DRUG and alcohol specialist Dr Julaine Allan says while the lifestyles depicted on the SBS documentary Struggle Street may make sad viewing, at least it’s prompted people to talk about drugs use in society.
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In Wednesday night’s episode of the series, set in Sydney’s Mount Druitt, a pregnant woman and her mother were shown sharing cannabis, while another episode showed a young ice addict’s tragic battle to overcome addiction.
“It’s really sad but it’s how some poor people live,” Dr Allan, who works for the Lyndon Community, said.
“There are people in Orange with very little money who also have health problems, and physical problems.
“Theses people aren’t just poor, they’re also sick.”
Dr Allan said while it’s easy to pass judgment on the drug users who appear in the series it’s important to remember how addictive drugs can be.
“Once people get a dependence on a drug it’s really hard to give it up, just ask anyone who’s tried to give up smoking,” she said.
Dr Allan said she was surprised there’s been such a furore over the footage which shows a pregnant woman smoking cannabis.
“I can’t see how smoking cannabis could be any worse than smoking cigarettes,” she said.
Dr Allan said while a dependence on drugs such as ice and cannabis was an everyday problem for some Orange residents, prescription drugs such as the chronic pain drug fentanyl was a growing concern.
Dr Allan said typically a person who uses fentanyl is an experienced drug user who shops around various doctors until they get one that will prescribe it for them.
“I think doctors need to know more about the illicit use of the fentanyl because many think it’s a better option than oxycontin but it’s actually more dangerous,” she said.
According to Dr Allan not only is fentanyl highly addictive, it can also prove fatal with people in rural areas more likely to die from use of the drug than people in urban areas.
In most cases fentanyl, which is sold as skin patches, is extracted by boiling the patches in an acidic liquid, however this makes it hard to measure dosages.
Dr Allan said many drug dealers now sell fentanyl, at around $50 for a quarter of a patch.
Dr Allan is presenting a paper on drug use in rural areas at the National Rural Health Conference in Darwin later this month.
tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au
