will remember them.

For more information contact:

Michael D. Robinson Mobile 0414 719 742
Executive Director
Drug Free Australia Ltd.

Friday 27 – 6 - 2003

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MEDIA RELEASE

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DRUG ACTION WEEK 2003 – FRIDAY – “AMPHETAMINES”

CALL TO GAG JOURNALISTS’
USE OF DRUG SLANG

The community group Drug Free Australia urges media and community leaders not to swallow party drugs term.


“There’s nothing fun about drug abuse or the harms it can cause.” Michael Robinson Executive Director of Drug Free Australia said today.

“We simply want to have them referred to as `dangerous illicit drugs used at parties' instead of `party' or `recreational drugs'.

“Its a simple straightforward primary prevention measure and that every community leader, talkback host and journalist can make to help get this message across.”

* Today the topic of Drug Action Week 2003 is amphetamines, we’d like to widen that to focus all efforts on prevention, even the comments of the media should be focussed on prevention by imposing upon themselves a voluntary ban of the terms party drugs or recreational drugs.

For more information contact:

Michael D. Robinson Mobile 0414 719 742
Executive Director
Drug Free Australia Ltd.

Website : www.drugfreeaustralia.org.au

Email : info@drugfreeaustralia.org.au


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MEDIA RELEASE
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Friday 27th June 2003

“Of course it’s important to stop drug use and related drug crime, for the addict and the community, but lets not forget the absolutely devastating horror the children of addicts go through.”

DRUG WEEK 2003

“CHILDREN FORGOTTEN AS DRUG INDUSTRY GROWS”

Australia’s peak drug community group warns drug addiction
industry to remember the children of drug abuse.

Drug Free Australia Ltd. Executive Director Mr Robinson said today. “When you are talking about drugs, prevention of harm should be a national priority, particularly lets remember the children in all of this.”

“When you have early childhood nurses talking with mums who only think about is the drugs you have to ask why aren’t we focussing more attention on getting those mums drug free? It must be a national priority to prevent all drug abuse.”

“Methadone, and injecting centres have become a massive industry with their own public relations support but the emphasis on supervising addiction, and subsidising addiction is misguided. Its an industry that demands more money but who is standing up for the children who desperately need their parents to be drug free?”

“Lets remember the children. Whether addicts are on illicit drugs, methadone . . . or both, they are neglected children and are forgotten about by the industry, their parents, their only hope is that the community will remember them.

For more information contact:

Michael D. Robinson Mobile 0414 719 742
Executive Director
Drug Free Australia Ltd.

Tuesday 24th June 2003

“Of course it’s important to stop drug use and related drug crime, for the addict and the community, but lets not forget the absolutely devastating horror the children of addicts go through.”

DRUG WEEK 2003

“CHILDREN FORGOTTEN AS
DRUG INDUSTRY GROWS”

Australia’s peak drug community group warns drug addiction
industry to remember the children of drug abuse.

Drug Free Australia Ltd. Executive Director Mr Robinson said today. “When you are talking about drugs, prevention of harm should be a national priority, particularly lets remember the children in all of this.”

“When you have early childhood nurses talking with mums who have no idea how to raise their children because all they think about is the drugs you have to ask why aren’t we focussing more attention on getting those mums drug free? It must be a national priority to prevent all drug abuse.”

“Methadone, and injecting centres have become a massive industry with their own public relations support but the emphasis on supervising addiction, and subsidising addiction is misguided. Its an industry that demands more money but who is standing up for the children who desperately need their parents to be drug free?”

“Lets remember the children. Whether addicts are on illicit drugs, methadone . . . or both, they are neglected children and are forgotten about by the industry, their parents, their only hope is that the community will remember them.

For more information contact:

Michael D. Robinson Mobile 0414 719 742
Executive Director
Drug Free Australia Ltd.

14 – 6 - 2003

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MEDIA RELEASE

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METHADONE
PROBLEM OR SOLUTION?

Australia’s peak drug community group has called for greater community input into
review of national drug policy.

“Australians want prevention of harm, not the supervision of harm. That’s the message we’re telling the Federal Government as it reviews its Federal policy on drugs.” Drug Free Australia Ltd. Executive Director Mr Robinson said today.

“The public meetings called by concerned residents, like the recent one at Surry Hills, and Paddington highlight the community’s concerns about Methadone, and links to crime and honey-pot effect on drug dealing.”

“Last month Drug Free Australia’s National Drug Policy Committee held its committee meeting in Surry Hills and representatives from across the country echoed the same concerns about ongoing drug addiction being supplemented by the methadone program not arrested by it.”

The community wants and deserves genuine treatment programs to be made more available. They must be programs that focus on getting people drug free, not subsidising or dispensing a cocktail of illicit drug use, and they must address the crime problem.”

“Community complaints about crime and the links to the honey-pot effect on drug dealing, lack of police in the areas around methadone clinics, and related increases in crime has to be examined, but lets not forget the absolutely devastating horror the children of addicts go through.”

“Rehabilitation should be more accessible than drugs, but it must be abstinence based. If the government isn’t interested in reducing the crime rate, then they must act to protect the children.”