We often hear about new policies and programs that promise to improve the lives of Australians. But what about the issues that are too stigmatised, too taboo, too awkward for policymakers to address? In this new series, the 'Too Hard Basket', we dive deep into topics affecting Australians who often don't get a voice. There's shame, there's stigma, and there are swathes of secrecy, leaving these stories often untold.
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We often hear about new policies and programs that promise to improve the lives of Australians. But what about the issues that are too stigmatised, too taboo, too awkward for policymakers to address? In this new series, the 'Too Hard Basket', we dive deep into topics affecting Australians who often don't get a voice. There's shame, there's stigma, and there are swathes of secrecy, leaving these stories often untold.
Opioid use in Australia: have government restrictions avoided the crisis faced in the USA?
The too hard basket
11 minutes 46 seconds
1 year ago
Opioid use in Australia: have government restrictions avoided the crisis faced in the USA?
Most of us might be familiar with the term 'the war on drugs'. In the US, it's been waged since the 1970s, when then President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act and declared drug abuse as “public enemy number one.” But today, it's not so much illicit drugs but prescription medication that the US is fighting, with deaths from prescription opioids reaching crisis levels. Authorities in Australia have been keen to avoid a similar emergency here, introducing restrictions in 2020 to limit their supply. In this episode of the Too Hard Basket series, SBS looks at how effective these changes have been so far - and what else needs to be done. This is the first in a three-part series investigating drugs in Australia.
The too hard basket
We often hear about new policies and programs that promise to improve the lives of Australians. But what about the issues that are too stigmatised, too taboo, too awkward for policymakers to address? In this new series, the 'Too Hard Basket', we dive deep into topics affecting Australians who often don't get a voice. There's shame, there's stigma, and there are swathes of secrecy, leaving these stories often untold.
