‘We’ve all got a drug problem, let’s find a real solution’ is the theme Brisbane City Council used in a broad based community awareness campaign. The campaign aimed to stimulate public debate and dispel some of the stereotypes surrounding illicit drugs.
The key message was that some of the current approaches to the problem are not working, and that new and innovative strategies are required to reduce drug related harm in the community.
Using print, radio and television, the campaign ran from September to November last year.
In a follow up telephone survey, some 40 percent of respondents said they had seen or heard messages from the campaign.
The survey found that previous support for tougher laws and more policing had fallen sharply. Only 30 percent, or half the previous number of respondents, advocated increased law enforcement as a solution.
Brisbane City Council took on the task of tackling drug issues in 1998 following concerns raised during community consultations.
This led to Lord Mayor Jim Soorley establishing an Illicit Drug Taskforce.
The Taskforce’s report, released in September 1999, contained a Drug Action Plan outlining specific strategies to reduce illicit drug related harm in the community.
The report emphasised the importance of developing a whole of community response to this growing problem.
A key recommendation of the Lord Mayor’s Illicit Drug Taskforce was the community awareness campaign.
To ensure community participation and ownership of the process, a series of community forums, chaired by the Lord Mayor, were staged concurrently with the awareness campaign.
The forums, held in each of Council’s four regions, gave people the opportunity to comment on the strategies and initiatives contained in the Drug Action Plan and to discuss these with a panel of local drug experts.
A booklet released in May this year covers the outcomes of these forums, and community responses to Brisbane’s Drug Action Plan.
The general consensus from these meetings was that the community is prepared to embrace changes that will save lives, get more users into treatment and rehabilitation rather than prison, and make the city a safer place for everyone.
For further information contact Sean Hodgson, Program Officer Community Safety, telephone (07) 3403 4734.
