agenda item 3 - General debate

AUSTRALIAN STATEMENT

Australia congratulates the Chair on his election to the Chair of this fortieth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

Australia's comments under this agenda item will touch briefly on several of the crucial areas to be discussed in the course of the Commission's deliberations.

The executive director outlined in his address the progress being made by the program against the alarming incidence of drug misuse in a global sense. Australian Governments are committed to reducing the health, social and economic consequences of misuse of drugs, both licit and illicit, in our community.

Australia is not immune from the ravages of drug abuse. Our method in dealing with this problem, as members of the Commission would be aware, incorporates a comprehensive approach to drugs involving prevention, education, treatment, rehabilitation and enforcement.

Austalia's national drug strategy has been in place since 1985 and has recently undergone its third national evaluation. The evaluation involved consultations with federal and state governments, the non government sector including peak advocacy groups and researchers, community groups and private citizens.

The evaluation reviewed:

- the underlying policy of the national drug strategy including harm minimisation;

- the effectiveness of partenrships within the drug strategy;

- the balance of investment across activities;

- the administrative structures which support the national drug strategy; and

- Australia's capacity to measure the impact and outcomes of its approach.

While the report on the evaluation has not yet been finalised, it is expected to endorse the overall direction of the national drug strategy rather than recommend any significant change in policy.

Austalia believes that a comprehensive and balanced approach to illicit drug issues, emphasising the importance of both supply control and demand reduction initiatives, has helped to reduce significantly the consequences of drug misuse.

For example, there has been a steady increase in the number of patients seeking tretment in methadone programs. Many of these patients have not only reduced their illicit drug use and needle sharing but have also stabilised their lives to reduce the need for involvement in illicit activities. We have also seen an improvement in the general health status of these people.

The introduction of needle ewchanges has contributed to a significant reduction in the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Austalia. The infection rate of about 3% amongst intrvenous drug users is one of the lowest in the world.

These are only two of the factors which make us confident our approach has been appropriate for Australia.

Despite these successes, one in five deaths in Austalia are drug related. We estimate that more than 23.000 Australians will die this year as a direct of indirect result of drug misuse - the vast majority of these deaths will be attributable to tobacco and alcohol use, but a significant number will relate to misuse of illicit drugs. Clearly we need to sustain our efforts.

Unfortunately, we anticipate that there will be around 500 opiate related deaths in Australia in 1997, with heroin overdoses usually combined with other drugs including benzodiazapenes and alcohol.

A significant number of people will also die as a result of automobile accidents where illicit drugs are involved - at least one study in Australia has indicated that 24% of road accident fatalities involve illicit drug use (again, usually combined with alcohol).

Australia is not unique in experiencing these problems. Most countries would be facing similar dilemmas. This helps to confirm the oft-stated view that the economic and social costs of drug misuse are massive.

There is no doubt that governments spend considerable amounts of their precious resources on treatment, law enforcement and other associated drug related programs.

These funds could be used in a multitude of ways to improve the wellbeing of our various populations by reducing the prevalence of drug misuse.

Members of the Commission may recall that Australia's address last year referred to the need for UNDCP to concentrate on matters of principle and guidance, to provide appropriate support in developing effective models, thereby leaving individual nations with the freedom to pursue strategies considered best to respond to the drug situation in their own country.

Members would also recall that Australia advised last year that a proposal for a so-called heroin trial was to be considered by our Ministerial Council on drug strategy. That proposal was not endorsed by our Ministerial Council. Ministers asked for further work to be done and a commettee of experts has been tasked with developing a number of papers. One of the most important considerations in developing any research protocols addressing the use of narcotics as a treatment option will be to ensure that Australia fully complies with its obligations as a signatry to the three United Nations Drug Control Conventions.

The expert committee is considering the possibility of a trial to assess a wide range of treatment options, potentially involving a number of different pharmacotherapies including methadone, laam, buprenorphine and possibly heroin, with large numbers of opiate dependent people being treated in different ways and comparing the medical results and effectiveness of those tretment options.

The aim of any treatment proposal developed by the expert committee will be to provide reliable data and information to enable an informed choice on the best practice medical treatment for individuals in a wide range of situations.

We will, of course, be willing to share the results of any such study with the international community.

However, focussing on broad based and innovative treatment trials for opiate dependent people, is just one component of Austrlia's strategy to address illicit drug use. The increasing use of amphetamines and amphetamine type stimulants is being addressed through a number of education and prevention programs.

