Drug users not staying the course
DRUGGED-UP Gold Coast teens are wasting millions of taxpayers’ dollars on kickthe-habit courses they aren’t completing.
Queensland Government figures have revealed there was just a 35 per cent completion rate for the 4538 courses taken on the Gold Coast in the 2016-17 year.
And according to a network of non-government agencies that are used by the State Government to provide services, Queensland taxpayers are spending about $150 million a year into the provision of about 40,000 treatment programs in government and non-government agencies, but only about 14,000 are completed.
Queensland Health figures show that three in 10 who are enrolled in alcohol and drug treatment services on the Gold Coast are aged under 20. Of the 1327 people inrolled in 2016-17, just 601 completed the course.
“Access to drugs for (teens) is ridiculous. It is quite concerning,” Howden Saggers Lawyers senior associate Joe Wicking said. “It is just on the streets, at Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, a lot come from those areas.”
For the past three years Mr Wicking has spent most weeks in the Gold Coast Youth Justice Court.
“Kids tend to become involved in (heavy) drugs at the age of 15,” he said.
“Cannabis use usually starts at 13-14 and by 15-16 it escalates to amphetamines.”
Mr Wicking said for some children, having to appear before a court was enough to scare them away from drugs, but others – referred to as “frequent flyers” – continued to use.
Of those Gold Coast teens receiving treatment, 458 were through police and court drug diversions programs, of which just 4.4 per cent of the courses were completed.
Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies chief exeucitve officer Rebecca Lang said funding for the programs could be better spent.
“There is research that suggests that we should be cautioning those people instead of targeting them for treatment,” she said.
The drug diversion program is delivered by a Queensland Health professional who assesses, educates and counsels the drug user.
But Ms Lang said teenagers could be motivated to take drugs after being educated about the dangers of them.
“Studies have shown for kids who are experimenting and rebelling, talking about not doing drugs actually doesn’t work,” she said.
“Research has shown drug education in schools has actually, in its worst case scenarios, made them more interested in trying drugs.”
The battle to stop drug use has been expensive for taxpayers.
In 2016, there was a state investment of $43 million over five years for more alcohol and other drug treatment services to be provided by non-government agencies.
Then again in February, State Health Minister Steven Miles pledged a further $105.5 million over five years to address the use and harms caused by crystal methamphetamine.
Most of the money will go to non-government organisations that perform about 80 per cent of the treatment courses.
Southport Private Hospital clinical services director and Queensland Mental Health Tribunal member Dr Athol Webb said it was vital to stop addiction at an early age before the routines became part of a person’s identity.
“Addictions, be they alcohol or drug related, don’t just occur overnight. Generally they are years in the making,” he said. “Once you have been doing something for years, it becomes part of you, part of your life, becomes how you deal with issues.”
ACCESS TO DRUGS FOR (TEENS) IS RIDICULOUS. IT IS QUITE CONCERNING. JOE WICKING