NEWS: Herald Sun - 10/1/2006 'Drug dealers aim at children'

[hoptis]

Drug dealers aim at children
Shelley Hodgson, Sam Riches and Cara Jenkin
10 Jan 2006

CHILDREN as young as 10 are turning to drugs.

And cannabis, pills and even heroin are often easier to get than alcohol.

Western suburbs social worker Les Twentyman said children were targets in schools, on the streets, and at rave parties.

"In the drug scene it's all about money, and they don't care if they're children or whatever," he said.

"All they care about is that they flog X amount of drugs to maintain their cartel," he said.

"They don't see them as human beings; they see them in financial terms.

"I have had kids as young as six purchasing heroin in Footscray."

The boy was buying the drug for his mother.

Open Family youth worker Jamie Boyd said he had noticed in the past 10 years that drug users were getting younger. Once someone had broken into the drug world, scoring became very easy, he said.

"If young people really want to track it down, it's not too hard for them to do it," Mr Boyd said.

Mr Boyd, who works in Footscray and the city, said he came across teens as young as 15 and 16 popping ecstasy.

"With a lot of young people I speak to, alcohol isn't their main choice of recreational substance. They're looking for other sources."

Ecstasy provided that for many of them, and at up to $50 or $60 a pill, it could provide a cheaper night out than drinking, Mr Boyd said.

He said taking multiple drugs -- poly-drug use -- was common. "It's like a three-course meal -- you can have alcohol as your staple and other things to accentuate the alcohol for the evening."

Mr Boyd said it was common to come across 10-year-old cannabis smokers. He had even found 10 and 11-year-olds smoking heroin.

Police say statistics show overall use among 10 to 13-year-olds is minor; 17 and 18-year-old youths account for most of those caught with drugs.

The convener of independent research group OzTox Collaboration, Dr David Caldicott, said drugs were easier for under-age people to buy than alcohol.

A hit of Fantasy -- otherwise known as liquid ecstasy or GHB -- can be bought for a few dollars.

"Fantasy is actually cheaper than alcohol, not only easier to get," Dr Caldicott said.

From Herald Sun

A classic scare piece aimed at parents. Must be holiday season over at the Herald Sun building as it took three "journalists" to put this together.

I'm not arguing that drug users are getting younger and that this is a disturbing trend, but articles like this that highlight a problem but never go furthur than that in asking "why is this happening" or "what solutions are there to address it" don't help anyone.

 

[zaineaol.nu]

Geez, the scare tactics are good...

Heh, i find the pricing they say for E a bit odd... considering they mention it's cheaper than a night on alcohol? howso? alcohol (enough for most kids to get pissed) would cost about $10-$15 as opposed to the price of a single pill (i guess two novice kids could go halves, and it would work out somewhere around the same). But christ, unless your buying from some absolute rip off source no pill will cost you $60 in melbourne, i think these writers need to get better information.

Who still calls g "Fantasy"? Answer: No one.. i'ver never heard the term fantasy, so why won't the fucking media just start calling it by it's most common street terms - G, Juice... pretty simple really (although i have heard of heroin refered to as juice).

Now alot of that information is true, but kids scoring H for their mums? it's the parents who need be fucking prosecuted - these parents are just plain fucked. I sit and wonder if these poor kids are informed about what mum does with the strange powder he buys from the asian round the back of footscray station?

Actually, looking back about 4 months ago. I met a girl who was about 16, she was an old friend of the friend i was with at the time. Anyway, whilst catching up, my friend and i couldn't help but notice the obsvious side effects of heroin abuse (teeth, skin..). My mate popped the question, she told all - she'd been using heroin since 14 - her MOTHER gave her the first hit - and to add to that, using it I.V since then. I was so disgusted. We proceeded to ask if she'd ever tried E, she told us she hadn't and didn't care, she loved H. It was really sad - not for the girl, but the fact that her mother caused this - the one person with the most influence over a child, the person who's job it is to teach right from wrong. I guess this matters not, as right and wrong are only distinguished by opinion.

Please keep in mind, i have nothing against heroin users, i just thought this particular case was really sad and off putting - i have some good mates who use H and thats their problem/desire i'm not one to tell them they shouldn't.

 

[Teddles]

we've got the same story but re-written in S.A. in "the Advertiser"

"The call comes as new South Australian police statistics show children as young as 10 are being treated for drug abuse.

Of all South Australians caught with drugs and referred to police treatment and education programs, more than half are juveniles, according to the unaudited police data.

Describing the use of amphetamines as an epidemic, Mr Atkinson said it would be "quite sensible" to reclassify ecstasy and other amphetamines from middle-of-the-range to the status of more serious drugs such as heroin." The Advertiser".

its very funny how you have Dr David Caldicott commenting on something in melbourne then in adelaide, maybe it just a cut and paste by the news corp group, holiday time indeed. it'd be intereting to see where this story originated from.

is there drug courts in the eastern states to deal with drug offenders like we have in S.A.?

