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‘Drug checking’, just like pill testing, is premised on the demonstrably incorrect inference that most drug-related deaths are tied to either unknown purity of drugs bought from criminals, or deadly contaminants or other toxic drugs mixed in with such purchased drugs.
For decades now, the same parties now requesting substantial government funding for ‘drug checking’ have been pushing the same spurious misinformation.
Here are the direct words from ANCD Research Paper 1 – ‘Heroin Overdose’ coming from the Prime Minister’s own Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) in the year 2000. This paper was produced in the midst of Australia’s highest rates of opioid overdose.
On page xiii, under the heading ‘Purity’ the NDARC researchers assert,
“If overdose were a simple function of purity one would expect the blood morphine concentrations of fatal overdose victims to be significantly higher than living intoxicated heroin users. As described above, it has been found that many individuals who die of an opioid overdose have blood morphine concentrations at autopsy which are below the commonly accepted toxic dose. Studies that have investigated the relationship between the purity of street heroin seizures and fatality from overdose report a weak correlation, or no correlation, between heroin purity and fatality from overdose.”
Then on page xiv, under ‘Contaminants’ it reports,
“In general, studies outside the eastern United States do not report the detection of impurities in seized heroin. Adulterants found in Australian heroin samples are largely pharmacologically inactive dilutants (used to add bulk) or caffeine (believed to increase the bioavailability of heroin when smoked).”
We were speciously told for decades that it was the criminal sourcing of these drugs that led to so many deaths, even as equal numbers of opiate users were dying from pharmacologically pure Oxycodone and the like. But ‘drug checking’ is spinning the same narrative.
Drug Free Australia does not deny that criminal-manufactured pills with high potency opioids masquerading as lower potency opioids will cause some unexpected fatalities, but much more evidence is needed to show that these are anything but the tiny minority of fatalities.
Balanced against this are the massive number of opiate deaths caused by the harm reductionist messaging which teaches the ‘safe use of illicit drugs’, of which drug checking is seminally a part. This messaging quadrupled opiate deaths between 1984 (below 250 for 15-44 year olds) and 1,116 for 15-54 year olds in 1999. The prevention and rehabilitation priorities of Tough on Drugs made opiate deaths plummet by 67% (or a massive 750 opiate deaths per year), where they stayed for 7 years until a new Federal Government scrapped them. In the decade following, with the ‘safe use of drugs’ message again prioritised, opiate deaths skyrocketed 260% with other contributing polydrug-use illicit drug deaths increasing 210-590%. Harm Reduction’s ‘safe use of drugs’ ideology has very demonstrably added many, many thousands of opiate deaths to Australian mortality tolls and heavily weights any set of balances against a few lives saved by ‘drug checking’. Drug Free Australia has no problem with law enforcement continuing to publicise contaminants or adulterants in seized drugs, maintaining the message that drug use is not acceptable, rather than allowing drug-normalisating NGOs to take that role.
In case you missed our documents supporting the above paragraph last time we sent them, here they are once again for your information and edification.
Gary Christian
PRESIDENT
Drug Free Australia
0422 163 141
NSW Drug Summit 4 DFA handouts
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Firstly, no credible individual on the planet concedes that recovery is better than prevention – However, prevention is always – always better than cure.
Three major demographics that must not only be considered but given highest priority in all drug policy and drug policy interpretations.
This better status of prevention is so because it considers and prioritises the following,
1. Citizens – Communities and their families
2. Children
3. Recovered and Recovering Alumni
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Here's a sobering thought: While your average recreational substance user is busy defending their "harmless fun," approximately 8.7 million children in the United States alone are living in households where at least one parent struggles with substance use disorder. That's right – one in eight children under 17 are watching their childhood disappear into the bottom of someone else's bottle or going up in someone else's smoke. Let's cut through the haze and look at what the research actually tells us about this "recreational" activity's impact on the next generation.
For complete investigative article
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Commercial interests are increasingly recognised as significant contributors to drug use and addiction. These interests are part of the broader social determinants that influence health behaviours and outcomes. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies these determinants as the conditions in which people live and work, which are heavily influenced by commercial forces. This article delves into how industries such as alcohol, tobacco, and ultra-processed foods impact public health, the statistics reflecting their toll, and the need for policy interventions to mitigate these effects.
The Impact of Key Industries
The alcohol, tobacco, and ultra-processed food industries are major contributors to global health issues. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excessive alcohol consumption results in over 178,000 deaths annually in the United States. Tobacco use is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths each year. Additionally, unhealthy diets rich in ultra-processed foods lead to approximately 678,000 deaths annually from nutrition- and obesity-related diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Collectively, these industries significantly impact mortality rates, contributing to the 3.27 million deaths recorded annually in the U.S.
