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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 JUNE 2018 2 NEWS MASSIMO COSTA THE strength of drugs on the market and the risk of people becoming completely dependent on them is increasing, Mat- thew Berry, an Australian psychologist focused on drug abuse and addiction, said Berry was speaking at a national confer- ence on drug use – 'A Drug-Free Life – Together with One Aim' – held in Parlia- ment yesterday, which saw a number of persons involved in the field discuss dif- ferent facets of the drug problem. "There are two clear trends," he under- scored, "Firstly, whatever the drugs are, their intensity has increased over the dec- ades. Drugs are now more powerful than before – pretty much every drug is now more intense than what it was 20 or 30 years ago." "There is now a polarisation of drug use. The slope from using a drug occasionally, to becoming totally dependent on it, is now much steeper than it was a few dec- ades ago," he said. The second trend, he continued, was the increase in the sheer variety of drugs available. "Poly-drug use has become the norm. We see a pool of compulsive behaviours – drug use, gambling, and pornography addiction, for instance." There is the illusion that drug addiction is a male problem, but it is evident that women are far more likely than men to be at risk of addiction to prescribed medica- tion, he explained. "We need to progress from a traditional patriarchal view of the problem and start to focus on all members of our commu- nity," he said, "We must see if our drug abuse services appeal to the majority of the population." Drug traffickers 'agents of death' Speaker Anglu Farrugia said 4% of Mal- ta's population had at some time or other in their lives used drugs, with 2,000 seek- ing treatment in local detox centres every year. Farrugia highlighted that, in 2015, Mal- ta had registered the highest rate of drug deaths per capita in Europe – 27 deaths per million. "Drug traffickers have to be regarded as agents of death. They deserve no mercy for the suffering they are causing people," he said, adding that addressing issues re- lated to drug use had to be given national priority. Echoing Farrugia's sentiments, Social Solidarity Minister, Michael Falzon, spoke of the need to fight the drug prob- lem, which can only be solved through society working as a team with a singular aim. Calling the conference "historic" – the first time the drug issue was discussed at length in Parliament – Falzon said an emphasis had to be placed on helping young people deal with drug problems. Remaining drug-free requires constant work Clifford Galea – a former drug addict who now regularly gives talks on the dan- gers of drug abuse – described how, de- spite various academic achievements and a successful career, social pressures in his life had led him to resort to drugs. "An addict's life is not easy – we need to give people more information on what such a life involves. Being clean for a pe- riod does not mean this will continue to be the case," he said, "It's like when you have diabetes – you have to constantly work on remaining clean." "It is unfortunate that drugs make a lot of money for those who sell them, but can render a user penniless," he said. "Some people are born into families which use drugs, so they don't really know any better. We need to show addicts that we are there to help them – they are often scared of ending up in prison, or getting into trouble with their dealer." Galea said that many drug addicts do not understand that the authorities are out to help them. "An addict lives 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for drugs. It is a reality that they cannot stop taking drugs, despite all the problems caused to them by their ad- diction – they are not in control, so we shouldn't point fingers at them," he un- derscored, "We need to explain to them that there are people who want to assist them." Drug policy based on evidence Professor Richard Muscat, former chair of the national commission on drug abuse, said he believed evidence-based policy was essential, and this relied on having information available on drug- related trends in Malta. Of all sixth formers in Malta, 450 of them are using cannabis, and of those, one in ten – around 45 to 50 young peo- ple – will become addicted, he highlight- ed. "In the past year, we've sat down with the minister and with the relevant agen- cies, and created a service to help these individuals. So, the evidence resulted in a solution to the problem," he said. Muscat said the reasoning behind the 2015 drug dependence law, which aims to treat drug users instead of imprison- ing them, was also based on the evidence showing that treatment was better than sending a drug addict to prison. Mail order synthetic cannabis Drug expert, Godwin Sammut, spoke of an "explosion" in the number of new syn- thetic drugs, the effects of which are not clear yet, since 2015. "In Malta we are seeing synthetic can- nabinoids, which are used as cannabis substitutes and are not yet regulated. They are cheaper than cannabis and can easily be ordered through the internet, although a lot of them are discovered by customs before they arrive to the user." "Some people don't even know they are smoking synthetic cannabinoids when these are mixed with tobacco in a joint," Sammut said. Drugs remove brain's ability to learn from mistakes Professor Alexander Baldacchino, a consultant psychiatrist on addiction working in Scotland, said the problem with any type of drugs was that they "hi- jacked the brain's reward system – the things that make you happy". "Few people know that drugs also re- move the brain's ability to learn from past mistakes," he underscored. Regarding cannabis, he said those sus- ceptible to certain psychotic conditions would experience them quicker if they used any form of cannabis. Psychiatric issues and addiction; two sides of the same coin Psychiatric conditions can lead to drug addictions, psychiatrist Anton Grech said, such as social anxiety leading to al- cohol abuse. However, drug abuse can also lead to psychiatric conditions, such as cannabis leading to psychosis, or alco- holism leading to dementia later in life. Addiction and psychiatric issues were the same problem seen from different angles, he emphasised. Mirroring Grech's views, mental health commissioner John Cachia said addic- tion was a chronic illness related to men- tal health. "33% of patients admitted to hospital with mental health issues have a drug ad- diction," Cachia said, "Even more worry- ingly, 80% of those aged 18-44 in mental health hospitals in Malta and Gozo have a drug problem." There was now agreement that the drug problem required a national response, however, Cachia recommended that we need to go a step forward, with a joint na- tional approach being drawn up in Malta, aimed at dealing better with he problem. "All those involved in the field should meet up and come up with a holistic ap- proach in order to tackle this issue," he said. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt National conference on drug use held in Parliament, with experts saying drug variety has "exploded" Drugs now stronger than ever before, expert says