Australian Indigenous Substance Abuse - Essay Example

www.allwriting.net Sumanta Sanyal Dated: Australian Indigenous Substance Abuse Introduction The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) defines substance abuse as – It “is the use of tobacco, alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs in a way that causes harm to the user or others” (AASW, Undated). This paper seeks to investigate the effectiveness of ‘harm minimisation’ policies adopted by the Australian Government to mitigate the effects of and minimize substance abuse among indigenous people. Special emphasis will be placed on the following aspects of harm minimisation. I) The underlying philosophy of the policy and its successful applicative techniques, II) the policy in the context of indigenous Australian people, and III) an analysis of the applications to Australian indigenous people and its subsequent utility and success. Before proceeding onto these above the paper shall first look into some other aspects of substance abuse among indigenous people in Australia. The AASW finds that, importantly and factually, people from ‘the lowest social stratum’ are most represented among substances abusers in Australia (AASW, Undated). Philip Mendes of the Australian Drug Foundation notes in an unpublished paper that most socially conscious persons believe that people with adequate standard of living and positive social and personal relationships are less likely to use substances inappropriately (AASW, Undated). In conclusion of these facets the ‘Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia’ Drug Policy of 2000 adopted the strategy of addressing maximum attention to the problems and needs of individuals and communities in seeking to treat substance abuse. The policy stated that it not only addressed the problem of substance abuse directly but also, in attendance, addressed the problems of isolation, homelessness, unemployment, health (including mental health) and relationships. This is believed to be the most comprehensive strategy available to authorities and well-wishers to ameliorate and minimize substance abuse among all. Harm Minimization Harm minimization is basically a philosophy that seeks to reduce risks to both the abusive individual and the community at large. It is one that is essentially focused on the harms that particular drugs cause accepting that drug use is prevalent to any extent in most communities today. It does not in any way condone or encourage drug use but pragmatically seeks to ameliorate ill-effects that are there anyway (Harminise, 2002). It does not make value judgments of abusers. Instead it seeks to protect such persons both physically and psychologically (Harminise, 2002). Advocates intend that the principal goal of the philosophy is complete abstinence but in the absence of such an idyll it follows the next best path of harm reduction so that, at least, individuals can be encouraged to minimize usage, if possible, to total abstinence and, if not, to indulge at minimum harm. Advocates also posit that proponents of total drug control with only punitive strategies are unrealistically idealistic who, to effect, presume that such strategies will end abuse. This is not so in modern communities, including those in Australia, and, subsequently, harm minimization strategists posit that such punitive measures, in isolation to minimization and reduction ones, have no back-up systems that can ameliorate the ill-effects that affect those that keep on indulging. Another point that such proponents of harm minimization strategies make in context of ‘zero tolerance’ punitive measures to control drug abuse is that those individuals like young adults at school who are convicted of such abuses, including with jail sentences, are earmarked as criminal offenders. This may interrupt their education and create untold problems for them later on in life (Harminise, 2002). In conclusion to this section it is observed that the Australian National Drug Strategy, 2004-2009, incorporates the following as harm minimization strategy – supply reduction – strategies to disrupt the production and supply of illicit drugs, and the control and regulation of licit ones; demand reduction – strategies to prevent initiation to drug use, including abstinence-oriented ones, and treatment to reduce drug use; and harm reduction – strategies to reduce drug-related harm to individuals and communities. (Adapted: National Drug Strategy, 2004) Harm Minimization and Indigenous Communities An ‘Australian Institute of Criminology’, 2005, study conducted by Judy Putt, Jason Payne and Lee Milner indicated that indigenous youths had greater exposure to the criminal justice system than non-indigenous ones and this was at an younger age. It also found that while urban indigenous male offenders had similar experiences to non-indigenous ones with illicit drugs that scenario was bleaker with alcohol. The study found that indigenous adult male offenders were more