Despite the growth in darknet drug trading in Australia, there are important reasons why it is less harmful than street drug dealing.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Methamphetamines
Displaying 21 - 40 of 55 articles
West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan’s responded to The Conversation’s request for sources and comment regarding our FactCheck on methamphetamine usage rates in Western Australia.
West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan said his state has the “worst rate of methamphetamine usage in the country”. We asked the experts to check the evidence.
Without doubt, crystal methamphetamine, like many drugs (including alcohol) is capable of causing immense harm. But when facts are distorted to create fear and stigma it helps no one.
Organised crime groups are profiting from the fruits of globalisation such as free-trade agreements as well as the massive upgrade of the region’s infrastructure and connectivity now underway.
Flakka was believed to be behind two cannibalistic attacks in Florida that left one man blind and a married couple dead. It wasn’t so. Here’s why we need facts, not myths, about dangerous drugs.
Duterte says there are three million drug users in the Philippines. There are almost certainly many fewer than that.
Can Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte learn anything from Thailand’s failed campaign against drugs in the early 2000s? Maybe to adopt a less bloody and more comprehensive approach.
Ice increases the risks of psychosis, violence and impulsivity, and decreases emotional control. So what can families really do?
Australia is following the lead of the United States and sending ex-ice users into schools in the hope they can impact kids’ attitudes towards drug use and prevent use.
A South African Olympic silver medallist achieved something remarkable, especially after testing positive for methamphetamine use in 2012. But care needs to be taken in how this narrative is framed.
Ice is a slang name for crystal methamphetamine – a stimulant drug that is swallowed, smoked or injected. It works by activating the reward pathways in the brain, producing feelings of alertness.
Awareness of social factors, such as society’s perpetuation of masculinity, are critical to understanding the interconnections between trauma, disadvantage and substance abuse in young men.
Smoking causes 96,000 premature deaths a year in the UK. The fact that it protects against Parkinson’s disease is not a reason to take up the habit.
Use of methamphetamines has increased significantly in young people already at risk of other drug and alcohol related dependence and harm.
Many untested drug therapies are expensive at best and potentially dangerous at worst. So what treatments do work for ice and other drug users?
The challenge is to intervene before users hit crisis point. A Hawaii-based program does just this and has achieved substantial reductions in drug use. A similar scheme could work in Australia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said ice is far more potent, far more dangerous, and far more addictive than any other illegal drug. Is that supported by the data?
There is no evidence to suggest mandatory treatment outside of the criminal justice system would work. Instead, we need to increase funding for treatment programs, including early intervention.
Alcohol-related violence is a much bigger problem in Australia than the harms of illicit drugs but we tend to overlook the former because the latter gets more headlines.
Top contributors
-
Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne based), Curtin University
-
Research Fellow/Epidemiologist, Australian Institute of Family Studies
-
Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin University
-
Associate Professor, Mental Health and Addiction, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University
-
Emeritus Professor, The University of Melbourne
-
Senior Lecturer, Youth Work & Youth Studies, Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT University
-
Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide
-
Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Birmingham
-
Professor and Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
-
Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University
-
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London
-
Professor of History, Shanghai University
-
Associate professor of Sociology, Huaqiao University
-
Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies, and Director, Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law, University of Aberdeen
-
Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne
