The results of the 2007 Household Survey raise serious questions about Australia’s drug policy and attitudes.
Findings on attitudes to illicit drug use show a worrying trend towards the laissez-faire:

• 50 per cent of respondents said they would support regulated heroin injecting rooms
• 70 per cent supported legalising cannabis for medical reasons,
• 65 per cent looked favourably on needle and syringe programs

While in the same survey, attitudes to legal drugs have toughened. (This would be, in no small way, due to the long- term community awareness campaigns on tobacco and more recently, binge drinking):

• 75 per cent of respondents wanted smoking banned from pubs and clubs
• 80 per cent of Australians also wanted tougher bans on drink driving,
• More than 80 per cent wanted smoking banned in the workplace

“It seems ironic the attitude towards drugs like cannabis and heroin is softening, while, at the same time, people are expressing tougher views on the legal drugs tobacco and alcohol”, said DFA Chair, Craig Thompson.

“We are now dealing with the high health costs and harm caused by tobacco and alcohol and Australian’s are rightly concerned about that. We should take a lesson from this and not make the same mistake with drugs as complex as cannabis, nor as life threatening as heroin and methamphetamines”,  added Mr. Thompson.

 “Cannabis should be placed in the ‘hard drug’ category by Australia’s policy makers,” stressed Executive Officer, Jo Baxter, commenting on the Australian Medical Association’s warnings on the health risks associated with smoking marijuana. “Risks such as memory loss, psychosis, impaired driving, hallucinations, asthma, and lung cancer cannot be ignored.”

Moreover, the AMA warns, ‘one third to one half of detained patients admitted to psychiatric units in Australia are there because marijuana use has precipitated their condition’.  “We are beginning to fall well under world standards in effective drug prevention strategies and Australia’s illicit drug use rates remain the 2nd highest in the OECD”, warned Jo Baxter.

In the UK, cannabis has just been re-classified up to a Class B drug, sending a strong message to their community that this drug is definitely NOT soft. In Sweden, it has never been treated any differently to other illicit drugs such as heroin and amphetamines. (Sweden has had the lowest rate of illicit drug use in the OECD for decades - United Nations World Drug Report).

If we seriously want to address our burgeoning health care costs, and reduce the risk of preventable mental illness, family violence and breakdown, we must act now to provide accurate and up to date community education, so that people understand just how harmful marijuana and other illicit drugs are. At the same time, we need to have more long-term recovery based rehabilitation for people who inject drugs, rather than pouring all our resources into drug maintenance programs such as needle and syringe and injecting rooms.