Managing drug addiction, Australian way

By Herbert Vego

THE latest report from the Department of Health of Australia reveals that “one in six Australians have a drug addiction.”

This was reported online last Thursday (October 16, 2025) by Dr. Kent S. Hoffman and Jessica Miller of AddictionHelp.com.

The “country down under” has an estimated three million of its residents addicted to prohibited drugs.  Most or 2.8 million of them are cannabis (marijuana) users.

Medicinal cannabis is legal under federal law. While its recreational use is not generally permitted, it has been decriminalized in the Northern Territory and South Australia, and is legal for personal use in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

But it is a crime to sell illegal drugs. Criminal consequences vary depending on the quantity of the drug. The most serious offences carry a penalty of life imprisonment.

“Drug addiction is not considered a crime; it is a disease that requires medical attention,” said our resource person for this article.

He is Denmark Suede — a Sydney, Australia-based Filipino nurse whose late father, broadcaster Eddie Suede, was a close friend of this writer.

While on vacation here in Iloilo City, he told me about his involvement in rehabilitation of Australian drug dependents.

“I administer methadone to them,” he quipped.  It is available for free in certain rehab centers.

Methadone, an opioid to treat extreme pain, doubles as treatment for addiction. Available in tablet, powder and liquid forms, it blocks the “high” the user gets from addictive drugs..

Crackdown is not strictly enforced unless necessary.

“You can sniff marijuana in Australia,” Suede explained. “The police will not arrest you unless you drive a motor vehicle.”

Obviously, it’s because, like alcohol, marijuana impairs judgment, motor coordination, and reaction time. Studies have found a direct relationship between its blood concentration and impaired driving ability.

Suede said that while there is vigorous drive by the Australian government to rehabilitate drug dependents, they are never treated as criminals unless they commit crimes.

Suede attributed peace in Australia to its small population that partakes of its huge material wealth. Its land area is almost as big as the United States but its current population of 27.2 million is less than one-fourth of the Philippine population, which is approximately 118 million,

His logic is believable when contrasted with the Philippine setting where shabu pushing among the poor is directly related to the need to make both ends meet.

“How can I feed my family on an income below the minimum wage?”

It is a common excuse heard from shabu pushers who risk life and limb to keep their loved ones alive.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show poverty incidence in the Philippines fell to 15.5% in 2023 from the 18.1% estimate in 2021. This translated to 17.54 million poor Filipinos, 12.26% down from 19.99 million in 2021. This exceeded the 2023 poverty rate target of 16-16.4%.

The poverty incidence target for this year stands at 12-13%.

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MORE POWER DOES IT AGAIN

RESIDENTS of Iloilo City are happy over the announcement of MORE Electric and Power Corporation on substantial reduction in electricity rates for October.

Residential customers will see rates decrease from ₱12.44 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in September to ₱11.087 this month; and commercial customers, from ₱11.760 per kWh to ₱10.405.

Rate fluctuation is usually due to sustainability of power supply generated by power plants, since generation charges account for the bulk of a consumer’s electricity bill.

“By actively participating in market opportunities and negotiating long-term power supply,” MORE Power President/CEO Roel Castro told this writer, “we’re able to keep costs down for our consumers without compromising service reliability.”

MORE Power has the reputation of charging the lowest rates in Western Visayas most of the time. The lower the rates, the better the chances to expand.

Within only five years of operation in Iloilo City, it has boosted its clientele from 62,000 to more than 100,000 customers.