Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2757 ..

MR SPEAKER: Did you want to take a point of order, Chief Minister?

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister): Mr Speaker, I would like to table the two pages of Hansard that I was quoting from, pages 1152 and 1154. They show categorically what I said. I quoted exactly.

MR SPEAKER: I present, for the information of members, a report of a trip undertaken by me, Greg Cornwell, MLA, to Philadelphia, USA, from 6 to 10 August 1997.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care): Mr Speaker, I ask for leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the ACT's drug strategy for 1995-97.

Leave granted.

MRS CARNELL: The problems arising from drug use, including alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical products and illicit drugs, represent the biggest public health issue facing Australia today. It is estimated that one in five deaths in Australia is drug related. This year 23,000 Australians will die from drug-related causes, and over 250,000 Australians will be hospitalised for drug-related conditions in 1997. It is also estimated that the misuse of drugs costs Australia over $18 billion every year.

The ACT Government is deeply committed to the prevention and reduction of harm related to alcohol and other drug use within the Territory. This position is outlined in the ACT drug strategy 1995-97. The ACT drug strategy, in common with the national drug strategy, is based on the principle of harm minimisation. This principle is based on the recognition that there is a range of harms arising from and associated with the use of drugs. Therefore, no single approach or limited set of strategies can adequately address the possible range of harms.

A harm minimisation approach to alcohol and other drug problems utilises a range of strategies including demand reduction, supply control, abstinence, problem prevention, rehabilitation, education and information. The ACT drug strategy recognises that problematic drug use needs to be addressed in a consistent, coordinated and integrated manner across all sectors of the community, especially between health, education, community services and law enforcement agencies.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .