Category Archives: General debate

Is there a link between IQ and drug use?

According to the latest findings of the 1970 British Cohort Study, yes.

When intelligence was factored in, the analysis showed that men with high IQ scores at the age of 5 were around 50% more likely to have used amphetamines, ecstasy, and several illicit drugs than those with low scores, 25 years later.
The link was even stronger among women, who were more than twice as likely to have used cannabis and cocaine as those with low IQ scores.
The same associations emerged between a high IQ score at the age of 10 and subsequent use of cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, multiple drug use and cocaine, although this last association was only evident at the age of 30.

Cannabis smartphone app: do you want one?

If you do or don’t, give your feedback via this survey:

The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre is conducting a social marketing survey to find out if cannabis users would use free Smartphone applications that provide personalised feedback and/or help them reduce their use. NCPIC wants to know about both interest and disinterest in Smartphone applications. To complete the survey, please follow this link: http://www.surveys.unsw.edu.au/survey/155776/f71e/

Kronic ban: an open letter

An open letter from Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Jerome Gelb, on recent comments made by Prof. Steve Allsop on the decision by the WA Government to ban synthetic cannabinoid Kronic:

Dear Professor Allsop,

I was disappointed to read your reported comments regarding the knee-jerk reaction of the W.A. Government to the emergence of synthetic cannabinoids, by almost immediate prohibition. I am disturbed by your failure to state emphatically that banning drugs of concern is both dangerous & futile.

In the absence of any evidence that the prohibition of illicit drugs has had anything other than a devastatingly opposite impact on the demand, supply & use of illicit substances than the outcome desired by its instigators, scientists in positions of influence, must remain true to scientific principles & inform both the public & the Government of the facts regarding the utter failure of current drug policies, often labelled as the “War on Drugs”.

The criminalisation of illicit drug use has resulted in the creation of a ruthless black market comprised of numerous, rival organised criminal enterprises that are now wealthy enough to pose a real threat to legitimate governments, both in terms of their unlimited ability to corrupt officials and their ever increasing resources to purchase arms & to equip their members with weapons more modern & lethal than those available to many nations.

Psychoactive substances have been used by humans throughout recorded history & all instances of prohibition as a means of minimising associated harms have been unmitigated disasters.

If you have been keeping abreast of current developments in this issue, you will have read of the Global Commission on Drugs recent meeting and report, the report by LEAP – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (14,000 Police members), the NYT unprecedented op-ed piece last week by Fmr President Jimmy Carter, the support of decriminalisation, regulation, rehabilitation & education by Richard Branson & George Soros, the statement by former Supreme Court Justice Ken Crispin, the op-ed piece by Fmr NSW DPP Nick Cowdery, the patronage of Australian LEAP by Robert Richter QC and the numerous experts in the AOD field who are frustrated & enraged by the terrible damage accruing to prohibition policies.

You need to seriously consider your stance on this issue & review the evidence in its entirety. If you do, you will cease encouraging bans on drugs & join with the growing, rational, concerned, evidence based side of this crucial health debate, which for far too long has been used as a political football by self-serving politicians.

I implore you to read the above-mentioned reports, to look up the recent Vienna Declaration on Drugs & to engage with those of us who work at the coalface with the addicted, whose illness has been punished by prosecution, incarceration & traumatisation, instead of receiving timely & accessible treatment & psychosocial rehabilitation – all completely unavailable, underfunded & overcrowded due to the massive resources being wasted on interdiction & punishment.

Over to you: which stance do you agree with?

Jobs: Senior Research Officer – NSW

SENIOR RESEARCH OFFICER POSITION VACANT

NSW BUREAU OF CRIME STATISTICS AND RESEARCH (Sydney)

Salary range: $83,832 – $91,580

Total remuneration package valued up to: $101,059

Full-time temporary – until 31 December 2012
The Senior Research Officer will be responsible for conducted a multifaceted evaluation of Youth Justice Conferencing. The evaluation will focus on its cost-effectiveness, levels of satisfaction with Conferencing process, its impact on Aboriginal imprisonment and its impact on the efficiency of the justice system.

Selection criteria
Tertiary qualifications in social or behavioural sciences, with an honours degree or higher
Ability to write research reports to a standard suitable for publication
Previous experience interviewing research participants and/or conducting focus groups
Previous experience developing structured and/or semi-structured questionnaires, and collecting data using survey methodology
Demonstrated understanding of multivariate statistical analyses and familiarity with statistical software packages (e.g. SPSS, SAS, Stata)
Ability to plan and organise work to meet tight deadlines for concurrent projects
Good oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience

Applications close 8 July 2011

Applicants must obtain an information package and address all criteria in the advertisement.
Applications should be lodged electronically via www.jobs.nsw.gov.au

Information Packages:
Tiziana Trovato: tiziana_trovato@agd.nsw.gov.au (02) 92319190

Enquiries:
Craig Jones: craig_jones@agd.nsw.gov.au (02) 9231 9176

Political donations from Tobacco: ADCA takes aim

Press release from ADCA:

ADCA Targets Political Donations from Tobacco/ Alcohol Industries.- The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) believes the Opposition’s “political about turn” on tobacco plain packaging is a step in the right direction to enhance the health and wellbeing of all Australians.

