
Richmond locals are ‘furious’ over Yarra City Council’s proposal to install a memorial plaque in the notorious corner or Victoria and Lennox Street to remember drug-overdose victims.
Despite State Coroner’s recommendations, a proposal for medically supervised injecting centres was taken “off the table” recently by the Victorian Government.
Instead, the government proposed $1.3million in funding for outreach services, overdose prevention education and improved accessibility for Naloxone- an opioid overdose medication.
Sex Party MP Fiona Patten introduced the bill to Parliament after a mother’s fatal heroin overdose. ‘Mrs A’ died in a Richmond fast food restaurant while her children waited for her outside.
Ms Patten said that Naloxone’s wholesale stock has been “regularly unavailable” and that peers and family members face a “very complicated process” in administering the drug.
She asked the Minister for Families and Children if the government expects “ordinary members of the community encountering overdoses to sort of fumble with needles and syringes before administering what could be a life-saving drug…”
The Coroner said, “The Victorian mental health system should be considered in developing any strategy to reduce drug-related health, social and economic harm”.
Dr James Rowe, who has researched and taught drug policy in universities for over a decade, says that “Often the [drug] dependency is due to mental pain; to psychological pain.”
He says “You want to address a drug issue, you need to address its roots. And the roots are people who are marginalised, people who are excluded, people who don’t have opportunities to work.”
Dr Rowe also battled heroin addiction for more than 20 years. “I have known people that died that wouldn’t have died if Naloxone was available. It should just be part of your injecting equipment.”
He says “There’s more often than not a couple of hours between an overdose and death and, more often than not, there are people present….and they can’t afford to draw attention to their criminal activity.”
He says that to achieve policy reform, the public’s perception of a “junkie” needs to change: “[Addicts] might have jobs they can’t afford to lose, a house or a repayment they have to pay, a family they don’t want to break up.”
“If the money spent on enforcing drug policy was poured into social infrastructure it would be a lot more effective than addressing the ‘drug problem’” Rowe says.
“Any example of people going up against the dominant narrative that has been in place for a long time shows how incredibly difficult it is… and that’s what politicians should be doing… they know, they know.” he says.
Alcohol and Drug Clinician Mathew Coconozzo says that “[addiction] needs to move into a domain that is health-focused and really shifting it from a law and order issue because there needs to be a better answer to the way that we’re always doing things.”
Mathew says addiction is “a very complex disorder to understand and, because of its complexity, it takes a lot of coordination between services to actually get some meaningful outcomes for people in the long-run.”
According to the Coroner’s 2017 report, pharmaceuticals are still Victoria’s biggest killer. Usually taken with other drugs, it claimed 477 lives in 2016–363 more than yearly road deaths.
The report also found that Victorian overdose deaths have increased steadily since 2009 and that it was a multitude of drugs, rather than a single drug, causing most Victorian overdoses.
Available via adrenaline EpiPen in surrounding states, the Pharmacy Guild advised Ms Patten that Victoria will use Naloxone via pre-filled syringes.
Naloxone is available over the counter without prescription after receiving a Schedule Three listing in February last year. Sales of 400-microgram mini-jet dispensers began in June, selling for $99.98 as wholesale stock.
Under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Naloxone costs $37.50 and $6.10 for concession holders.
