We need to talk about drugs in our community
OUR drug epidemic. She was only 16. Life was boring; living was boring.
Experimenting with drugs was only the beginning. Then it became her life.
Sadly, this story is more common these days than we realise. Our young people are being seduced into a world of drugs and crime as drugs become readily available on our streets and in our schools.
As a mother and a teacher, I have witnessed the increasing downward spiral of our young people succumbing to the drug epidemic in our community.
I have witnessed the destruction drugs can bring to families and society as our prisons and rehabilitation centres are becoming overcrowded.
In a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Commission from the Toowoomba Drug Awareness Network in 2002, representatives stated that, despite being a conservative and aesthetically beautiful city, Toowoomba has a serious drug problem. The main concern during that period was cannabis use, alcohol and chroming among our young people. That has changed dramatically over the following decade and a half.
Today, drug abuse among our young people is more serious and our community is in crisis.
An article in The Chronicle
(2014) stated the effects of a drug labelled a “life destroyer” is not only destroying lives but the community as a whole. Methamphetamine, also known as “ice” and “speed” was described by a Roma Criminal Investigation Officer in this article as the “new cannabis”, with much more devastating effects.
In recent times, there has been an upsurge on focusing on socio-economic conditions to combat our drug problem.
Boredom, anxiety and disconnection are factors that can trigger feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem which can lead to drug use.
Forums, workshops and speaking one on one to case workers, school guidance officers and family members can have a major impact on our young people’s mental health. All we have to do is listen and offer guidance.
The stigma overshadowing mental health is never going to go away.
However, it needs to be addressed and brought out into the open to say, “it’s okay to feel this way”.
If we can save one young life through listening and understanding instead of judging and condemning, we will have come a long way in developing a better community for our young people.
Governments should be at the forefront against this war on drugs. Instead of spending money on new infrastructures, our local government should be focusing on ways to prevent this crippling epidemic. Drug abuse drains our economy, our healthcare and criminal justice system and endangers the future of our young people.
It is important for our government to work with treatment providers, parents and law enforcement agencies to ensure programs are carried through instead of being dumped by the wayside due to budget cuts.
Through pooling resources and funding programs that really do work, lives can be saved.