Page 503 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 1993
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DRUGS - SELECT COMMITTEE
Interim Report on Benzodiazepines and Dependence
MR MOORE (11.43): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to present the second interim report of the Select Committee on Drugs.
Leave granted.
MR MOORE: I present the second interim report of the Select Committee on Drugs entitled "Benzodiazepines and Dependence - A Tranquil Addiction?", together with extracts of the minutes of proceedings. I move:
That the report be noted.
The subtitle of the report, "A Tranquil Addiction?", is a very appropriate term to use. This report is very different from many of the other reports of the Select Committee on Drugs and its predecessor, the Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution, in that it deals with drugs that are readily available through sources such as pharmacies and on prescription by medical practitioners, as opposed to the illegal drugs we have previously dealt with and as opposed to methadone, which is generally used in conjunction with treatment for some illegal drugs. It is important to explain what benzodiazepines are. When we use the term, people say to me, "What are you talking about?", and I think a reference to some common brand names is appropriate. Members will find on page 5 of the report a chart indicating those. Some of the common ones are Valium, Rohypnol, Mogadon and Serepax. I think most people would be familiar with those drugs.
The Select Committee on Drugs found a number of indications from members of the community that there was a growing problem with benzodiazepines, and as far as the ACT goes that may well be the case. It seemed to us that, if one extrapolates from research done Australia-wide in other States, we can presume that there are problems with benzodiazepines. We know that there is a program in the ACT that is designed to assist people in getting away from their addiction. That program is usually referred to as the COPE program. The committee recognises the good work that program does but feels that the program ought to be expanded to assist people.
One of the interesting things about benzodiazepines is that, like most drugs, they have both a very positive and a very negative impact. The very positive impact can be best illustrated by the extreme case of somebody who is under a great deal of stress, perhaps through bereavement, through the loss of someone very close, say a spouse, and for the first five or six weeks a prescription of one of the benzodiazepines assists the person to deal with that stress. They have proved to be particularly successful with that sort of usage. When the usage continues, though, there is usually a fairly rapid onset of dependence. One of the difficulties with benzodiazepines is that that dependence is particularly difficult to remove - much more difficult than with some of the illegal drugs and much more difficult, we understand, than with alcohol. Part of the reason for that is that people who are addicted to benzodiazepines are not searching for a high but are simply addicted and need that drug to feel normal.
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