“But the next step must now be to focus on the banning of all political donations from both the tobacco and alcohol industries,” the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ADCA, Mr David Templeman, said today.

“The bipartisan approach that will see the passing of the plain packaging legislation needs to be reinforced by a similar approach to break the funding links between all elements of government and multinational/ national organisations.”

Mr Templeman said that all political parties should be free to make independent and rational decisions regarding the health of the nation and not be influenced by a “cheque in the post”.
“We can’t lose sight that tobacco and alcohol combined are responsible for some 22 000 deaths a year, with a reported annual economic impact of $31.48 billion for tobacco, and in excess of $36 billion for alcohol,” Mr Templeman said.

“Plain packaging is certainly a win for public health and the upcoming debate on the legislation in Federal Parliament should be short and swift and not drawn out. This is a chance to take that next step and legislate to put a stop to political donations.”

Mr Templeman said that today’s reported moves by some Federal Opposition Backbenchers to further encourage the Opposition to not accept donations from tobacco companies were welcomed and strongly supported.

“We already have the initiative by the Australian Greens to amend electoral laws to ban donations by tobacco companies which could be extended to also eliminate donations from the alcohol industry,” Mr Templeman said.

Alcohol Industry-funded campaign is a ‘public relations stunt’

N

AAA Media Release (30 May 2011): Alcohol Industry-funded campaign is a ‘public relations stunt’.- Leading health and related organisations are calling for the drinks industry’s Drinkwise organisation and the Sporting Hall of Fame to support the phasing out of televised sports sponsorship by the alcohol industry.

In Melbourne today (30 May), Drinkwise and the Sporting Hall of Fame are announcing a new component of a program entitled “Under Your Influence”, which they claim is about “developing a safer and healthier drinking culture that picks up on the crucial role parents and other influential adults play as role models”.

The National Alliance for Action on Alcohol (NAAA) has slammed this as a “meaningless public relations stunt” as the alcohol industry established and funds Drinkwise which has six senior drinks industry representatives on its Board.

“How can anyone take seriously Drinkwise claims to be concerned about drinking and young people when the alcohol industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars exposing children and young people to alcohol promotion,” NAAA Executive Spokesperson, Mr David Templeman said today.

“The industry itself is investing massively in associating drinking and drinking cultures with children’s sporting heroes and the function in Melbourne in the NAAA’s opinion is just another Drinkwise public relations campaign.”

Mr Templeman said that Drinkwise still remarkably claimed to be “independent” despite its alcohol industry funding and links, and today’s announcement will do nothing to counter the impact on young people of televised alcohol sponsorship.

“Alcohol sponsorship is out of control, with no regulation or constraints,” Mr Templeman said. “Key health authorities have recommended that children and young people should not be exposed to this form of alcohol promotion.

“Drinkwise will continue to have no credibility until it supports measures that work, even if that means offending its drinks industry funders.”

Mr Templeman said that Drinkwise and the Sporting Hall of Fame should show that their concern about alcohol and young people is genuine by making a clear public statement urging the alcohol industry to stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars promoting a drinking culture, and associating children’s role models with alcohol.

“The NAAA believes that anything short of this makes events like today’s launch look like a meaningless public relations exercise,” Mr Templeman said.

Sydney’s injecting room: Bob Carr’s thoughts

If you didn’t know, former NSW Premier Bob Carr has his own blog and he’s just put up a post on the King’s Cross based Medically Supervised Injecting Centre. It’s an interesting read though I’d have loved to have seen more written on what must have been a vigorous internal party debate. Have a read in full for yourself, but here’s the paragraph that stood out for me:

All this has happened, as we confirmed at a gathering of 400 supporters of the centre who gathered in Sydney last night. An estimated 90 lives have been saved and Kings Cross improved. Not the Sisters of Charity but the Kirketon Centre ended up running the centre and with their professionalism answered all the critics, or almost all.

I doubt the criticism will stop but is the general consensus that progress is being made in changing attitudes?

The Vienna Declaration – sign the petition

Worth a read:

For almost a year we have been working with people around the world strengthening the global movement for drug policy based on science, not ideology.

*Today over 20,000 people have endorsed the Vienna Declaration.*

We have been amazed by the support and enthusiasm of people like you from all around the globe. To capture that energy, we asked some of our most outspoken supporters for their thoughts on the Declaration’s call for evidence-based drug policy reform.