 

[hoptis]

^^^ Thanks for the heads up, found it.

PS. I dare say, this article is a lot better...

Child drug access 'too easy'
By SAM RICHES
10 Jan 2006

SOUTH Australian children as young as 10 are turning to drugs, with cannabis, pills and powders often easier to obtain than alcohol.

Police statistics, which are yet to be audited and released, show that among juveniles, the majority of those caught with drugs and processed through the Police Drug Diversion Initiative are males aged between 10 and 17. Of all South Australians caught with drugs and referred to PDDI treatment and education programs, more than half are juveniles, according to Detective Chief Inspector Peter Harvey, officer in charge of the drug and alcohol policy section.

"You have to ask yourself how they can even be exposed to these drugs," he said. "It's concerning that young people might even be near drugs, but it is dangerous if we don't recognise that it is happening and don't do anything about it".

Police say the statistics show overall use among 10 to 13 year olds is minor, with 17 and 18-year-old youths accounting for the majority of those caught with drugs.

Convener of independent research group OzTox Collaboration, Dr David Caldicott, said all recreational drugs were easier for underage people to buy than alcohol. A hit of Fantasy - otherwise known as liquid ecstasy or GHB - can be purchased for as little as a few dollars.

"Pills (ecstasy) are still more expensive than alcohol and so it puts a limit on young people using it - they are usually very well educated professionals," Dr Caldicott said.

Dr Ben Wells, a psychiatrist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital who counsels teens with substance abuse problems, said he has noticed younger users becoming more prevalent, and the younger the user, the greater the impact on their health and lives in the future. "The acceptance of drug use with young teenagers is probably a part of it," he said.

Dr Caldicott said anti-drug campaigns need to exploit young users' fears, rather than focus on side affects which are lethal but uncommon.

The Advertiser

 

[ayjay]

^pathetically similar to the Scum piece. How can those losers call themselves journalists? It was probably printed in MX first the day before...

Funnily enough, the article/s provide a good argument for legalisation. People under 18 can buy heroin, ecstasy etc more easily than alcohol because alcohol is legal, hence regulated...

 

[Cazoom]

That's a good point you make, ayjay. Though I don't believe I'll ever come to see the day that ecstasy is legalised/decriminalised.

 

[xcidium]

How exactly do those articles show that Drug Dealers are 'aiming' at children? Yes, they probably sell to kids but how is that the fault of the Drug Dealer?

Maybe the junky parents should be to blame, but wait, no-one wants to read about that.

 

[static_mind]

Who still calls g "Fantasy"? Answer: No one.. i'ver never heard the term fantasy, so why won't the fucking media just start calling it by it's most common street terms - G, Juice... pretty simple really (although i have heard of heroin refered to as juice).
.

Everyone I know on the Goldcoast calls it Fantasy or Fanta. I doubt they even know what the substance really is.

 

[.:Foxy Moron:.]

Couldn't Herald Sun think of a better article to fill its useless Tabloid Newspaper?
Personally, if these kids have such corrupt minds to destroy their puny little brains at such a young age, then they should deserve the consequences of what a drug can do to them, but they shouldn't be ripped off by buying X at such a ridiculos price.
And how are drug dealers aiming at children?
As the article states "They don't see them as human beings; they see them in financial terms."
This article is a Sham.
*reads The Age instead*

 

[johnboy]

I did a really long interview with the Herald Sun last week. Looks like they decided to go with this sensationalist angle instead. Quelle supris.

 

[gher]

I'd like to know where and when Dr. Caldicott said the things he was quoted on.

 

[SteveElektro]

What a flaming load of turd.
Typical considering the source though.
I wonder what Andrew Bolt would have to say on the topic. Probably not much, I imagine he'd be busy chaining up his children in his basement.

 

[lady grey]

Firstly $60 a pill LOL! thats a joke and just shows that the information they have is heresay. Kids are starting young these days i dont doubt that for a second but as for the reasons why, that they discribed in this article it is totally inacurate. alcohol was easy to buy back in the day, most kids figure out a sneaky little way to get it. Doubt any 10 - 13 year olds have a dealer right next door willing to sell them drugs and also where do these kids get the money to buy them?? i doubt dealers will be targeting young kids who most likely have no job & no money asking $60 a pill.

 

[psytaco]

I would think that most kids in the age range of around 10-13 probably either steal or are given drugs by family members rather than buying from dealers (thats not to say it doesn't happen though). Just seems like the usual drumming up people's fears of the moral crisis of drugs and those terrible inhuman dealers coz the journalists at the scum can't be arsed investigating a real story on that day.

I wonder what Andrew Bolt would have to say on the topic. Probably not much, I imagine he'd be busy chaining up his children in his basement.

LOL . I was laughing hard about that for a while.