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Alcohol and Tranquilisers Abuse in Australia

The Drug strategic management plan in Australia has provided a report on the current drug situation in Australia. The report indicates that abuse of alcohol has become a major threat to the healthcare system in Australia making it hard for the system to manage the health situation. The report indicates that currently at least ten percent of the Australian population suffers from poverty and loss due to abuse of alcohol with eight percent of alcohol abusers suffering from alcohol-related physical assaults (Degenhardt & Hall, 2012).  The commonly abused prescribed drugs in Australia are those drugs prescribed by doctors as minor tranquilisers since they are the most frequently prescribed drugs by doctors to relieve anxiety and help patients sleep. The two problems, alcohol abuse and abuse of tranquilisers are identified as dire challenges facing the health sector and the society at large.

Alcohol abuse has become prone in states that are not economically stable where most people are low earners with majority of them being jobless youths who spend their time drinking alcohol. The illicit use of alcohol has become a major catalyst for most people engaging in criminal behaviours in the society. There are reported incidents of violent activities and behaviours all, which are triggered by abuse of alcohol as people under the influence of alcohol, tend to engage in illegal activities (Degenhardt & Hall, 2012).   The health workers have perpetrated that the behaviour problems associated with individuals using alcohol has become common compared to any other drugs being abused in Australia.

Although alcohol has been considered a licit recreational drug, which is available in the adult public joints most people have, been found to abuse the drug.  Another report indicates that violent behaviours are associated with the abuse of alcohol since it leaves users in poverty situation unable to sustain their families and therefore result to illegal behaviours like theft and drug smuggling.  In this sense, it is important to know that abuse of alcohol is more likely to lead to irrational psychological addictions behaviour as persons who use alcohol it become addicted to it and are likely to experience diverse moods like anger, violence and agitation (Valenta & Sherman, 2015).  The report also shows that continuous use alcohol in high amounts is more likely to lead to property damage assault or even domestic violence since the users become violent and their reasoning capacity is not straight. However, violence because of alcohol abuse is classified in different categories in relation to the organized crimes of, drug trafficking and abuse (Valenta & Sherman, 2015). 

The biggest problem is in the healthcare perspective in relation to medical and hospital resources and disease management for individuals involved in alcohol addiction behaviours. Note that most states in Australia have reported to have several alcohol-related incidents where innocent people end up injured or even assaulted by alcohol abusers and especially close family members (Mattick & Hall, 2013).  The use of alcohol in Australia has not decreased over the years with new varieties and strains of alcohol addiction and abuse being developed each day.  

The commonly abused prescribed drugs in Australia are those drugs prescribed by doctors as minor tranquilisers since they are the most frequently prescribed drugs by doctors to relieve anxiety and help patients sleep. Statistics indicate that approximately 5 percent of all Australian teenagers between the age of 14 and older have used tranquilizers for non-medical purposes at one time in their lives (Li & Gunja, 2013).  These rates have increased with time as the demand for these medicines continues to increase its demand among the users.  The fact that a drug has been prescribed by a doctor does not mean that the drug is 100% safe for consumption and this misconception makes the public addictive to the drugs leaving them at risk of abusing some of the prescribed drugs (Mattick & Hall, 2013).

The Australian medical association has recently declare that tranquilisers drug addiction and abuse has become a national emergency issue and needs to be addressed with immediate effect due to the rising cases of tranquilisers drug abuse. The Australian rate of prescribed tranquiliser’s addiction has been reported to be the second highest abuse in the world after the United States. Medical professional are now worried that the tranquilisers drug addiction is out of their reach and they can no longer mange the situation. Without any government, interventions to curb the situation the statistics are likely to increase and the addiction to grow (Li & Gunja, 2013).

Together with emerging trends in the nation, there have been an increased drug abuse for tranquiliser’s drugs in Australia maybe to fill the empty space in the illicit drug markets (Valenta & Sherman, 2015. According to Li and Gunja (2013) Pharmaceutical drugs like tranquilisers have been termed as licit drugs to be used for medical purposes only and their manufacturing has been legalised although their use is confined to a medical professional who must prescribe the medication to the patient.  

The numbers of those struggling with tranquilisers drugs addiction is rising each day in the Australian states although the addiction is different for different states as the addiction is associated with the stereotypes associated with drug abuse and social classes (Li & Gunja, 2013).  Once an individual has become addicted to tranquilisers medication, the consequences may be severe and similar for addicts and some may be deadly.  Individuals struggling with tranquiliser drug addiction may need professional help in treatment of their addiction to overcome their addiction. Most of them may not be aware of their addiction but seeking medical help helps one to realize their addiction and handle it before it becomes serious (Li & Gunja, 2013).    

It is important to note that tranquiliser drug addiction is just as substance addiction and it affects the brain in the same way as other illicit drugs do (Valenta & Sherman, 2015).  There are several drug rehabilitation centres in Australia that are keen to provide holistic and effective outpatient services for individuals suffering from prescription drugs addiction trough a procedural treatment approach. The drug problem in Australia has become a major problem in the Australian healthcare sector as doctors try to manage the situation of legal and illicit drug abuse. However, the solution to resolve this problem cannot be reached at since there are several decisions to make as well as sacrifices to meet the desired results (Valenta & Sherman, 2015).  

There is need to consider all factors associated to tranquilisers and alcohol abuse before making any decisions to curb the abuse of these drugs. Some drug abuse incidents are social, legal and economically associated and therefore the problem must be viewed on different perspectives.  This national problem not only involves the healthcare department but a series of departments associated with dealing with national emergencies and especially issues that are health related (Valenta & Sherman, 2015).  These departments need to join forces to ensure that the issue is resolved in the best way possible. Considering that the illicit and licit drug abuse issue has become a great problem for most people in Australia there is a need to curb this problem locally and internationally.

Alcohol abuse amongst other drugs has been developed in the past years with the healthcare system experiencing difficulties in managing these incidents. For many years now, the Australian government has centred on curbing alcohol abuse by developing and implementing new legislations that will help regulate the manufacturing, sale and consumption of alcohol. Consequently, stakeholders in the health sector are concerned about the high levels of tranquiliser drug addiction. The two drug problems present a challenge to the government and the society in their bid to enhance the wellbeing of Australians.