Heroin in Australia
[2] Its origins have been linked to American troops stationed in major cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, who introduced the drug to the red-light districts whilst on their recreational leave.
[2] This epidemic was accompanied by a surge of new heroin users, specifically in NSW and Victoria,[5] as well as a rise in its purity, which was easily accessible.
[3] This is reconfirmed against statistics that show a sharp drop in heroin users who reported the illicit substance as their 'first drug of choice' throughout this period.
[9] The heroin market and its drug trafficking groups were able to flourish during this time due to the prevailing police corruption, especially in NSW.
[9] Historically, Sydney has been the largest point of distribution for imported heroin; in particular, the suburbs of Kings Cross, Redfern and Cabramatta became hotspots for large open-air markets.
[11] This decrease in injecting also saw a reduction in the amount of infections associated with needles, such as hepatitis C.[11] Since the end of the shortage, smoking heroin is on the rise in Australia, in particular, the method of 'chasing'.
[6] Since the drought, the rate of mortality has not returned to its height from the late 1990s, but has risen again recently, as well as a 25% increase in hospitalisations for opioid poisoning, which is thought to be the result of the aging population of users from the 1990s developing medical conditions from sustained drug use.
[2] However, these numbers may be far lower than what is accurate, due to the high metabolism rate of heroin, meaning toxicology reports may not always depict levels of the illicit substance.
[3] The Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS), found that the cohort they interviewed who were regular heroin users, were four and a half times more likely to die than the expected general population rate.
[5] As opioids are the drug most commonly injected in Australia,[2] heroin users are prone to diseases, such as blood-borne viruses, like Hepatitis C and HIV,[3] due to unhygienic practices of sharing needles.
[5] Australian heroin users who are seeking treatment, or are registered at methadone maintenance programs, were four times less likely to die than those who weren't.
[3] The employment status for heroin users is significantly low, confirmed by the findings that the majority of fatalities who died of heroin-related causes were unemployed.
[13] Rooms are rented out to heroin users for a fee, with extra benefits including, but not limited to, 24-hour use or an ambulance being called in the case of an overdose.
[15] The first official legal recommendation for a Medical Supervised Injecting Centre in Australia originated from the 1997 Wood Royal Commission into NSW's police corruption;[14]: 80 however, the trial for one was denied the following year.
[14]: 80 The MSIC was the first supervised injecting room outside of Europe,[16] and it received public backlash from Australia's own Prime Minister at the time John Howard,[17] as well as the Vatican.
[14]: 87 In 2017, in response to a woman overdosing in a fast-food chain in Melbourne's suburb of North Richmond the previous year, a trial for a supervised injecting room was suggested.
