Mr CADMAN (3:01 AM) — The issue I want to raise is the problem of drug abuse in Australia. I have received some interesting information from Mr Bill O'Grady, who is Vice-President of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce and a former pharmacist in the area.

Mrs Crosio —Phill—P-h-i-l-l. He lives in Strathfield.

Mr CADMAN —I do not want to get into the local politics of Cabramatta so much as to deal with Mr O'Grady's professional assessment, having worked in that area for many years, of the drug programs.

Mrs Crosio —He is a pharmacist.

Mr CADMAN —Yes, he is a pharmacist. Mr O'Grady has said that Australia is the methadone world champion. He is not very proud of the record that we have and he is not convinced that we are adopting the right tactics to deal with the drug problem. As a pharmacist in an area where there has been much press comment about the drug trade and drug abuse, Mr O'Grady has had the opportunity to observe the methadone treatment program at first hand. He says that Australia has the equal highest rate of use of methadone in the world. The New South Wales rate of use is 50 per cent higher than the average Australian use. Our methadone program will expand by 50 per cent because, he says, the New South Wales drug summit held two years ago encouraged the use of methadone as one of the techniques to control the use of hard, addictive drugs. Methadone is used to wean people off heroin, and yet there has been a continual expansion in the use of heroin and methadone. Mr O'Grady says the programs have not worked and that it is difficult to see why other harm minimisation strategies, such as needle exchange programs and drug cautioning systems, will have any impact on the growth of illicit drugs.

Mrs Irwin —What did Cabramatta get— $76,000 out of $50 million?

Mr CADMAN —If you want to make an intelligent contribution, it is about time you started. The real concern is that children being able to carry twice the amount of illicit drugs compared with adults takes advantage of the laws in New South Wales. I think the suggestions he makes are worthy of consideration and I would like the House to really apply its mind to helping solve these problems. The fact of the matter is the government has instigated massive programs, something the previous government did not do—but I am not raising that tonight as a matter of criticism. I think a range of techniques is needed, and Mr O'Grady offers some thoughts.

He suggests a dramatic expansion in detoxification and rehabilitation programs. You have only got to talk to parents to know how difficult it is to have any young person gain entry to a detoxification program. Sometimes they have to wait weeks—six weeks, eight weeks; sometimes there is no longer a life or future for them by the time they get there. So detoxification is a critical program, but it must be followed by appropriate rehabilitation programs.

Mr O'Grady believes that there should be rigorous enforcement to cut the supply of illegal drugs and that drug dealing should become a priority crime. He also says that there should be a written instruction from the Commissioner of Police to every area commander in New South Wales, revoking his December 1998 decree that left drug dealing out of priority crime categories. I do not know whether or not that is right; I assume that it is.

Mr O'Grady also advocates objective policy evaluation which would compare the results of shooting galleries with the results from Naltrexone, the Bridge Program and Odyssey House. Let us line them up, properly evaluate them, see where the results are and then back those programs that are achieving results. He urges continuation of the federal government's drug awareness campaign with fresh advertising and truthful information about the impact of drugs, and recommends federal funding to implement an anti-marijuana-smoking message equal in intensity to the anti-tobacco campaign. I believe that that is probably right, too. Mr O'Grady also advocates a full implementation of clause 3.9 of the New South Wales drug summit recommendations with regard to quality assurance of the methadone treatment program. I believe that that is a very thoughtful contribution from somebody who is both professionally and experientially qualified to offer some serious comments about illicit drug use in Australia.