Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Hughes for raising this motion and focusing the attention of those of us in this place on the continuing impact of illicit drugs on our community.

Drugs destroy lives. They diminish a person's mental capacity; they alter a person's behaviour and personality; they lead to mental health disorders, to violence and to crime; and their effect on families and communities can be devastating. I remember as a child the campaign spearheaded by the former First Lady of the United States, Nancy Reagan, to encourage children just to say no. I remember John Howard's 'Tough on drugs' strategy, spearheaded by Brian Waters of the Salvation Army, which is at the front line of dealing with this issue. But we do not seem to hear those sorts of messages as much as we used to.

Instead, dance parties are held all over the country and have become venues for dealing in ecstasy. Casual cocaine use in fashionable suburbs among professionals is on the increase. Marijuana is decriminalised in some jurisdictions and, as we have heard from previous speakers, the ice epidemic is in every single community. And whilst smoking and alcohol use rates declined significantly between 2001 and 2016, illicit drug use rates over the same period have remained fairly constant.

There is perhaps an erroneous view that the war on drugs is too hard; that young people are not listening and that we should give up trying. That is not a view I accept. At the end of 2016 I conducted a community survey in Berowra. Over one-third of respondents listed the scourge of drugs as a major concern. And while some of the traditional messages are not working, I want to suggest a new angle on the campaign to highlight and to reduce drug use dependency, and that is the mental health risks associated with illicit drug use.

This is an issue that the public is not hearing enough about. I want to talk about this issue because I made mental health one of the key issues that I want to work on during my time in this place. Drugs, including cannabis, methamphetamines and ecstasy potentially have severe and lasting damaging effects on the mental health of substance users. There is dramatic impact on brain development and cognitive function. A substantial body of international research links substance use and psychiatric disorders. The 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the United States found that over 40 per cent of adult drug addicts also suffered from mental health disorders. It found that those with a substance use disorder in the past year were more than five times more likely to attempt suicide.

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in Australia. Some people think it is a safe drug, but they are wrong. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey found in 2004 that more than one in three Australians aged over 14 had used cannabis in their lifetime, and in 2016 more than 10 per cent of Australians had used cannabis in the past year. Research shows that cannabis is linked to mood disorders, depression and psychotic disorders including psychosis and schizophrenia. I am particularly concerned about the impacts of drug use, particularly cannabis, on young people as the brain continues to undergo critical growth and development during this period. A German study of 2,400 young people found that exposure to cannabis during adolescence and young adulthood increases the risk of psychotic symptoms later in life. Further studies in Australia and the United States found the use of cannabis increased the major risk of depression by a factor of four and was associated with an increase in suicidal thoughts. So much for a safe drug!

The dangers associated with drug use in our communities are not limited to cannabis. Methamphetamine users exhibit major psychological and behavioural problems, including psychosis, anxiety, depression and cognitive problems. A 2014 inquiry by the Victorian government found dependent meth users are three times more likely to suffer impairment in their mental health functioning, with rates of major depression and anxiety disorders substantially higher than in the general population.

Hospitalisation rates connect illicit drugs with admission for mental health conditions. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found in 2014-15 that 7.3 per cent of mental health related hospital separations without specialised psychiatric care were due to psychoactive substance use, with more than 7,000 hospitalisations recorded. I know from my involvement on the boards of hospitals in Victoria and New South Wales, which run mental health units, that many of the patients in these units have multiple drug-induced psychoses. These patients can be violent, putting the safety of other patients and staff at risk. We need to hear more about the mental health effects of drug use.

Every year we hear in the media the reports of somebody who has died from a drug overdose. A former constituent of mine, Tony Wood, was at the forefront of the campaign to stop young people dying. His daughter, Anna, died 20 years ago, and he said:

We hoped Anna's death would make a difference, but we are not making progress against drugs. I think the pro-legalisation lobby has a lot to answer for. They keep on about harm reduction. They say just take the stuff safely.

But there is no safe way. You just don't know what will happen when you take drugs.

The reason Anna took ecstasy was the same reason most kids take drugs: they are fashionable and available. We have to stop them being fashionable.

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