Number 68 - November 2013

The AUSTRALIAN LIONSDRUG AWARENESS

FOUNDATION

Our MissionTo develop, promote and educate the community through the Lions Drug Awareness Initiatives and to encourage clubs and individual Lions to promote these initiatives within their community.

“Creating a happier, healthier and safer community”

ALDAF Gets Fresh FacedAfter being a recipient of the inaugural FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grants, ALDAF through their youth website www.tuneinnotout.com will be going Fresh Faced in 2014 to raise awareness and promote positive body image to young rural Australians.

ABC Heywire is a competition held each year for rural young Australians to tell their story about living in rural Australia. The finalists from each state and territory get to meet in Canberra where they have the opportunity to design and create new youth initiatives. This year community organisations were invited to apply for funding to take a concept and make it a reality.

TINO applied for the positive body image project, Fresh Faced Friday, an awareness day to be held in August 2014 that celebrates and promotes positive body image and invites young people to show their support by undertaking tasks such as going without make up for a day.

TINO is now working directly with the young people behind the concept to bring their idea to life and promote the day nationally. On the awareness day, Fresh Faced Friday will be asking schools, community groups, universities and work places to get involved – drop TINO an email now to mark your interest and let’s make the day a great success crew@tuneinnotout.com.

N E W S L E T T E R

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Young Australian’s telling it like it is at the Heywire Summit.

The WOW factor certainly comes to mind when writing this article for our newsletter. Of course I talk about the continued success of one of our major projects, Tune In Not Out. ALDAF are certainly getting a fresh face after being a recipient of the inaugural FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grants. Read more in this article. TINO also received a Positive Body Image Award after our youth website had been named a finalist. Well done team, this is really keeping our Foundation at the cutting edge.

Our friends at (ADF), The Australian Drug Foundation, are certainly on the front foot with many new school resource packs. Ideal for secondary school teachers, these interactive learning tools are designed to support the delivery of alcohol and drug education programs within schools.

Workplace issues are very concerning across the country and a very regular question is –

How common is drug use in Australian workplaces?

According to one study, more than 1 in 20 Australian workers have worked under the influence of alcohol, and almost 1 in 50 report attending work under the influence of psychoactive drugs? This behaviour is significantly more likely among young, male, never married workers with no dependent children.

Industries at high risk of having employees drinking alcohol or using drugs at work include hospitality, construction, financial services and those that employ tradespersons and unskilled workers. A 2008 study covering alcohol and drugs (excluding tobacco) found that they account for approximately $5.2 billion in lost productivity costs. However, more recent data that just covers alcohol (2013) suggests that this could be higher as alcohol-related problems are estimated to cost Australian society $6 billion in losses to productivity. A massive cost not only to productivity but financial as well.

The Foundation over the last 12 months has been reviewing our operation both internally and externally and I must say for a volunteer organisation representing Lions in the drug sector, we punch pretty well above our weight.

Another strong focus is on –

Good governance principles and guidance for Not -For- Profit organisations. Our Foundation is not only working closely with other Foundations in Australia, but overseas as well, as our resources are in huge demand. In our early days with the Drug Education Network in Tasmania they were heavily involved with FASD and it’s great to see the work continued.

Help make FASDF history

Pregnant Pause encourages expectant dads and parents-to-be to take a break from alcohol while their loved one is pregnant. Participants will join the Pregnant Pause community to raise funds to support children and families living with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). I believe that Drug Action Week was a major success across the country and a recent National Conference by (NDARC) highlighted –

Drug trends in Australia – 2013

Last week the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) conducted their annual National Drug Trends conference. This is a key event for the alcohol and other drug sector, where the trends from the 2013 Illicit Drugs Reporting System (IDRS) and Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) are delivered along with presentations on complimentary research. The IDRS and EDRS offer one of the richest sources of information about usage trends amongst people who identify as regular users across Australia

It is amazing what our partners are producing across the country; two that have crossed my desk this week are a facilitators manual on –

Tasmanian Teen Drinking Law

Also – Party Rules: A guide for parents of young people

This is supported by our Foundation as well as Tasmania Police and the Drug Education Network.

Keep up the good work one and all.

David Daniels OAM Chairperson.

DenLion David Daniels - Chairman

New Psychoactive Substances (aka ‘synthetics’) updateNew psychoactive substances (NPS) are being developed at an unprecedented rate and have become a major issue of concern around the world. Governments are struggling to respond and laws are constantly changing. This alert provides an update on what’s happening in Australia and New Zealand.

NPS are also known as synthetic drugs, new and emerging drugs (NEDs), legal highs, herbal highs, research chemicals, drug analogues, and synthetic cannabis.

Australian legislation update

Over the last month the New South Wales (NSW) Government has brought in new laws to ban NPS. The laws bring selling and possessing NPS under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 and means a ‘blanket ban’ on anything that has a psychoactive effect other than alcohol, tobacco and food. It will also result in more enforcement powers including tougher penalties. Last week the South Australia (SA) Government introduced similar laws to parliament. These approaches follow the one taken in Queensland earlier this year.

The SA Government has identified that a national approach is still needed to respond to the sale of NPS online.

Using the misuse of drugs acts is a very different approach to the current interim bans in place under federal, SA and NSW consumer law, which are listed on the Product Safety Australia website. These bans require the constant addition of newly identified substances and often it is difficult for the law to stay ahead of new drugs. There is also less enforcement powers associated with consumer law than the misuse of drugs.

New Zealand legislation update

New Zealand has recently taken a very different approach to Australia. Earlier this year New Zealand passed legislation that will enable the regulation of NPS as legal products. While the regulatory system is being developed a number of interim retail and product licences have been granted for untested NPS. However, a number of these licences have recently been revoked demonstrating that interim period regulations and enforcement powers are in place.

Summary of the New Zealand Psychoactive Substances Bill

The New Zealand Psychoactive Substances Bill sets up a legal framework for the testing, manufacture, sale and regulation of NPS.Health and harm minimisation are included in the Act.

The New Zealand Psychoactive Substances Bill sets up a legal •framework for the testing, manufacture, sale and regulation of NPS.Health and harm minimisation are included in the Act.•Restrictions will be placed on the advertising, marketing and age •of purchase (18+).Rigorous clinical testing of products will be implemented to •determine if they are ‘low risk’.Animal testing can only be used if there is no alternative.•If a product is made available and is later found to ‘cause harm’ •the product can be removed from the market.A register of all products will be available publicly.•A code of practice for manufacturers and retail suppliers will be •implemented.

The Australian Drug Foundation will monitor the progress of these legislative changes and provide updates through DrugInfo Alert.

Overview of the critical issues

NPS are designed to mimic existing illicit drugs.•NPS have proliferated in recent years and 250 have been identified •worldwide.The financial value of the trade in NPS in Australia is estimated at $600 •million per annum.Little is known about the long term effects of NPS or their chemical •structure.Distribution via the internet reduces the capacity of governments to control •the supply.Past government responses have become redundant as NPS manufacturers •avoid the law by changing the chemical structure of existing NPS.

Health and safety

Reports of non-fatal overdoses from NPS are increasing and there appears to be a need for specific health and safety advice for alcohol and other drug clients and the broader public.

Use of a NPS always carries some risk, especially as it is hard to know exactly what the substance is, or how strong it is. Using an NPS is always more dangerous when:

The whole dose is taken at once or multiple doses are taken over a •short period.It is combined with another substance such as alcohol or cannabis.•It is used alone, or in the company of a person who is affected by alcohol •or other drugs.It is taken by a person who is affected by a mental health problem.•

Reprinted courtesy of Australian Drug Foundation

Alcohol and Ice and Depression DVD’s still availableThe Foundation now has three very professional DVD’s available for purchase - Alcohol and Your Brain, Ice and Drugs and Depression., These have all been widely sought after, even overseas.

The DVD’s take a look inside the human body to study the effects that these drugs have. The imagery and multimedia techniques make these DVD’s quite unique and, more importantly, very informative for young people.

They are all around eight minutes and talk in a clear concise manner about the effects of these drugs. The Alcohol one sells for $19-95, the Ice one sells for $22-95 and the Drugs and Depression one sells for $19-95. All prices include GST and postage.

They are great for any school or public library or anywhere where young people may get access to them.

Please order via the order form on the back page of this newsletter.

TINO receives Positive Body Image AwardIn August, our NSW Director Elvio Munzone headed to Sydney for the annual Australian Government’s Positive Body Image Awards for which our youth website www.tuneinnotout.com had been named as a finalist.

We are delighted to announce, as a recognition for the work we do in the area of body image with young people, we received the Highly Commended Award in the Health and Wellbeing category. This is a huge achievement and recognises how we are always striving to deliver best practice information to young people.

On the same day it was also announced that ALDAF, for the TINO project, had been successful in receiving a grant for $10,000 by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) as part of the ABC Heywire program to develop the positive body image project; Fresh Faced Friday – see the front page for more information.

Supporting Youth HealthNovember is an important month for TINO, as they once again run their annual fundraising campaign Tune In Not Out to Youth Health (TINO:YH). Across Australia, Lions Clubs will be running fundraising BBQ’s and handing out TINO promotional materials, whilst online young people will be sharing their tips and stories of navigating life’s challenges through the share your story competition.

If you would like to know more, or would like to make a donation to TINO so that we can continue this award winning project contact us at crew@tuneinnotout.com or 03 6265 8732.

New Aldaf WebsiteKeeping with the Fresh Faced theme, our foundation’s new website is live at a brand new address www.aldaf.org.au with a fresh new look.

The website features information about all of our projects, including the Quest program, award applications and an online shop for our growing range of alcohol and other drug resources. The online shop aims to make it easier to browse and order our resources from the Alcohol and your Brain DVD, to drug and alcohol pamphlets and promotion stickers. We have been delighted to see orders coming via the shop already.

Please visit and take a look around www.aldaf.org.au

Contact Sonya Brannelly Project Coordinator 0418193660

DRUGS AND

DEPRESSION

©2012 3Dme Pty. Ltd. tel: +61 7 5529 7266 www.youtube\3dmecreativestudio

Our Goals• Toprovidethehighestqualityadvice,guidanceandservicetotheLionsfamilyandtheir communitiesoneducationinrespectofdrugandalcoholabuseprevention.• Todeveloptheroleandinvolvementofthefoundationineducationanddrugabuseprevention.• Topromotetheworkofthefoundationwithinthecommunity,similarorganisations, andalllevelsofgovernmentandtheirservices.• Toprovideongoingsupport,traininganddevelopmentfordistrictdrugawarenesschairmen.• Tomonitordevelopmentsineducationanddrugabusepreventionandgovernmentinitiatives.• Topromotematerialdevelopedbythefoundation.

David McKenzie - SecretaryAustralian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation Inc.PO Box 530 Springwood QLD 4127

For details on Foundation projects or to make a donation, contact:

Phone: (07) 3341 3900 Fax: (07) 3341 0525 ABN 39 392 805 774e-mail: aldaf@bigpond.net.au Home Page: http://www.aldaf.org.au

ORDER FORMPleasemakechequespayabletoThe Australian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation,andsendtoPoBox530,Springwood,Queensland4127.

Enclosedisacheque/moneyorderfor$ forthefollowingitems.

Pleasesendmethefollowingfreebrochures(nominatequantityrequired):Extra newsletters(PricesincludeGST,postageandhandling)

The Big Night Out $79.95A interactive board game to encourage adolescents to make safe choices.Movers & Shakers Cards $45.95 A package to stimulate students ideas and actions in groupsKids and drugs - A parents guide video $33.95A video and booklet package to help parents deal with drug situations in the home.Boswells dilemma CD-ROM $29.95An interactive package for primary children on the subject of medicines.Big book on drugs $6.25A 26 page booklet in easy to read cartoon style about drugs.Big book on cannabis $6.25A 20 page booklet in easy to read cartoon style about cannabis.Big book on party drugs $6.25 A 20 page booklet in easy to read cartoon style about party drugs.Mind your Head $8.95 A book of some things you might want to know about Drugs and Mental Health Hugs not drugs badges (minorder50) 60c eachSimple pin on badges with a strong message.Hugs not drugs stickers (minorder100) 15c eachSimple stickers with a strong messageIce DVD $22.95 A9minuteDVDoutliningthedangersofIceanditsderivativesAlcohol DVD $19.95 A7minuteDVDdetailingtheeffectofalcoholonthebrainandotherfactsDrugs & Depression DVD $19.95 A10minuteDVDdetailingthelinkbetweendrugsanddepressionandotherfacts

*10 Steps to help your child be smoke free $30 per 100A brochure to assist parents who wish to stop their children from smoking.* 10 steps to help your child brochure $30 per 100A brochure with 10 steps to help your child say no to drugs*Getting along brochure $30 per 100A brochure to assist parents and adolescents get along together.* Safe partying brochure $30 per 100A brochure to assist parents and young people with parties.* Quit smoking brochure $30 per 100A brochure to help children and adults give up smoking.* Cannabis brochure $30 per 100 A brochure to understand the dangers of Cannabis* Party Hard brochure $30 per 100 A brochure outlining how to have a great party but safely* Worried brochure $30 per 100 Is someone you know taking drugs? What can you do?* Worry Free Teenage Parties brochures $30 per 100 A brochure helping parents ensure their teenagers have safe parties

Alcohol Posters $6.00 per set A set of 6 colourful posters on alcohol awareness#Cannabis Poster $2.00 (min 5)Colourful A3 sized poster ideal for laminating#Standard Drinks Poster $2.00 (min 5)Colourful A3 sized poster ideal for laminatingPamphlet Holder $2.00 Asturdyholdertoplaceinformationbrochuresondisplay

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Discounts for larger quantities

(* These brochures may be mixed to a minimum order of 100)

(# These posters may be mixed to a minimum order of 5)