Some responses / Royal Commission into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, South Australia.

  • South Australia. Royal Commission into the Non-medical Use of Drugs.
Date:
[1978]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Some responses / Royal Commission into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, South Australia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    by far the largest number in this group are alcoholics, who are using a socially approved drug that falls outside our terms of reference. Various administrators in different parts of Australia who deal with both alcohol and other drug dependencies have explained that the social effects of alcohol, measured in various ways (number of persons, social and administrative costs, etc.) are from five times to twenty times greater than the effects of other drug dependencies. We think it is of considerable importance to determine fairly precisely the level in the community of the actual use of any drug such as cannabis whose approval status is perhaps in an uncertain stage of social transition. Such information can help a changing society which has a problem of “retreating from an entrenched moral position” (as a Christian very experienced in drug problems expressed it to us). Putting it another way, most people do not use a substance their culture prohibits; users of such a substance represent a threat to the consensus of that culture; but if the number of users is so great as to constitute a real threat to the consensus, the culture may have to change to accommodate the use of the substance, rather than risk the threatened break. In any event, information of this nature is important if we are to answer our terms of reference, and accordingly we have undertaken a detailed empirical study of the extent of drug use in South Australia, which covers a range of drugs, both legal and illegal. The results are not yet available. Generally, the evidence we have so far indicates that heavy use of drugs in Australia, measured by the harm to the individual users themselves and to the community as a whole, involves these categories: e Heavy use of alcohol, which is characteristic of the Australian community, and which, as the submissions make clear, is accepted by many groups as normal behaviour. Consequently, even very heavy alcohol use may not be regarded as reprehensible or deviant behaviour by most people, regardless of the devasting effects it may have on individuals and the community. e Heavy use of tobacco among adults, which although it is now less acceptable in some quarters than it was, is still tolerated to a great extent. It is also currently tolerated among the young. e Heavy use of analgesics, which is common particularly among middle- aged women, although the proportion of users suffering analgesic-induced kidney damage is not necessarily high. e Heavy use of sedatives and minor tranquillisers among middle-aged women, elderly men and women, and among small numbers of young people who may be taking other drugs as well. Such use is related to medical prescribing patterns and although still accepted, is a matter of increasing concern within the community but not necessarily of outright disapproval. e Heavy use of opiates among small numbers of people in their late teens to early 20s, and a larger group using opiates experimentally. Estimates of just how many in either of the groups vary enormously. The discrepancy