This essay seeks to provide a critical report on the harmonisation approach employed by the Australian government, particularly in Sydney to prevent the dangers of drugs in the country. Furthermore, the report will discuss Sydney’s policy response to anti-drugs through the “Medically Safe Injecting Centers (MSICS), in relation to the stages of policy making. In the course of these discourse, the report will draw a conclusion on the performance level of the policy response in line with the Australian National Drug Strategic Framework established by the government with the key objective of reducing and possibly forestalling the negative effects of drugs, drug use, and drug abuse.
Drug Use in the Australian Society: A Discourse
When it comes to drug use, Australia remains one of notorious countries across the world where illicit drug use is on the rise. The term “Illicit drug use “in this context refers to the usage of substance such as drugs that have been seized or declared illegal, never to be produced or sold. Such drugs include: Cocaine, Heroin, Cannabis and others; drugs that are kept in drug stores and are not meant to be used for medical purposes e.g. Steroids, Codeine, Pain relief medications, aid opioid therapies; among other psychoactive substances that could be misused or abused in such a way that they would result in danger (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2022).
Drug abuse or misuse in Australia is at an alarming rate such that the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) revealed that about 9.0 million Australians more than the age of fourteen (14) had misused a drug or drugs at some in their life. The situation became even worse to the extent that between 2016 and 2019, the Australian government recorded an incessant increase in the use of Cocaine (2.5 percent) – 4.2 percent, Cannabis (10.4 percent11.6 percent, Ecstasy (2.2 percent – 3.0 percent), Hallucinogens (1.0 percent – 1.6 percent), Inhalants (1.0 percent – 1.4 percent), and Ketamine (0.4 percent – 0.9 percent) (AIHW, 2020).
Given the situation at hand, it is obvious and clear that the Australian peoples’ health are at serious risk especially, the youths mental patients and queer groups such as homosexual, bisexual, transgender or intersex who according to records, are more exposed to the consumption of most of the illicit drugs (Department of Health, 2017).
It is based on this background that the Australian government, in a bid to build an Australia where, the health and safety of all Australians is prioritized, created the National Drug strategic framework – a national policy structure that is aimed at ensuring that the incessant rate of the increase in drug consumption in Australia is drastically reduced.
The Australian National Drug Strategy
This refers to Australia’s national policy that seeks to build healthy, resilient and safe Australian communities by preventing and reducing alcohol, tobacco and other drug-related harms among the Australian peoples (National Drug Strategy 2017-2016, 2017). More elaborately, the national policy framework spans across three pillars of harmonisation and these are: demand reduction (the prevention and delaying of the use of drugs as well as reduction of the misuse of drugs), supply reduction (the prevention of the production and supply of illicit drugs and the regulation of the use of legal drugs), and harm reduction (the reduction of the negative health effects of the use of illicit drugs on Australian people (Australian Government Department of Health (2017); (Australian Indigenous Health InforNet, n. d.); (National Drug Strategy 2010 – 2015).
Being a national health project that needed immediate attention, it appeared that Sydney, quickly responded to the harmonisation policy through its creation of the Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) – an Australian State government supported facility that is located at kings cross, New South Wales, and is meant to provide germ-free equipment, safe injecting facilities, and adequate supervision and monitoring of people who wish to administer illegal drugs through the human vein (Uniting Care, 2018). The Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) equally refer to facilities where people visit to inject drugs such as Methamphetamine (ice) or heroin, under the thorough watch and supervision of health professionals. The idea behind this establishment is that while it is known fact that injecting drugs is not safe, Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) provide a healthy and conducive environment where people can visit and would be comfortably granted access to sterile injecting equipment (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2020).
Stages of Policy Process in Relation to Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs)
Truth be told, there is hardly any State in the International system that does not engage in the development of policy objectives, in a bid to advance sustainable solutions to national issues (Madimista, 2008). Policy formation is a national project that is meant to upscale a nation’s progress and development. But on the other hand, for a policy to be made, it must pass through different stages and processes. These are Agenda setting, Policy formulation and adoption, and Evaluation (Burke, n.d).
