National Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Strategy Background Paper: Monograph Series No. 69
4.6 Summary
Many of the prevention activities that target illicit drug use in general have relevance for ATS use (e.g., school drug education; school drug policy; building community and individual social capital). Unfortunately, while there are a number of activities that aim to specifically prevent and reduce ATS use and related problems, there is a dearth of quality evaluations and scientific literature that can attest to the value of many of these strategies.
The Australian Government’s National Drug Strategy includes funding for community awareness programs as a means of preventing drug use. Prevention and harm reduction strategies aim to prevent or delay the onset of drug use, protect against associated risks and reduce associated harms. Prevention strategies include, but are not limited to, mass media campaigns, school-based activities, peer education, and strategies targeted at specific groups or behaviours at high risk for drug use and/or related problems.
Mass media campaigns aim to raise awareness and provide information at a broad population level. Examples include the National Drugs Campaign and in relation to ATS, the ‘Putting the Brakes on Speed’ campaign. School-based activities are largely designed to prevent the initiation of drug use and are implemented in the education context. The Australian Department of Education, Science and Training has developed ‘Principles for School Drug Education’ to guide such activities, which, for example, have been applied in designing the Resilience Education and Drug Information program. Peer education approaches have been used both to prevent the uptake of drug use and to reduce problems in those already using. Evidence suggests peer education is particularly suited to younger persons and in accessing populations that would not otherwise present to health or drug specialist services. AIVL has developed a framework for peer education and an example of such an initiative is RaveSafe, delivered by VIVAIDS in Victoria. With regard to ATS, campaigns are needed that specifically target young people; certain workplaces; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and CALD populations; parents and families; and the general community.
Harm reduction strategies generally target risks and harms of drug use associated with particular routes of administration, intoxication, regularity of use and dependence. Within these categories, strategies may be aimed at developmental effects, physical or health outcomes, personal safety issues, mental health consequences or impacts on social wellbeing. As with prevention strategies, particular groups and/or behaviours are associated with higher risks and harms. With regards to ATS, some targets that have been identified include gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender populations; injecting behaviours; and regular users of ecstasy and related drugs. Also of consideration in harm reduction is the potential role of methods to assess the risks of illicitly manufactured drugs, such as tests of purity and content.
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There are a number of challenges to applying prevention and harm reduction strategies to ATS use and related problems. Of note is the large number of ATS users who do not identify themselves as drug users and are therefore unlikely to access services or resources. Another issue in designing strategies is the need to target a diverse range of ATS users, using environments and user practices. At present, there is limited evidence to guide activities targeting ATS use.
A related issue is the need to build the capacity of the workforce to engage in and successfully implement prevention and harm reduction strategies. Again, this is complicated by the absence of contact many ATS users have with health and other services, and therefore a range of professionals need to be informed and trained in relation to ATS.
Both the literature and experience of many involved in the consultations indicate that the development of campaigns must anticipate outcomes which are evidence based. Strategies need to be targeted to particular populations (e.g., injecting users, professionals, long distance drivers), regions (e.g., urban, rural and remote), contexts of use (e.g., nightclub scene, home use) and specific types of ATS (e.g., campaigns will be different for ecstasy than for methamphetamine). They need to be informed by theories of attitudinal and behavioural change, and may benefit from the involvement of current or ex- ATS users in developing campaigns. Finally, a variety of media outlets including night venues, internet and other new technologies (e.g., mobile phones) should be used for wide dissemination of materials.
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