*Click here to hear what they have to say.* [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceInDrugPolicy#p/u/5/bZ3_Oqy3zK0 ]

Some stories are inspiring and others remind us of the very real obstacles facing drug policy reform. Taken together, these six videos [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceInDrugPolicy#p/u/5/bZ3_Oqy3zK0 ] remind us why “everyone” must join together and commit to overcoming these challenges.

*We are halfway to AIDS 2012. Share these videos and help us make an impact.*

The biennial International AIDS Conferences are the largest HIV/AIDS-related gatherings in the world. Next year the AIDS 2012 conference is being held in Washington DC – the birthplace of the ‘War on Drugs’. Join us in sharing these videos [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceInDrugPolicy#p/u/5/bZ3_Oqy3zK0 ] with friends and networks as we begin building towards to this major event.

Using email, Facebook, and Twitter to promote our shared commitment to evidence-based drug policies, we will continue to make our voices heard and help drug policy reform become a reality.

Thank you for your endorsement and your continued support. We look forward to working with you over the next year as we build towards AIDS 2012.

All the best,

The Vienna Declaration Team
www.viennadeclaration.com

[ http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vienna-Declaration/108611532515232?ref=ts ] [ http://www.twitter.com/vdecl ]

NHMRC Funding cuts: the perspective of those affected

It’s hard not to agree with the perspective of the Public Health Association of Australia‘s on the Government’s rumoured spending cutbacks for research:

150 professors to fight possible NHMRC funding cuts

The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) and the Council of Academic Public Health Institutes of Australia (CAPHIA) have written to the Prime Minister and colleagues to express concern about possible funding cuts to National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) research. The letter from the two leading public health organisations has also been signed by over 150 Professors of Public Health from around the country, who say the proposed cuts come at a time of unprecedented reform including in the primary health care and preventive sector.

“A previous Federal budget saw the abolition of the Public Health Education and Research Program (PHERP) with a major impact on a range of public health programs. Every University has been impacted by the loss of PHERP funding which in turn affects capacity building in the public health workforce. Now, proposed cuts to the NHMRC research funds will have further impact on public health research,” explained Professor Helen Keleher, PHAA President.

“Public health research has struggled to gain funding within NHMRC to a level anywhere near on par with its policy relevance and population impact. It remains especially vulnerable to disproportionate reductions if budget cuts are instituted. Public health research tends to produce long term rather than short term outcomes and is therefore more vulnerable to cutbacks than other forms of research. However, it is also true that many of the great advances in improved health outcomes have come through public health. If we are to improve population health and address health inequities, we must invest in public health research to inform programs and policy,” said Professor Keleher.

“Public health successes in environmental health, communicable disease control, injury prevention and health advancement account for much of the improvement in health and life expectancy over the last 50 years. While more research is still being conducted on these issues, public health is also involved in improving nutrition and physical fitness to deal with the obesity epidemic, as well as alcohol, illicit drugs and gambling policy to reduce harm associated with these activities. These are complex issues in which evidence gaps exist and further research is required to effectively support programs,” said Professor Bennett.

“Public health research informs the development of programs and policies and evaluates their effectiveness. It investigates the social and environmental determinants of health to ensure targeting of programs to get the best outcomes for the least cost. We know that prevention is better than cure, and prevention reduces the burden of illness and disability in our society. Undertaking research into prevention of ill health and promoting good health is a cost effective intervention which saves lives.

“We are urging the Government to reconsider any possible cuts to the NHMRC budget that will surely impact heavily on public health research,” said Professor Bennett.

A full copy of the letter sent by PHAA and CAPHIA to the Prime Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Education and Minister for Health is available on the PHAA website at: www.phaa.net.au .

Jobs: Alcohol and Other Drugs Counsellor – Moreland Hall

Alcohol and Other Drugs Counsellor

· Port Phillip Prison
· Full Time 6 month Fixed Term maternity leave contract
· Generous salary packaging benefits

Moreland Hall is a leading alcohol and other drugs (AOD) agency with 40 years experience in the not for profit sector in Victoria.

We currently have a six month maternity leave vacancy in the Port Phillip Prison team to deliver AOD counselling and education to prisoners.

As an AOD Counsellor you will ensure the delivery of the Moreland Hall program within the prison environment. You will be responsible for providing counselling, psycho-educational group programs, and will work closely with prison officers.

To be successful in the role you will have relevant tertiary qualifications in Social Work, Psychology, Nursing, or Allied Health Sciences, have 4 key competencies in AOD, qualifications in dual diagnosis or willingness to undertake, a current Victorian drivers license, and experience working in the AOD sector.

Applications should include a CV, cover letter and statement addressing the key selection criteria as outlined in the position description and forwarded to creid@morelandhall.org by 4pm Wednesday 6 April 2011.

A copy of the position description can be downloaded via http://www.morelandhall.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=263:alcohol-and-other-drugs-counsellor&catid=50:current-employment-opportunities&Itemid=68

For further information please contact Rob Testro on 9217 7222.