In the first stage – Agenda setting, the series of problems that the policy seeks to solve would be identified and exhaustively discussed with the key objective of deciding what the policy would look like (structure), and making it an agenda to be adopted by institutions responsible for policy adoption. Meanwhile, in relation to Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs), the response to harmonisation approach was considered a solution to illicit drug use in Sydney, King Cross – a location that is notorious for habouring an illicit drug market (Durke & Ross, 1999). Given the location’s unsafe condition, the N.SW Wood Royal Commission and NSW Police Service adopted the MSICs agenda in the 1990s (Dolan et al., 2000).
In the second stage – formulation and adoption, the policy is officially acknowledged and adopted as either a new law or an executive order. In the case of Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICS), the North South Wales government, approved an 18-month test of a single Medically Supervised Injecting Centre at Kings Cross based on the recommendations of the Drug Summit which was held in May 1999 (Dolan et al., 2000). While the MSICs was recognised by the Legislative Response Bill in 1999, it became officially approved and operational on 6th May 2001.
In the third stage – implementation of policy, series of active poised at promoting the policy were taken. For instance, the Drug Summit Legislation Bill of 1999 specified the duties of the Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) and these include: direct monitoring and supervision by a certified medical professional direct linkages to drug counseling and assessment services, provision of needle and syringe programme, provision and arrangements of referral services for young people below with age of eighteen years, and creation of opportunities for drug users to easily access health services such as medical consultation, health education and counselling (MSICs Evaluation Committee, 2003).
The Evaluation Stage – In regard to the evaluation of The Sydney Medically Safe Injecting Centre (MSIC), the United States Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (2003) reported that Medically Safe Injecting Centre’s (MSICs’s) operation at King Cross was highly rewarding as it was able to initiate and create contact with its target population, especially young people, who had never been treated for drug misuse or any other drug-related issue.
Also, with the policy response, there was reduction in the risk of blood borne virus proliferation and transmissions, as well as crime in the State. Be it as it may, as revealed by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board, the operations of Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) violated International drug conventions (Wright 8 Tompkins, 2004).
Conclusion
This report emphasized solely on drug use in the Australian society. Citing the hazardous effects of drug use among the citizens, the report revealed that drug abuse or misuse in Australia is at an alarming rate and it was in a bid to ensure that such record is taken out that the Australian government came up with the National Drug Strategy – a policy with the fundamental aim of creating a safe and healthy Australian society that is free from drug-related effects.
The report also discussed Sydney’s adoption of the National Health Strategy and consequently, the creation of the Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) with the primary aim of creating a safe facility where the injection of illegal drugs will be carefully monitored by medical professionals. Overall, this report concludes that the positive implications of Medically Safe Injecting Centres (MSICs) are more than its negative implications in relation to the advancement of the greater good of the Australian population that are involved in drug abuse.
References
Alcohol and Drug Foundation. (2020). Medically Supervised Injecting Centre save lives. https:/adf.org.au/insights/medically-supervised-injecting-centres/
Alcohol and other Drugs knowledge Centre. (n.d.). Drug Strategy in Australia. https://aodknowledgecentre.ecu.edu. au/key-resources/drug-strategy-in-australia
Australian Government Department of Health. (2017). National drug Strategy 2017-2026. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2020). National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019. Drug statistics series no. 32, cat. No. PHE 270. AIHW, Australian government.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2022) Illicit Drug Use. https://www.aihw.gov.au /reports/illicit-use-of-drugs/illicit-drug-use.
Dolan, K., Kimber, J., Fry, C., Fitzgerald, J., MacDonald D., AND Trautmann, F., (2000). Drug Consumption facilities in Europe and the establishment of supervised injecting centres in Australia Drug and Alcohol Review, 19,337-346.
MSIC Evaluation committee. (2003). Final Report on the Evaluation of the Sydney Medically supervised Injecting Centre. Sydney. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/570/6/1/MSIC_ final_evaluation_report.pdf.
National Drug Strategy 2010 – 2015, (2011). About the National Drug Strategy. Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy.
National Drug strategy 2017-2026 (2017). The National Drug Strategy 2017-2026 at a glance.
- S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. (n.d.) Final Report of the Evaluation of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre. https:///www.ojpgov/incjrs/virtual/-library/abstracts/final-report-evaluation-sydney-medically-supervised-injecting.
Wright, N., M., J. & Tompkins, C., N., E. (2004). Education and Debate. Business Management Journal, 328, 100-103.
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