Breaking news: Drug alerts are helping us stay safe.
NUAA and NDARC have collaborated on research asking how people engage with drug alerts. The results show – what we already knew - that drug alerts are making us safer.
Drug alerts have emerged as a critical tool in our ongoing efforts to promote harm reduction and community safety. Until now, there was very little known about what happens in Australia after drug alerts are released.
In a groundbreaking collaboration between NUAA and NDARC, we delved into how people engage with drug alerts, and the results are in: drug alerts are playing a crucial role in keeping us safer.
What Are Drug Alerts?
Drug alerts are timely notifications issued primarily by health agencies, including harm reduction organisations like NUAA. These alerts warn individuals about higher-risk substances circulating in illicit drug markets. By providing vital information, drug alerts empower us to make informed choices about our drug use and serve as reminders to practice harm reduction strategies.
The Research Findings
The research used an online survey to ask people who use drugs across Australia about their awareness of, responses to, and preferences for drug alerts. Basically, we wanted to know if people were seeing alerts, their reactions to them and what they want from future alerts. The findings were enlightening:
Increased Awareness: Over half of the respondents remembered the most recent drug alert they encountered, mainly related to MDMA, methamphetamine, or cocaine. Furthermore over 50 per cent of participants said they shared drug alerts with friends, family, or acquaintances.
Trusted Sources: Drug checking services and harm reduction organizations emerged as the most trusted sources of drug alerts, highlighting the importance of peer-based and community-driven initiatives. Government health departments and law enforcements were the least trusted organisations.
Impactful Behaviours: Respondents reported adopting various harm reduction behaviours in response to drug alerts, such as safer dosing practices, obtaining drugs from trusted sources, using less frequently, and seeking information from reliable sources. Twenty per cent of respondents said they avoided using the specific drugs mentioned in the alert while 18 per cent stopped using the type of drug mentioned in the alert. More than 40 per cent said they changed their behaviour because of the drug alert.
Desired Information: A significant proportion of participants expressed a desire for ongoing drug alerts combined with updates on general drug market trends, emphasizing the importance of continuous information dissemination. Two thirds of participants said they sought further information after seeing an alert.
What about drug checking?
The survey results underscore the effectiveness of drug alerts in encouraging harm reduction behaviours and showed we are safer when we are able to make informed decisions about our drug use.
Although the research didn’t ask directly about drug checking services, the results show that we want to make informed choices about our use, helping to highlight the need for accessible drug testing services across all state and territories. The establishment of fixed-site and event-based drug testing services in certain regions, such as the ACT and Queensland, marks a positive step towards ensuring safer drug use practices. NUAA continues to advocate for the introduction of confidential drug testing services in NSW, echoing the need for comprehensive harm reduction strategies nationwide.
Looking Ahead
This innovative research reaffirms the critical role of drug alerts as a harm reduction tool and emphasizes the value of collaborative efforts between peer-based organizations and government health services. By staying informed and advocating for accessible harm reduction services, we can collectively work towards safer communities and empower individuals to make informed choices about their health and well-being.