Economic Costs and Marketing Strategies
The economic burden imposed by these industries is staggering, with tobacco alone costing over $300 billion annually. These costs are often transferred to other sectors such as healthcare. The profitability of these industries is driven by products that exploit the brain’s reward system, encouraging compulsive consumption and addiction. This is evident in the marketing strategies employed, which are designed to enhance the appeal of products by stimulating reward-seeking behaviours.
Emergence of New Addictive Products
The landscape of addictive products is evolving with the rise of vaping and cannabis industries. Vaping, particularly nicotine vaping, has surged in popularity, raising concerns about its health impacts, especially among teenagers and young adults. While vaping is marketed as a less harmful alternative to smoking, it poses risks such as increased tobacco initiation and addiction. The cannabis industry also capitalises on consumer interests, marketing products in appealing ways that attract younger demographics and suggest therapeutic benefits to older populations.
The Overdose Crisis and Pharmaceutical Influence
The opioid crisis exemplifies the detrimental role of commercial interests in public health. Pharmaceutical companies have historically marketed opioid analgesics aggressively, contributing to widespread addiction and misuse. As regulations on legal opioids tightened, illicit markets flourished, introducing more potent substances like fentanyl. The involvement of sophisticated drug cartels has further exacerbated the crisis, which claims 108,000 lives annually in the U.S.
Technology and Behavioral Addictions
The tech sector also plays a role in fostering addiction-like behaviours. Social media platforms are designed to be used compulsively, mirroring the addictive strategies of traditional industries. Studies link social media use to increased substance use and mental health issues among adolescents. Online gambling is another area of concern, with its continuous play features posing significant addiction risks compared to traditional gambling.
Policy Interventions and Research Needs
Addressing the influence of commercial interests requires robust policy interventions. Lessons from tobacco and alcohol regulation, such as advertising restrictions and taxation, can inform strategies for new addictive products. For instance, smoke-free laws and higher tobacco taxes have effectively reduced smoking rates. Similar approaches could be applied to vaping, cannabis, and online gambling to mitigate their health impacts.
Research is essential to understand the full extent of commercial influence and to develop evidence-based interventions. This includes examining the potential benefits and harms of emerging products and crafting policies that prioritise public health over economic interests.
(Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
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(What role does substance use in the home play in producing, intensifying or facilitating these harms? What ripple effect does it have intergenerationally on both development and potential future substance use by these innocent victims of substance using adults? Dalgarno Institute)
A study of adults from the US Midwest who experienced childhood maltreatment found that those with objective records of maltreatment tended to show pervasive cognitive deficits compared to individuals without such records. These cognitive deficits were not observed in individuals who self-reported childhood maltreatment but lacked objective documentation. The research was published in The Lancet Psychiatry.
Childhood maltreatment refers to abuse or neglect experienced by a child, typically at the hands of a caregiver, parent, or other authority figure. It can take many forms, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect.
Physical abuse involves causing bodily harm or injury to the child, while emotional abuse includes behaviors such as constant criticism, humiliation, or manipulation that harm the child’s psychological well-being. Sexual abuse refers to any sexual activity with a child, often involving exploitation or coercion. Neglect, on the other hand, occurs when a child’s basic needs—such as food, shelter, healthcare, and emotional support—are not adequately met.
Childhood maltreatment can have long-term consequences, affecting a child’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Survivors of childhood maltreatment are at higher risk of developing mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and difficulties forming healthy relationships
The findings suggest that using only retrospective self-reports may obscure the significant cognitive impairments that are more prevalent in those with documented histories of childhood neglect, potentially leading to an underestimation of the long-term cognitive and functional challenges these individuals face.
“While there are some important exceptions, most research in this area has relied on retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment from adult participants,” Danese said in a news release. “Our study has shown that this reliance on retrospective reports has likely resulted in researchers and clinicians underestimating the extent to which individuals with documented cases of maltreatment, and particularly neglect, are experiencing cognitive deficits.”
“Our study highlights the importance of identifying young people who have experienced neglect so that the proper support can be put in place, for example, to mitigate the negative consequences in education and employment.” (For more go to PsyPost)
Also see
- Child Abuse – Girls a Particular Target. (The AOD Factor?)
- Parents who regularly take three or more drinks a day may be abusing children
- Children Living with 'Toxic Trio' Issues More Likely to be Victims of Crime
- AOD Use & Sexual Assault – the Evidence
- AOD Use and the Kincare Crisis
- 'Ice corridors' mean one-third of Queensland children in protection have parent using meth
- Child protection Australia 2022–23: How Does AOD Impact this Crisis?