These programs include providing information on the toxic effects of ecstasy and development of guidelines on how to address the problem of drug taking by young people at "raves", or dance parties.

Australia would welcome data from member states on their experience with this relatively new phenomenon nad likewise would be willing to share the information it has available.

We were pleased that an Australian was able to participate in the recent expert working group on amphetamine type stimulants. Australia believes that this is one of the priority issues facing the Commission this session and looks forward to the debate under agenda item 9.

There can be no question that the youth of our nations are some of our most valuable assets. However, it is often this group who are the most vulnerable to the ravages of illicit drugs and one of the major influences on our children, parents, have not been given information to help them to address potential drug use. Steps have been taken in a number of australian jurisdictions to provide information to parents on how to deal with their children's exposure to drug use.

Publications have been distributed to all households in several states and will ultimately be made available on a national basis. This information will help parents deal with the pressures their children face daily which in many cases leads to drug misuse.

In recognition of the continuing need to provide accurate information, the victorian state police have recently produced an excellent "drug guide" which is a comprehensive drug reference for operational police.

- The guide encompasses the spectrum of drug related harms in the community. This resource has proved to be a useful tool not only for police officers but also for health and education specialists.

- Copies of these publications have been made available to UNDCP and can be made available to interested delegations.

Australia's national drug strategy is managed by a committee comprising representatives from health and law enforcement authorities from all australian jurisdictions. The committee aims to ensure there is more to australia's balanced approach than simple rhetoric.

Within this context the Chair of Australia's National Drug Strategy Committee, Mr. Graham Strathearn from the Drug and Alcohol Services Council in the state of South Australia, is a member of the australian delegation to this commission.

Australia believes co-ordination is essential to the success of any national effort to address drug use. Co-ordination, not only at the national level, but also between the national and state governments, as well as government and non government sectors.

The treatment, education and prevention measures briefly described in this statement are not, of course, the only activities Australia undertakes under the national drug strategy umbrella. Law enfocement authorities have been able to achieve significant results in terms of seizures as part of their contribution to the national drug strategy.

Recent examples of attempted illicit drug importations prevented by law enforcement activity include:

- over 23 kilograms of heroin secreted in wall hangings which arrived by air from overseas;

- over 22 kilograms of heroin in a separate seizure from unaccompanied luggage which arrived at an australian airport;

- three foreign nationals arrested when over 20 kilograms of cocaine were seized from an overseas vessel;

- 15 kilograms of cocaine seized in August from the cargo hold of an international aircraft; and

- 29 kilograms of cocaine seized in four separate airport seizures.

We have also had some very successful seizures of amphetamines and ecstasy importations including 11 kilograms in false bottomed suitcases from Europe and 7,5 kilograms in a passenger's luggage.

Cannabis seizures have been of particular note in recent months with over 23 tonnes seized in 3 separate importations by sea.

The law enforcement operations which led to two of these seizures and the arrests involved would not have succeeded, nor have been possible, without the participation and co-operation between australian police and customs agencies with a number of agencies from other countries. This illustrates how critical international assistance and co-operation are to our efforts against illicit traffickers.

Against that background of domestic activity, Australia would like to offer some comments on future directions for drug related issues.

It is important for attention to be focussed on achievable goals and to be able to evaluate progress towards achieving these goals.

Money laundering is another important issue that requires high priority. We should work to ensure that multilateral mechanisms to deal with this problem are given the strongest istitutional and program support so as to restrict the ability of drug traffickers to use the profits generated by their illegal operations.

It is also time to consider what organisational reforms need to be underataken to ensure the limited resources available within the United Nations system are directed to addressing illicit drug issues with the best effect.

This Commission will, of course, act as the Preparatory Body for the forthcoming special session of the General Assembly. The Commission's work in the Preparatory Body will be crucial to the future of a multilateral approach to drugs issues.

Detailed comments on the special session will be deferred until the Preparatory Committee commences, but Australia would like to emphasise the importance that it places on the demand reduction declaration which is expected to be adopted at the special session.

The work that has alrady gone into the development of a draft declaration is outstanding. We have before this session a draft document which provides some concrete steps towards demand reduction activities for all nations to consider.

Australia believes that the value of the declaration will be enhanced by preparation of updated demand reduction resources. Australia would like to facilitate that process and offers the services of its experts to work collaboratively with the secretariat, other United Nations organisations and member states.

Australia looks forward to being able to make a further tangible contribution to UNDCP's work on demand reduction.