Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Ice, ecstasy and speed are commonly used terms for similar and related but different drugs. As the honourable member before me indicated, the use of these drugs in Australia is very concerning. The annual prevalence of ecstasy use in Australia was 3.4 per cent of the population aged between 15 and 64 in 2001. But the rates for Australia are well above those presented for the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, America and Canada. In addition, there are other figures of concern. Recent use of methamphetamines in the population rose from 2.1 per cent in 1995 to 3.2 per cent in the year 2004. The use of ice by methamphetamine users increase from 12 per cent to 45 per cent of those individuals between the year 2000 and 2003-2004. The number of hospital admissions for methamphetamine usage increased from 155 per million to 181 per million over a similar period of time. These are statistics, but each statistic represents a real person.

As the deputy commissioner of police in Victoria indicated to the parliamentary committee, it is their estimate that every weekend 100,000 ecstasy tablets are taken across this country. That is 100,000 sons and daughters, brothers and sisters risking their lives every weekend. This is not a drug which matches stereotypes. The predominant users of this drug are young, well educated and in stable, well-paid jobs. They are people who, from Monday to Friday, nine to five, many people would not suspect of using drugs but on weekends use drugs of great danger.

The crystal form of methamphetamine, ice, is a particularly insidious drug. It was first detected in this country six years ago, although it had been detected in Asia for many years before that. It is a particularly virulent form of the drug and a particularly concerning form of the drug. I was drawn to the finding of the committee that the purity of ice makes it a particularly potent and active form of the drug. The use of ice is increasing in social groups that have traditionally not been associated with hard drug or amphetamine use, particularly because it is ingested in a number of ways. In contrast, heroin traditionally has been injected—which has limited it to the small number of people who are willing to inject themselves, which is estimated to be 0.5 per cent of the population. Ice can be taken in anyone number of ways; it can be smoked, injected and, perhaps most commonly, taken as tablets.

The honourable member for Kingston referred to the media and references to party drugs. I do recognise his point, but I would also make the point that there are several parts of the media which deserve to be congratulated for their treatment of the drug ice. I have seen references to the drug ice on 60 Minutes, in a particularly powerful episode; Four Corners and also on A Current Affair. They have played a very useful role in educating the broader population about the evils of the drug ice and about the need to educate young people. Again, I was drawn to evidence given to the committee by Detective Chief Superintendent Denis Edmonds, of the South Australian Police. He told the committee:

What I do perceive is that there is a lack of knowledge across the community about drugs, their short- and long-term effects and the legal status of some of them. It really does come down to education. Effective education will impact on demand. As I said at the outset, we are talking about a commodity that is out there because there is a demand for it within the community. If we reduce the demand, we reduce the problems.

I was also drawn to the submission to the committee by the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, which said:

There is a need for the targeted dissemination of culturally appropriate and credible information on the types of drugs and the range of harms associated with their use, particularly the considerable risks associated with frequent use and use by injection.

With that in mind, we must all do what we can to educate people about the effects of the drug ice in particular. On 18 April I will be hosting a forum in my electorate for families concerned about the drug ice. I am particularly encouraging families to bring their children to this forum. It will be addressed by Dr Gilbert Whitton, who is one of the foremost Sydney experts on illicit drugs. It will also be addressed by Mr Beaver Hudson, who is a clinical nurse at St Vincents Hospital, and by a former ice addict, whom I will not name in this forum but who has agreed to come and talk at that forum. I thank all of them for giving their valuable time to this forum. I also thank Smithfield RSL for making the meeting place available to me.

Over this week and next week, I will be circulating an invitation to every household in my electorate to attend this forum. It is a small step, but I believe we all have an obligation to provide as much information as possible to all people in the community about this particularly insidious drug and to provide support to parents who are worried about whether their children might be taking it, who perhaps do not know for certain but may have suspicions that their children might be involved in taking these sorts of drugs and who are concerned and do not know where to turn or who to talk to. One of the roles of this forum is to provide information to parents about who they can talk to if they do have those concerns. It is also, of course, to provide information to younger people about who they can talk to about their concerns about their friends or brothers and sisters or, indeed, if they are having a problem with ice and feel they are being pressured to take ice or may be becoming addicted to ice and want to find out what they can do about it.

I commend this report and the members of the committee. I am not a member of this committee but, because of my interest in the matter, my attention was drawn to the report, which I have read. It is a comprehensive analysis of the issues and I commend it to the chamber.

Debate (on motion by Mrs Gash) adjourned.

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