likely to commit crimes under the influence of alcohol than any other substance (AIC, 2005). Maggie Brady, a well-known scholar of aboriginal communities (Brady prefers to call them aborigines), who notes that it is not the number of aboriginal persons who drink but the drinking habits of those that drink, corroborates this above fact. These miscreants drink grog (alcohol) as, they maintain, a part of their cultural identity. They draw on aboriginal history to drink grog on extended binges that are notorious for their violence and unruliness (Brady, M, 2002). Even those that are not inclined are coerced to participate and made to contribute financially (Brady, M, Undated). This is the problem as identified by local experts. The government tends to adopt a more comprehensive policy that seeks to involve these communities in it and that also seeks to integrate all agencies, both private and public, that can help with the problem. The ‘National Drug Strategy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Complementary Action Plan 2003-2006’ identifies the following action areas within its scope. The Plan document notes that these have been earmarked with due consultation with the concerned indigenous communities and with their approval. The plan proposes to build communal capacity to address current and future issues related to use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. The plan proposes activity to integrate government and community efforts to implement the key action areas. The plan proposes to improve access to the appropriate range of health and well-being services that play a role in alcohol, tobacco and other dugs issues. The plan proposes to recognize a holistic approach that encompasses the whole gamut of strategies dealing from prevention to treatment and continuing care at locally available and accessible levels. (Adapted: National Drug Strategy, 2004) It is noted that other indigenous communities all over Australia have been similarly covered by this harm minimization associated strategy to control and prevent substance abuse. Indigenous Success According to ATSIC, the Australian indigenous population is expected to reach half a million by 2006. Of this 50% aged 15 and above shall be unemployed and more than 5000 will be in prison. This implies that over 250,000 people shall be disillusioned and bored and prone to substance misuse, the prime type of disillusion dispelling tool of our modern era (Flood, Sean, 2001). Though this observation by Flood predates Australian authorities’ attempts to involve indigenous communities in their own welfare schemes there is another observation that Flood makes that is singular in its approach to substance abuse by these communities. He proposes that the rich cultural heritage of these communities evident in their artwork, songs, dances and other modes of expression can be utilized not only to promote their own economic well-being but also to get messages across for harm minimization of substance abuse (Flood, Sean, 2001). Flood also observes that tourism in the country had benefited immensely from indigenous cultural displays and the economic benefits could be shared with these communities in the form of better and focused health and related care systems, including harm minimization ones (Flood, Sean, 2001). This seems to be incorporated within the present government strategy. Brady (2002) notes that the low socio-economic status of the aborigines is because of the dispassion of their lands and subsequent loss of economic means. She opines that welfare, passive or otherwise, will not help much as these people cannot be indefinitely sustained ‘on the dole’ to good effect. Here the novel proposal of Flood (2001). The unique traditional songs, dances and other forms of expression can allow these people to sustain themselves in future. This should also be seen in the light of what Pearson (2003/2004) has to say on welfare. Pearson, an indigenous proponent, has an even novel approach to his peoples’ problems, including substance abuse. He apparently opposes harm minimization strategies on the grounds that they intend to specifically address indigenous problems. Instead, he proposes that welfare should be passive in the sense that they should rest on robust communities that can themselves uphold their own welfare. He believes that if the ill effect of socio-economic disadvantages is accepted as substance abuse it only worsens the problem. He emphatically states that when an indigenous person takes to substance abuse he or she is no longer a victim of history but of his or her own choice (Pearson, 2003/2004). The initial strategy, thus, should be not attempts at socio-economic upliftment but re-generation of the inherent self-respect and self-esteem that these communities have. The rest may follow subsequently (Pearson, 2003/2004). Brady (2002) corroborates with this and believes that there should be a concerted effort by aboriginal communities towards collective