Australian Politics Forum - Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs

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Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Oct 1^st, 2016 at 12:29pm

Suicide attempts, overdoses at Star Casino among reasons for 173 ambulance calls a year, FOI documents show

Ambulances have been called to the Star Casino in Sydney 173 times a year on average since 2011, with suicide attempts and overdoses among the most common reasons, freedom of information (FOI) documents show.

The data, obtained by ABC News from NSW Ambulance, shows in the past five years, paramedics were dispatched to the casino 48 times for abnormal and psychiatric behaviour, including attempted suicide, and 117 times for overdose or poisoning by ingestion.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-01/suicide-attempts-at-casino-as-gamblers-'en...

If personal responsibility for behaviour is the reason to ignore all the dangers for the gambler, and their family, and the wider community, should the same perimeters be applied to drug taking.

Legalise all drugs and reap the taxes, same as the government does for gambling.

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rhino Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 17179 Gender:	Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs Reply #1 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 2:13pm agreed. Prohibition has failed, its about harm minimisation now. As usual we are 20 years behind the US, they are moving towards legalisation now, its inevitable, we just dont have the resources and never will. Canada realised the futility of prosecuting marijuana users decades ago.
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issuevoter Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 9200 The Great State of Mind Gender:	Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs Reply #2 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:39pm Is it really so simple? Should all drugs be legal in Aboriginal communities?
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____ Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 33410 Australia Gender:	Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs Reply #3 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs? Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.
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Mr Hammer

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #4 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

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____

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #5 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:59pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

Statics would suggest that racial profiling is influencing the extreme rate.

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____

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #6 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:00pm

Injected drug use rise linked to Hep C, HIV infections in Indigenous Australians, new research says

New research has linked a rise in Indigenous Australians injecting drugs and concerning rate of Hepatitis C and HIV.

Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) associate professor James Ward has found a higher prevalence of injected drug use in Aboriginal populations, compared to non-Aboriginal populations.

Professor Ward estimated between 5 and 10 per cent of Aboriginal people have injected drugs, compared to 2 per cent of non-Aboriginal people.

He said the rate of hepatitis C was three times that of non-Aboriginal Australians, where it has "plateaued".

"People may have an ubiquitous view that you are going to get hepatitis C if you are injecting anyway.
Professor James Ward, Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
The research also showed the number of Aboriginal people accessing needle syringe programs has jumped from 5 to 14 per cent over the past two decades.

"That is good news on one side, that a large number of Aboriginal people are accessing needles through syringe programs," Professor Ward said.

"But something is going wrong after people collect the equipment.

"They are sharing with bigger groups...they are sharing with extended family.

"People may have an ubiquitous view that you are going to get Hepatitis C if you are injecting anyway.

"We have heard that anecdotally around the traps."

Indigenous Australians reported injecting illicit drugs with extended family members at five times the rate of non-Indigenous people.

Professor Ward said the most commonly-injected drug was methamphetamine.

He said the community needed innovative, prevention-focused programs to target young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

"We need further investments and continued efforts around primary prevention," Professor Ward said.

"While there is a contraction of drug and alcohol services in Australia in terms of funding and resourcing, we have got an expansion of injecting in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

"I think we really need to bite the bullet and go for a fairly big investment, so that people are not turned away when they do want to seek treatment for drug and alcohol services, as is often the case now."

Professor Ward will present the findings at a drug and alcohol conference in Perth today.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/rise-in-indigenous-australians-injecting-d...

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Yadda

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #7 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:02pm

SUGGESTION;

People convicted of drink driving [just once!], shouldn't be allowed to vote for LAWMAKERS [for the rest of their life!].

People convicted of taking illicit psychotropic drugs [just once!], shouldn't be allowed to vote for LAWMAKERS [for the rest of their life!].

People who it can be proved have a serious gambling addiction, shouldn't be allowed to vote for LAWMAKERS [for the rest of their life!].

SUGGESTION;

Let people [i.e. everyone] have the freedom to choose how they want to live their lives.

Make them responsible for the consequences of their choices.

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"....And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
Luke 16:31

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rhino

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #8 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:11pm

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Yes you are right. The big problem amongst young urban aboriginals is meth, not alcohol.

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rhino Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 17179 Gender:	Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs Reply #9 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:12pm issuevoter wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:39pm: Is it really so simple? Should all drugs be legal in Aboriginal communities? Keeping drugs illegal makes the trafficking of them worth big money.
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rhino

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #10 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:13pm

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:59pm:

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

Statics would suggest that racial profiling is influencing the extreme rate.

No, statistics dont reflect that at all. Aboriginals are more likely to be imprisioned because they are more likely to break the law.

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____

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #11 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:31pm

rhino wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:13pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:59pm:

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

Statics would suggest that racial profiling is influencing the extreme rate.

No, statistics dont reflect that at all. Aboriginals are more likely to be imprisioned because they are more likely to break the law.

A while back, living in Waterloo, I regularly used Redfern Station. The police constantly harassed me because of my Aboriginal looks. When Caucasian friends where with me, they were never harassed.
I was not breaking laws, I never reacted to the harassment, and I was never doing anything suspicious.

Obviously a constant statistical error, rather than racial profiling.

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Mr Hammer

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #12 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:41pm

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:59pm:

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

Statics would suggest that racial profiling is influencing the extreme rate.

So are you saying that the cops shouldn't charge aborigines for crimes committed because it makes the stats look bad?? Cheesy

If a cop get a call of a crime committed the perp gets arrested. Fullstop.

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Mr Hammer

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #13 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:43pm

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:31pm:

rhino wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:13pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:59pm:

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

Statics would suggest that racial profiling is influencing the extreme rate.

No, statistics dont reflect that at all. Aboriginals are more likely to be imprisioned because they are more likely to break the law.

A while back, living in Waterloo, I regularly used Redfern Station. The police constantly harassed me because of my Aboriginal looks. When Caucasian friends where with me, they were never harassed.
I was not breaking laws, I never reacted to the harassment, and I was never doing anything suspicious.

Obviously a constant statistical error, rather than racial profiling.

I've been harassed by the cops about 10 times in my life and I'm white with blonde hair. Not everything is racial you know.

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____

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Re: Gambling Verses Legalising Illicit Drugs
Reply #14 - Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:46pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 10:41pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:59pm:

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:56pm:

____ wrote on Oct 1^st, 2016 at 9:51pm:

Treating adults as children, don't believe it's a long term solution

Are aboriginals already accessing illicit drugs?
Perhaps illicit drug use is a part of the reasons for the extreme rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Not at all. The reason is because they broke the law.

Statics would suggest that racial profiling is influencing the extreme rate.

So are you saying that the cops shouldn't charge aborigines for crimes committed because it makes the stats look bad?? Cheesy

If a cop get a call of a crime committed the perp gets arrested. Fullstop.

I didn't say that.
Perhaps the judicial system should police the rest of society with the same vigour they apply to people of a certain look.

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