1985 – Australia’s world debut of Harm Reduction

Meant to reduce drug-related deaths and harm, Australia’s mortality quadrupled during the first 14 years from around 250 deaths in 1984 to 1,116 in 1999.

Looking at United Nations’ Drug Report figures for all countries worldwide, by 1998 Australia had the highest drug use amongst OECD countries, almost double that of the third, fourth and fifth highest countries. Only New Zealand, in second place, came close, having also adopted Harm Reduction programs in 1987

1998 – Tough on Drugs as a valid ‘control’

In 1998, the Federal Government, responding to community alarm at the unacceptable mortality, introduced a new approach called Tough on Drugs. Quadrupling the drugs budget to focus on prevention messaging, heavily expanded rehab and better policing of borders saw use of any illicit drug decrease by 39% and overdose deaths plummet by 67% by 2001, which is where mortality remained for 7 years. Throughout this period the Government chose not to close any Harm Reduction programs, which in light of this analysis, were simply running interference as an impediment to even better outcomes.

Nevertheless, this drug policy approach over a nine year period acted as a control by which the other two periods of Harm Reduction ascendency can be judged.

2007 – Prevention takes a back seat once again

With a new Federal Government scrapping Tough on Drugs in 2007, prevention and rehab took a back seat, although heroin supply at the borders remained suppressed. And what happened was a virtual repeat of the first Harm Reduction era, demonstrating the same harm-multiplying dynamic. Yet with this official government graph below (with our added commentary overlaid) there is more to see than with the previous data.

In the decade following 2007 opiate deaths increased 260%, while other illicits drugs contributing to overdose deaths each increased 210%-590%. The reinstatement of a Harm Reduction priority was clearly a tide that lifted all boats.

We therefore find it conclusive that Harm Reduction has very demonstrably, substantially and consistently multiplied drug-related deaths and harm in this country.

Harm Reduction proponents will invariably claim that there is some hidden confounder that invalidates any conclusion, but the lockstep rise and fall of all drug types in concert with the differing drug policy eras rules out any major change in supply for any illicit (barring the 2000 heroin drought), just as it does with any possibility of a change in definition of a drug-related death. There are no viable confounders.

What is clear is that drug prevention and rehabilitation, as the first demand reduction pillar of Australia’s ‘Harm Minimisation’ approach, along with supply reduction at our borders, are both undermined by any ‘safe use of illicit drugs’ programming which is an explicit and implicit message of any harm reduction intervention.

Australia has given the world the gift of a viable ‘control’ drug policy period which ably shows the devastation caused by Harm Reduction.

It is time for the world to stand up and take notice. Hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved each year when all countries, including Australia, follow the lead of Australia’s Tough on Drugs policy.

___________________________________

** Harm Reduction, by definition, has no vested interest in drug prevention.

Source: https://open.substack.com/pub/drugfreeaustralia/p/how-harm-reduction-devastated-australia?r=1hnlai&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web