Big Drugs Bust – SHOCKING!

Over recent weeks, there has been a proliferation of seemingly unrelated media reports concerning the use of substances by Australian adults, young people and children, some legal and some illegal. Alarmingly, we have read about the United Nations’ concerns about the rate at which Australian children are being prescribed psychotropic medications, a longstanding issue of concern noted in United Nations’ reports dating back a decade. This is an issue also raised with PeakCare by our Members in Roundtable Meetings over a number of years with providers of early childhood education and care services, in particular, raising concerns about very young children on prescribed psychotropic medications being enrolled in daycare. In a twist to their concerns, the media article also commented on reports of some providers of these services making their acceptance of some children’s enrollments contingent upon them being prescribed these medications.

Around this time, the media also reported on concerns by researchers about children affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) being misdiagnosed, with their behavior subsequently inappropriately responded to within schools. We also read about University of Queensland research indicating an increased rate in the use of cannabis by adults and articles about the tragic impact of chroming by young people.

Then, of course, there have been reports by the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women about the rapidly escalating impact of crystal methamphetamine use by parents on child protection notification and substantiation rates, and their children subsequently becoming the subjects of statutory child protection interventions.

Are these articles, in fact, unrelated? All have reported on matters that are of concern to PeakCare and our Members and all warrant focused attention across both the government and non-government sectors. In doing so, all must be considered in the historical context of Australia’s cultural norms concerning the use of substances, some legal and some illegal with the distinctions between the two approaches often seeming to be somewhat arbitrary. As highlighted during the 2017 Just Ice? Symposium co-hosted by PeakCare and the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) with the support of the Queensland Government, we cannot successfully tackle any of the above issues without considering the historical and cultural context in which they have emerged.

Think about it as you pop a panadol to ward off the possibility of an incoming headache, draw on your ciggie or (with or without the ciggie) sip your nightly glass of wine or beer or perhaps your morning coffee or tea if alcohol is not your thing, or maybe just munch on that last bit of dark chocolate that gives you such a rush… and then make a joke about your only vice.

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