E-substance May 2009

Friday, May 22, 2009

As the global financial crisis starts to hit home, will more New Zealanders drown their despair in alcohol and drugs?  The May issue of Matters of Substance looks at this question and finds that while studies and reports may be mixed so far, but treatment agencies are getting ready for the flood.

Alcohol policy is also getting much attention, especially following the Law Commission's call to abolish conscience voting on alcohol law.

We provide a debrief from the International Harm Reduction Association conference, and highlight a fantastic training opportunity in the area of youth development and community action.

Happy reading,
The Drug Foundation team.

 

May Matters of Substance - Coping with the Crunch

Amidst all the woe of the global recession, there may be a wholesome silver lining. Some research suggests our lives may be pared back, stripped of some of the most destructive elements of high-octane, high-stress 21st century life, returned to a simpler patter of home-life, balanced work hours, exercise and healthy, home-grown food.

Recession might be just the cure your battered body and weary mind needs. But, for a group of New Zealanders already struggling, or entering unfamiliar marginalised territory, the recession could be the catalyst for a slide into addiction.

New Zealand is battling recession as the global financial crisis hits industrialised nations around the world. When an economy contracts, people lose jobs, investments plummet and homeowners with too little fat in their budgets can lose their homes.

What impact do these financial stresses have on the health of a population; specifically mental health? Perhaps during lean economic times, people do have time to take better care of themselves. If so, they may build stronger family or community networks, and emerge less likely to drink and use drugs. Or does economic distress make a person more vulnerable to substance abuse?

Read the full story in your Matters of Substance and for more analysis of the evidence you can read our Evidence Review.

Also in Matters of Substance:

Drug Foundation Executive Director Ross Bell sums up the mood of the recent international drug policy round as "mutual back-slapping while ignoring the realities of human suffering" in his Director's Cut.

Three essays from the International Drug Policy Symposium - Through the Maze are published online along with photos of the event.

Mythbusters questions the Pope's ignorance on harm reduction: ASH Director Ben Youdan says tells the tobacco industry It's not okay to kill your customers: And Doug Sellman opines the liquor industry needs to own up and stop blaming its customers.

 

20th International Harm Reduction Conference in Bangkok, Thailand

Harm Reduction 2009 took place in Bangkok from April 20-24th and brought together around 1,000 delegates from 80 countries around the world.  ‘Harm reduction and human rights' - the theme of the conference, was a running thread throughout the programme, providing delegates with both an understanding of human rights violations committed against drug users, the international system of human rights law as well as how this can be practically engaged with, in our work to advocate for change.  There were large numbers of delegates and speakers attending from Asian countries. The situation faced by many people who use drugs in Asia, often characterised by poor access to harm reduction services and detention in ‘compulsory drug treatment' centres featured prominently in conference sessions and was also highlighted by the ‘treatment not torture' rally at the start of the conference.

The conference opened with an important keynote speech from Michel Kazatchkine, emphasising the need for drug policy reform, and in particular, the decriminalisation of drug use, as part of a public health approach.  Kazatchkine's organisation, the Global Found to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is one of the greatest contributors to harm reduction around the world.  Despite this, there is a huge discrepancy between epidemiological need and the funds which currently go towards harm reduction, an issue which gained much attention during the conference.

 

Law Commission urges end to conscience voting

In his first report to Parliament on the alcohol review, Law Commission President Sir Geoffrey Palmer suggested Parliament should end conscience voting on alcohol law,  saying, "Alcohol laws are simply too important to subject them to the vagaries of the conscience vote. Standard party-based voting will produce laws that are more consistent and durable."

The Drug Foundation agrees and has invited all parties to declare their position on the issue.  The Dominion Post agrees too: "the history of a battle between the beer barons and the temperance movement... The issue today is not whether to ban alcohol but how to minimise the harm associated with it without unnecessarily impinging on individual freedoms. As the commission argues, that will best be resolved by parties developing coherent party positions and taking responsibility for shepherding them through Parliament."

The Law Commission had earlier outlined some policy options which the review is considering, including increasing the alcohol excise tax, raising the purchase age, limiting the hours for off-licences, regulating alcohol advertising and promotions, lowering the blood alcohol for adult drivers from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml, and addressing liquor outlet density.

