Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Australian Alcohol Abuse: Abra Cadabra, I want to reach out and grab ya

No magic bullet? This is a chronic condition! Government's Legal Drug Alcohol is costing Australia billions: study

Warning! Warning! Will Robinson you mean if alcohol weren't the only legal social drug then people would have a choice about their chronic condition?
Perhaps we could all socialise with a cup of Tea? Not much of a leg opener?

A new Federal Government report released as part of Drug Action Week has highlighted the increasing financial burden of alcohol misuse.

Alcohol-related incidents cost the Australian taxpayer more than $7 billion in a single year.

Of that sum, $2 billion arose from loss of life, pain and suffering. The report says in 1998 alone more than 2,000 Australians died from alcohol abuse.

The other $5 billion is from tangible costs including car accidents and fires. Just over 6 per cent of Australians abuse alcohol, while 10 per cent drink at risky levels.

They consume between five and 11 drinks a day. Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia chief executive Cheryl Wilson says there is no easy answer to that.

"We need to be aware there's no magic bullet here, it is a chronic condition," she said.

By Wisdom Witch 24 June 03

THE MAGIC BULLET: But there is an answer? How not to get hooked?

Lethal: Is the substance lethal?

Balance: Do you take the same social drug all the time?

Limit: How much of that social drug do you take at one time?

Moderation: How often do you take that social drug?

It is my understanding the above magic bullet reduces chronic conditions into balanced solutions. So when is the Gov't going to raise the stakes and up the anti by giving grace to other types of social drugs that give us a choice like? Perhaps some good happy herbs or magic mushrooms or something? What about Hash cookies? Marijuana? Buda even? You know. Happy smoke for happy people? NO?

Just the mad man's broth mate. Or are we just a stunted society? Or perhaps the governments just green eyed and hooked on alcohol tax? Looks like a schooner of new mate! Eh?


Related?

Drug law blamed for hep C epidemic
THE federal Government's conservative tough-on-drugs policies have triggered an explosion in hepatitis C infections, a secret health department report has found. And the disease has become an "epidemic", with half a million Australians likely to have the debilitating virus by 2020.

MJA - BBCD Outbreaks in NSW prisons
Seems some of our friends in & around Corrections Health Service (CHS) were able to take advantage of a couple of recognised cases of needle sharing by HIV positive prisoners to gather data for a study.

Medicinal cannabis trial approved or not marijuana still remains a big hit! THE nation's first trial of cannabis for medical relief will begin in NSW by the end of the year, a move that Premier Bob Carr said yesterday would stop decent people feeling like criminals.

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Drunks propel rise in violent crimes! But who promotes drinking really?
Every day NSW police deal with more than 300 violent offences committed by people who are drunk and they say the number is rising. But they don't say because the government promotes alcohol and only alcohol.

Another lethal party drug article...
This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

Police selling drugs? Bikies selling drugs? Pharmacies prescribing drugs Of course there will be criticism when you cross that thin blue line! You have to realise how the government itself has been corrupted because of the drug scene and the money involved.

Drug rehabilitation: Threats, threats and more threats!
But a spokesperson for Citizens Against Being Forced Mr Ihave Amind Ofmyown said, "Major Watters is John Howard's adviser because he's a bully. Citizens make their own decisions about what is best for them and if you don't like that step down."

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

NSW police cracked up on antisocial behaviour
Hundreds of extra police will be on the streets of Sydney from this afternoon as part of a major blitz on crime and activities as "antisocial behaviour" says the ABC online last Fri 24 May 2002.

Alcohol pickles your brain
The only two social drugs the Government sanction are cigarettes and alcohol as legal, yet they cause the most damage." He said.