self-esteem. Discouraging excessive drinking and subsequent anti-social behavior can best achieve this. Both Pearson and Flood cite examples of how communities undertook successful anti-grog campaigns. Thus, in effect, these experts admire the communities’ own initiatives in limiting access to even licit substances prone to abuse. They believe that this personal initiative itself is the life-giver that can ultimately re-generate these communities into physically, psychologically, socially and economically healthy ones that can withstand trials of time. Conclusion The paper concludes on a round mix. It finds that the AASW’s observations that socio-economic disadvantages increase proneness to substance abuse are true. It also finds that the Australian governments drug policy is based on harm minimization and is also a stand-alone one that promotes health for health’s sake. This somewhat safeguards Pearson’s, Brady’s and Flood’s views. It also finds that Flood’s and Pearson’s beliefs that the indigenous communities should be encouraged to promote well-being at their own initiatives using their own rich cultural heritage is the most important one the paper has found as a means to mitigation and total control of substance abuse. Brady’s observation is that the freedom to exist a lack-luster life must be denied the average aborigine and he or she should be taught to contribute positively to their communities. This paper thus reiterates that accepting their own historical richness, their highly elaborative cultural expressive modes and cultural identities, can reverse the history of inflicted disadvantages of these indigenous people. Through this, with assisted overall welfare, these peoples can sustain their cultural identity socially and economically towards a sustainable healthy future. Pearson, Brady and Flood have diversely expressed this same viewpoint. Their individual manners of expressions may be variant but, essentially, the sense is the same. This paper also finds that the Australian government has taken steps in the right direction in this. It has ensured that aboriginal communities have easy access to the healthcare system necessary not only to combat substance abuse but also general health. It has ensured that the approach is integrated and it has thus made the communities partners in their own future. Its manner of encouraging self-correction allows the aborigines to become owners (Flood, 2001) of their problem and, thus, largely free to develop their own system to combat it. On an overall basis this paper finds that the means to combat aboriginal substance abuse have been earmarked. All that is needed now is a will to do so to the exclusion of all other aboriginal problems so that these unique people of the southern hemisphere are allowed out of their 21st century predicament towards the healthy sustainable future that Brady, Flood and Pearson have envisioned. References AASW, Substance Abuse in Australian Communities, Undated document. Extracted on 14th October, 2006, from: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fca/subabuse/sub104.pdf#search='AASW%20Substance%20Abuse%20in%20Australian%20Communities' Brady, Maggie, 2002, Aborigines and Alcohol Abuse. Received 17th October, 2006. Flood, Sean, 2001, Harm Minimisation in Indigenous Communities. Extracted on 15th October, 2006, from: http://dazed.org/mabo/ourlaw.htm Harminise, Issue 6, May 2002. Extracted on 16th October, 2006, from: http://www.edas.org.au/docs/harminise6.pdf#search='Harminise%20May%202002' McConnell, Brian, Undated, One policy Australia cannot afford to abandon. Extracted on 14th October, 2006, from: http://www.ffdlr.org.au/commentary/HarmMinimisation.htm Pearson, Noel, Land Rights and Progressive Wrongs, Griffith Review, Summer 2003/2004. Extracted on 14th October, 2006, from: http://www.capeyorkpartnerships.com/team/noelpearson/pdf/NPlandRIGHTSandProgWrongs2003.pdf#search='Noel%20Pearson%20Land%20Rights%20and%20Progressive%20Wrongs' Putt, Judy, et al, 2005, Indigenous Male Offending and Substance Abuse, Australian Institute of Criminology. Extracted on 16th October, 2006, from: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi293.pdf#search='Judy%20Putt%20Indigenous%20Male%20Offending' The National Drug Strategy, Australia’s Integrated Framework, 2004-2009. Extracted on 14th October, 2006, from: http://www.adca.org.au/policy/submissions/NDS_framework_2004-2009.pdf#search='Australia%20The%20National%20Drug%20Strategy%2020042009' Bibliography Community Report, 2001, The Harm Reduction Needs of Aboriginal People Who Inject Drugs. Extracted on 14th October, 2006, from: http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/html/html_bulletin/bull_22/drugs_commrpt.pdf#search='Harm%20Reduction%20Needs%20of%20Aboriginal%20People%20Community%20Report%202001' The Australian Greens, Undated, Drugs, Substance Use and Addiction. Extracted on 15th October, 2006, from: http://greens.org.au/policies/services/drugssubstanceuseandaddiction Read More