I’m breaking up with the word “addict” and I hope you’ll do the same. “Addict” is one of those words that so many of us use, largely without pausing to wonder if we should. We just take for granted that it’s totally okay to describe a human being with one word, “addict” — a word…
SMART Recovery Australia National Program Coordinator Josette Freeman was one of twenty industry professionals to take part in a specialised roundtable on drug-related harms, hosted by Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale at NSW Parliament in Sydney last Friday. The purpose of the event was to explore the best policy and legislation approaches to reduce…
In 1956, the American Medical Association declared alcoholism a “disease.” More than half a century later, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has proclaimed addiction, including alcoholism and “process” addictions like gambling, to be the same. According to the ASAM’s definition, published on the group’s website on Monday, addiction is a “primary, chronic disease…
Results from the 2014–2015 Flux study of legal and illicit drug use among gay and bisexual men in Australia suggest recreational drug use is common but dependency is low. The Flux Study is published by the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales and explores the reasons gay and bisexual men commence, change…
Seeking validation online doesn’t bring real happiness. In today’s interconnected world, social media is a major channel of communication and an important part of daily life. There are so many positive aspects – not only does social media allow us to easily connect with loved ones and catch up with friends, it also provides entertainment,…
A recent article published in The Lancet states that the use of common opioid painkillers such as codeine, morphine and oxycodone more than quadrupled in Australia over the past decade and doubled worldwide over the same period. Along with this increased use have come reports of harmful side effects, dependence and overdose. In October 2015,…
How do you lower the toll of alcohol abuse on homeless people with an addiction? Serve them drinks. A proposed radical change to the way Sydney shelters treat homeless people with alcohol dependency has some influential and unlikely advocates. St Vincent’s Hospital, Rabbi Mendel Kastel – a NSW police chaplain and the founder of Bondi’s…
Often the simple solutions are the most effective. In the case of Brian Harriman (pictured left) who suffers from depression and alcohol addiction, that speaks the truth. Damien Kennedy (pictured right) from the Griffith Aboriginal Medical Service realised that a big problem for people with addictions was they often found themselves bored and with nothing to…
What problem does this study address? Use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) has been linked to criminal justice involvement and may increase the risk of reoffending upon release from jail. In New South Wales (NSW) Australia, 72% of incarcerated males and 67% of incarcerated females reported that their current offence was related to…