At the same time, Major Campbell Roberts, director of the Salvation Army's social policy and parliamentary unit, critiqued a Government Bill on the sale of liquor currently under consideration, saying "the liquor industry will always aim to have more people drinking more, with little or no regard for the social costs. The current approach to regulating liquor is fundamentally flawed because it ignores this dynamic and leaves it to the liquor industry to act responsibly."

A similar policy debate is underway in the Scottish Parliament.  Dr Peter Rice, visiting New Zealand for ALAC's Working Together Conference talked to Radio New Zealand about alcohol policy challenges.

Meanwhile, two largest supermarket chains claim to have stopped loss leading on alcohol.  Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises have previously done so to encourage customers into stores where they buy other goods. Labour MP Lianne Dalziel suggested the decision was made because the supermarkets didn't want the public to look at their practices.

At the other end of the retail scale, dairy owners are worried about the proposed ban of alcohol sales for stores smaller than 150 square metres. Retail and Mixed Business Association spokesman Neil Patel said the proposed law change would do nothing to stem the tide of alcohol-related violence. "Youth need to be educated about alcohol and disciplined."

Finally, the chief coroner calls to put warning labels on alcohol in the same way health warnings were printed on tobacco packets. Nearly 60 health and safety recommendations by the country's coroners issued over the past 20 months were put on the coroners' website.

 

Training opportunity: Fostering Youth Leadership

The New Zealand Drug Foundation and New Zealand Aotearoa Adolescent Health and Development [http://nzaahd.org.nz/] are excited to bring you these training opportunities to help sharpen your organisations skills and deepen your understanding in the areas of youth leadership in policy and advocacy.

  • Learn new and innovative approaches for youth participation
  • Identify best practice approaches to prevention in the context of other health and social issues that effect young people
  • Explore how to engage young people effectively in your work
  • Learn how to make effective use of data, evaluation and research.

The 3 workshops will be held:

  • Auckland 22-23 June
  • Wellington 25-26 June
  • Christchurch 29-30 June

Cost - $120 for NZDF or NZAAHD members or $180 for non-members. To register or for more information visit http://drugfoundation.org.nz/youth-leadership-training.

 

Happy 21st Needle Exchange!

New Zealand's Needle Exchange Programme celebrated 21 years of operation this week, and had much to celebrate as one of the world's most successful networks.

Needle Exchange national manager Charles Henderson said that because of the programme New Zealand has a lower HIV rate amongst its intravenous drug users than any other country, and that the spread of hepatitis B amongst injecting users has largely been contained.

"We've got the prevalence of HIV/AIDS down to just 0.3% and studies indicate there have been no new AIDS or hepatitis B infections within this group in recent years. This is quite remarkable considering blood-borne diseases are often rife amongst drug-using communities where needle-sharing is commonplace."

About 70 countries provide needle exchange programmes, but New Zealand was among the first to do so on a comprehensive nationwide scale. The latest Household Drug Survey indicates 2 percent of New Zealanders inject or have injected drugs, including opiates and methamphetamine, in the last 12 months. This means 85,000 people are potentially susceptible to blood-borne diseases from drug use.

Watch television news coverage of the celebration here.

 

Video of the month
Harm reduction conference closing keynote address byCraig McClure, Executive Director of the International AIDS Society

The recent Harm Reduction conference, among other things, served as a forum for expressing of the still-fresh angst and frustration at the results of previous month’s UNGASS meeting in Vienna. In March, the world set its clearly unrealistic drug policy objectives to become “drug free” in the next decade, yet again.

This video is a recording of a blistering speech by Craig McClure, who called for the control and regulation of drug production and supply, as part of a broader critique of policy and enforcement-related harms. "Fear drives the global war on drugs. Otherwise how could such clear evidence of the failure of the past ten years’ international drug policy be so blatantly denied? How could billions of dollars be wasted on a global anti-drugs programme that fuels violence, harms individuals, families and communities, strengthens organized crime and punishes sick people with prison sentences rather than providing them with the treatment, care and dignity that they need." (The website contains several other videos from the Bangkok conference.)

http://vimeo.com/4389289

 

Events

For details on these and other events, and to submit your event, visit www.drugfoundation.org.nz/events.

 

Vacancies

  • Evaluation Manager, Drug Policy Modelling Program, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
  • Medical Officer, Nelson Malborough District Health Board, Nelson

For these and other vacancies, and to submit your vacancy, visit www.drugfoundation.org.nz/jobs.

 

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