Australia, like most Western countries, has a major problem with drugs and drug use. There are many ways to tackle this problem, the main ones including Harm Minimisation, which is trying to reduce the risks involved with taking drugs, Decriminalisation, which is taking the legal association with drugs, and Zero Tolerance, which is legally punishing ALL drug offenders. Although there are many ways in which the drug issue can be handled, these three are the main ones. In Australia, we currently use Harm Minimisation to handle the problem.
Harm Minimisation, and programs such as education, safe injecting rooms, needle exchange, rehab and detox, work well to detract people, especially younger people, form using drugs. I disagree with this statement. Although education in schools helps to inform teenagers of the harms of drug use, they also talk about why users like taking drugs. In my opinion, this makes certain, but not all, teens wonder about what it would be like to take these drugs.
Trams and trolley buses pass through Kings Cross i...
Zero Tolerance (1995 film)
DSC00345 - Zero Tolerance 0560They know the harms involved, but are concentrating on what the users feel when they use, not of the consequences of using. When people have the opportunity of taking drugs, they are not thinking about what they learnt in school. Many of the other programs, such as safe injecting rooms and needle exchange, concentrate more on safe use of drugs, than the harms involved in them. Detox leads addicts of illicit drugs, to other substances, but this program does nothing about the addiction itself. Rehabilitation programs, in my opinion, are not harsh enough for users, and are more of a temporary inconvenience than a solution. My view of Harm Minimisation is that it only reduces crime and such acts, but does not bring to an end the problem as it should.
Decriminalisation, where you prescribe...