Pubdate: Mon, 28 Nov 2005
Source: Courier-Mail, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Queensland Newspapers
Contact: http://thecouriermail.com.au/extras/forms/letter.htm
Website: http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/98
Author: Jeff Sommerfeld
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

'RAMPANT' DRUG USE EXPOSED IN UNDER 25s

ALMOST half of all Australians aged under 25 have used illicit drugs
and view their use as acceptable, a new survey shows.

Although possession or use of most illicit drugs could result in a
jail sentence, research shows more than six million people of all ages
were undeterred.

Almost half of them took illicit drugs other than marijuana and 2.5
million in total had used illicit drugs of some kind in the past year.

One in three Australians have tried marijuana at least
once.

The most common reason given for taking drugs was curiosity, according
to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey.

Australia has one of the highest rates of illegal substance abuse in
the world according to University of Queensland alcohol and drug
research and education centre director Professor Jake Najman. He said
that, despite the publicity given to recent arrests of Australians
overseas, those cases accounted for a "minuscule" percentage of the
people involved in the drug chain.

Four recent high-profile cases have highlighted the issue. In Bali,
Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby is serving 15 years for importing
marijuana to Bali, Adelaide model Michelle Leslie was released after
admitting to possessing ecstasy and nine young Brisbane and Sydney
residents face deaths over trafficking heroin.

In Singapore, Melbourne Tuong Van Nguyen will be executed on Friday
for heroin trafficking.

"For every Schapelle or Michelle arrested, there are millions of
Australians engaging in the same behaviour in Australia," Professor
Najman said.

"The perception amongst many young people is that trying illicit drugs
is part of the normal process of growing up - and an acceptable part
of the process of growing up. You would say there is no way other than
viewing that as normal behaviour and difficult to view as abnormal
behaviour."

The shocking statistics came as Queensland State Cabinet was due today
to consider whether to introduce roadside drug testing to crack down
on the explosion in drug-impaired driving.

The plan could be based on a model trialled in Victoria, after a
horror spate of fatal road crashes.

The National Drug Strategy report not only found huge numbers of
Australians used drugs, they also reported it was easy to get them
despite police efforts.

Professor Najman said the evidence showed the vast majority of people
bought drugs through friendship networks.

"The distinction between users and sellers is arbitrary in these
networks. Users can become sellers, sellers become users," he said.

"The notion that you have a small group of people out there selling to
a large number who are dependent is fanciful."

Professor Najman said drugs were now perceived by some people in the
same way as alcohol and used just as frequently.

"It is clear a large proportion of the community see very little wrong
with using illicit drugs and that is a reality," he said.

"We don't know what proportion of those people become dependent, but
we do know that vast majority of those using illicit drugs don't
become dependent.

"They are using them in a recreational manner in much the same way as
people use alcohol."
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath