The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

OK
My comments about it getting cold sometimes and the fact I dislike the Beer has sparked some debate.
Let's see what happens with this observation.

Please remember I am not comparing The UK and Australia. I am making observations about my trip about things which we have discussed on here before.

There is a lot of drug Taking in Australia.

I had meetings with a number of peole in the mental health field over the past few weeks.
Drugs are a major problem. They take up a lot of resources in healthcare. There is widespread drug taking in schools.

There are needle boxes in public toilets in even the smallest towns and also in other public places.

While we were there there was widespread debate about school expulsions for drug offences.
There is a lot of discussion about drug misuse in the newspapers.
The use of cocaine etc. among young professionls is similar to here.

In Adelaide the growing of Marijuana is tplerated although there are restrictions on the amount you can grow for personal use.

This is an Observation,NOT an attack on all things Australian.
It is worth some realistic discussion though.

Head down

G

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

Hi G
I know that drugs are found in alot of places but are some worse in Australia than others? My family and I are hoping to go to Melbourne hopefully in September and with two sons aged 12 and 15, it is a concern (as it is here in the UK)

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

Don't know if it is any worse in some places than others. Probably the same as here.
Locals should be able to advise you better.

I am not trying to scare anyone. This subject has cropped up lots of times so I tried to find out for myself.
Some people think it just does not happen.They are wrong.

Best wishes

G

I don't know about hard drugs, but grass is more acceptable over here. I had a friend who got a very acrimonious divorce, down in Hobart, and I remember him saying "She got custody of the dope tree...." and he was serious too. There was a more relaxed attitude to smoking it, certainly down there where life is more laid back anyway.
He did also comment though - he was an expat too - that many kids turned to dope because they felt there was nothing else for them. The insular life of many of their parents meant that they couldn't comprehend anything outside the circle they grew up in. Mention "going overseas" or in some cases even venturing to the mainland, and they would take on a look of sheer terror.
very sad.

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

Sounds the same as the UK to me

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

I agree

That is my point.

G

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

So, what discussion do you want about this?

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

:scared:
Gosh that is scary. Then again I am out of touch with the UK so I have no idea what it is like there.

They run a bit in the daily paper here in Melbourne that gives the number of deaths year to date in Road accidents & drugs.
Road accidents are the big problem but of course in a big city drugs are a hazzard to.
We had to pull our daughter ( 16 year old ) out of school because there was a pretty big drug culture & coming from a small Scottish town she was unaware of most of it but sensible enough to refuse it ^ tell us.
The unfortunate thing was the teachers didn't want involved, didn't know how to handle it so they would clamp down on wromg size earings, wrong coloured hair etc & walk past people in the playground openly dealing.
Funny thing is this was one of the "posher" schools around, we took our daughter out of there & into a lower school where she was happy but unfortunetly the standard of teaching was much lower to.

Shes now 21 & after going through the usual checkout jobs etc she did a traineeship with a bank & is now on a better wage than me, go figure.

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

People asked me to give my views about my visit so I am doing.

There have also been lots of statements by people on this forum in the past that the use of drugs in The UK is one of the reasons they are emigrating.
They don't want their kids exposed to Drugs.

Well they may be in for a shock.

G

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

No need to have yr head down Grayling - it is a worrying issue for parents, I'm sure, and they need to be aware that it is just as bad in Oz as it is in the UK.

Almost all public bathrooms here in Cambridge UK seem to have sharps disposal units - that doesn't stop the users from chucking them in the gutters, hedges, parking lots, kids' playgrounds etc. My biggest complaint about drug addicts is that they are obscenely untidy.....

Anya.

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

OK - now I understand where you are comming from. Observe away....

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Grayling
Keep em coming mate:)
I am interested in hearing your views, even though I might not like them:) But I respect your views at the same time.

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Here Here

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One thing I noticed was the needle boxes in the toilets in Sydney Airport after going through passport control. Now what's all that about ??!!

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

It's quite possible they are there for bona fide users (ie diabetics, those on regular doses of drugs such as interferon etc).

Anya.

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

By brother is an alcohol and drug consellor in rural Victoria, and as he sees it the problems in Oz are no different (for better or worse) than in the UK. Look carefully virtually anywhere in the Western world and you will see these problems.

Alastair

Totally agree with you Alastair

My husband is currently working on an acute admissions ward in Adelaide. He has worked all over the world in mental health, dealing with drug rehab amongst many other things. Australia is certainly no different or worse than the UK.

agree. sadly its everywhere. here in florida, at least in my neighborhood which is an average city, the schools and streets are full of it. and murders virtually every day because of drugs. we all need to do our utmost to be upfront with our children and let them know the horrors associated with drug use. its our only protection because it is everywhere. we are still hoping however that it may be SOMEWHAT less of a problem in a small town than it is here where we live.

Hi PP
How are you?

I was not suggesting that Australia was any different to anywhere else.
Just that it is the same as everywhere else.

Best wishes

G

Hello Grayling

We wont go in too deep as to how i am at the moment...lets just say i was cohersed into a alcoholic binge session yesterday and ive been up all night trying to recover :beer: :rolleyes: :scared:

i know what you meant i was just agreeing with Alastair.

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

Can't speak for Melbourne, but Sydney's pretty bad. In Sydney's Northern Beaches, there appears to be a lot of drug use. Even worse, if you combine it with the surfie scene. Go down to any of the main beaches and play 'spot the needle'. It's very scary, when you've got small kids. It's not just the big cities - even the innocuous small country town : the youngsters are very bored and there isn't a lot to do except drink and (maybe) take drugs.

To be honest, one of the reasons we decided to return to the UK is the level of drug taking - and its relative acceptance - in Oz. Yes, I am liberal but not that liberal.

UK is by no means perfect, but we felt that by bringing our children back here, the risk of being exposed to drugs (hard and soft) was significantly lower.

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Melbourne was labelled the Ecstasy capital of the world a couple of years back...but no doubt Manchester, Amsterdam, Miami, etc, were before that.

It's impossible to say whether UK is better or worse...like many people have said, it's everywhere. However, in Australia, I found it more 'in your face' - possibly because virtually every public toliet does have syringe boxes, and the newspapers have the daily heroin toll, etc...for me, it was more of a reality kick than the UK. I've never had to look at it as a parent before now...but I know it's not a subject you can avoid in either UK or Oz :(

I think the reason it may appear more in your face in OZ than it does in UK is because Oz has a very "outdoors" culture and people will tend to do this kind of thing (along with many others) out in public rather than UK, where it is more often done behind closed doors..not sure if its coz of the weather and warmer climate etc, or just a cultural difference...doesnt mean that it is any the less revalent in UK, just not seen as openly.

We live in exotic Ipswich, UK, about 200 metres from a methadone (spelling?) clinic. Bloke died in the public loo round the corner of an O.D..

Point is, wherever you go in a reasonable size town/ city you'll find drugs, whether it's the UK, OZ, US or whatever.

Gotta just try and find the nice area's to live in.

Paul.

I think its really important to discuss and know about these things - surely everyone does not want to only hear about the "flufy things" in Oz.

We have two kids and I really appreciate knowing about this - thank you.

and again here here,.....
still won't put me off though, my local village secondary school (where i went 20 odd years ago) has become a nightmare, really dreading my daughter going to school there in Sept this year and that has been a major influence in deciding to try an emigrate.
TP

Some posts on here I agree with and others I dont.
I think the Drug culture in Australia is no worse or better than in the Uk but there are differences.

Canabis, I've gotta be honest, I have smoked it but haven't for many years however I don't realy think it's the worse thing on this planet, In my opinion if you dont take the pee and get behind the wheel of a car after having a smoke then I really dont care what you do.

There are a lot of people who are very un-educated when it come to drugs to the point where I have heard people say that people jack up Canabis!!! (my own mother thought it was a white powder)

Cocaine is regularly taken by a huge ammount of people and a large percentage of these are middle class people who you wouldn't think for 1 second are hardcore drug takers, honestly wouldn't suprise me if your local GP(for example) was taking it. It's not all people living in squats robbing the old ladies to feed there next fix.

Ecstacy is £2-5 in the UK so easily affordable to kids, however in Australia I have heard that 1 tablet goes for up to $200, I'm pretty sure that at that price there are a lot more young people in the UK taking them on a regular basis than in Australia.

Basically what I am trying to say is that Drug use is a world wide problem and anyone using drugs as a reason to emigrate is in my opinion very nieve.

As a parent you should be educated on drugs so you do not assume everything that you read in the paper or see on the news is true. Each town/ county etc differs in Drug culture.

If you really know what you are talking about then you can pass that information on to kids without them thinking that you are just an overprotective parent who knows less about drugs than them.

Just my opinion
Kala

I don't think you need to live in a reasonable size town, we live in a very small town 20 miles from a large one, in South Devon. The council have put blue light bulbs in the public toilets to stop the needle users taking a fix in there. Lots of kids at the local school get pulled up for taking drugs at school.

It is everywhere we just need to educate our children about them and hope they listen.

Lindsey

An ecstasy pill is about $25 in the city, not $200, so very affordable to youngsters, and they are very easy to buy in Australia. Party drugs would worry me more as a parent than 'gotta get a fix' drugs like heroin.

Re: The Grass IS greener (and cheaper)
 

In that case, Mike, you will need to keep your kids away from the beautiful dreaming spires of Cambridge. We have one of the worst drug problems in all of the UK here - on Sats, the police spend all day scouring the green open spaces in the city center to pick up the needles dropped on the grass - where kids play & tourists eat their picnics. We live on a fairly smart street, and I routinely find drug usage equipment dumped in our hedge :(

I worked in the City of London for a long time, and drug use is very common, tolerated and openly indulged amongst the well-paid, middle class, adult workforce.

As far as the drugs scene in the UK is concerned, you can run, but you can't hide....

Anya.

As you wrote that, I asked my son how much an e was, you can just imagine his face :D he said 20/25 so same as you that would be party scene Bris or Gold coast. Mull is free! it grows like wildfire here, he says anyone who wants just grows it. He My guess is hes tried mull, think they all would try it once, and certainly loads of booze but I really doubt hes taken anything more serious. Just because its there does not mean everykid will become a druggie.

Agree with that fear. But does anyone have any hard and fast stats on relative death rates between 'party drugs' and 'gotta get a fixes'?

A year or so I went out pubbing with some mates who were all taking E. OK, so it's their choice, if foolish. However, I was amazed when they complained about my smoking a cigarette! They argued that they were in danger as passive smokers, but that, of course, I wasn't going to get anything nasty from their E.

Hmmmmmm......

Anya.

Hi all
When I started this thread I said it was not meant to be a comparison between the UK and Australia.
We all know how those debates end up:rolleyes:

It was simply to point out that there is a very real problem (probably worldwide). There always has been.

It may surprise people that there were plenty of drugs around when I was a teenager nearly 40 years ago.
A night out at a disco was not complete without a few amphetamines to keep things swinging.

Remember Purple Hearts,French Blues, Black and Brown Bombers,mandies. Mary Jane etc.

In fact I worked on a drug rehab unit in 1972.

Australia is no different.

G

Too right, G.

My Dad (now in his 80s) now freely confesses that he smoked dope when he was at college more than 60 years ago!!

Anyone else got dopehead parents...? :scared:

Anya.

surprised at the amount of drugs or that it's nearly 40 years since you were in your teens?? ;) :D

Both:D :p

G

Mull does grow everywhere and it's widely cultivated, as you say. Woe betide anyone who gets busted for mass cultivation as all states regard it as a serious offense.

Yep
But lots of people grow it on a small scale for 'personal use'.
That seems fairly well tolerated.

Makes up for the Beer:D

G

I had a cousin who grew it via a sunlamp in the closet of his caravan. Fairly low maintenance plant.
:D