ACR211 - Policy Report: Addressing Drug Use in Rural Victoria

This report addresses the escalating issue of drug use, particularly methamphetamine, and its impact on crime rates in rural Victoria, Australia. It highlights the disproportionate effect on young people, leading to increased robberies, interpersonal crimes, and public drug use. The report emphasizes the need for a social crime prevention approach, focusing on factors like poverty and lack of education, and proposes measures such as community-based support groups, job creation, and educational initiatives to combat drug abuse. It also discusses the limitations of current drug policies and suggests a shift towards harm reduction strategies alongside community engagement and political support. The report concludes with recommendations for short-term and long-term activities, including education, policy amendments, and area development, to foster a safer and more prosperous environment for the youth of Rural Victoria. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and resources for students.

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CRIME, PREVENTION AND SECURITY
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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Project Description................................................................................................................................3
Limitations.............................................................................................................................................4
Key issues..............................................................................................................................................4
Future Directions...................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9

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CRIME, PREVENTION AND SECURITY
Introduction
Rural areas in Australia have been affected significantly by drug use where most of
the young people have engaged in the crime. One of the most affected areas is the Rural
Victoria, where the Crime Statistics Agency report said the number of people using and
possessing drugs is double those that used them in the last five years (Hemphill et al. 2011).
The report was based on police reports, where the number increased rapidly, mostly in the
small towns. For example, around the Gisborne-Macedon area, which is in the north of
Melbourne, drug use has increased by 300 percent in the last few years (Coomber et al.,
2011). Chris Major, who is the police Inspector of the area, said that the many policies put
against drug use have contributed to more crimes in the area. The issues have attracted the
attention of many community members in the area because the effects of drug use have
impacted those (Degenhardt et al., 2010). For example, robbery cases have increased, where
many houses have been robbed in towns. Interpersonal crimes like a child and elderly abuse
have also increased, as well the public toilets being used as points to abuse the drugs.
Therefore solutions to the problem ought to be developed.
Project Description
The aim of the project is to develop a social crime prevention method, for Rural
Victoria. The reason for a social approach is due to the idea that drugs used in the area have
affected the young people mostly, indicating that peer pressure must have played a role. One
of the notable aspects of the issue is that social factors, for example, poverty and lack of
education have contributed to most of the young people engaging in the crimes. Therefore,
developing the approach would have several benefits to the area. One is that crime rate would
reduce because people who abuse drugs engage in crimes than the other population (Law et
al., 2010). The other benefit is that development in the area would be experienced, as people

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would take part in legal activities that lead to development (Rouch et al., 2015). With that,
the future of the young people would be better, leading to fewer reports about crimes in the
area. The social crime prevention approach would, therefore, aim at reducing drug use and
selling in the Rural Victoria, by the application of the necessary measures in ensuring that the
public is safe.
Limitations
The research has several limitations, which may affect the reliability of the
information given. One is the on reliable data, which limits the scope of the research. Most of
the reliable studies have been conducted in the United States and relating them to Australia is
hard as the people involved are different. Few people have specifically decided to study the
Rural Victoria region, making the study too hard as a comparison is not possible. The other
limitation in this study is on sample size. Considering that the data needed involves an illegal
act, it is clear that the data to be collected would be gotten from police information which is
at times little. Therefore, the conclusions to be made could be wrong as the sample taken is
too little, yet the people affected are too many. Apart from that, there is the possibility for
wrong information from the community people. Since it is known that drug use is a crime,
when the researcher asks the people about the activity, most would deny as they have the
attitude that if they said the truth, some people would suffer for example being sent to jail.
Even though the community members who do not use the drugs wish that the practice is
prevented, they do not readily identify the issue. The researcher is therefore required to rely
on observation, which is time wasting and may not get as much information as the action is
privately carried out.
Key issues
The key issues noted in this situation are on what the policymakers need to do, and
how well the Victorian Community would accept the recommendations for drug use

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prevention. As said by the Inspector of the place, the lawmakers have played a role in
increasing drugs use and possession in the place. This is by putting in place strict laws against
drugs usage in the nation not considering the addicts. According to data, most of the people in
the area have been addicted into the drugs, meaning that despite the laws, they would engage
in any activity so as to get the drugs (Strang et al., 2012). On the other hand, the people
selling the hike prices, where the addicts are forced to break houses and steal so as to get
money used to buy the drugs. In short, putting in place laws against drug use is not the
solution to the problem. The policymakers should, therefore, lessen the laws to make the
struggle for the drugs less so as to reduce the number of crimes in the area. However,
legalizing the crime would also not solve the issues, if other actions like educating people are
not ensured.
The other key issue relates to the community and their attitude towards the crime.
The possibility of the society accepting recommendations are high because most have
complained that drug use has not only affected peace and harmony but poses risks in the
near future (Auerbach &Hoppe 2015). Thus, the people would work together with the change
makers to prevent the practice in the area. The other reason as to why they would accept the
recommendations is because the issue has affected a specific population that is the young
people where the rest would wish that it is stopped. However, implementing the measures
could be tough as most of the people affected to believe that it is not possible refraining from
the practice, indicating that some factors should be considered so as to get the social and
political support of the initiative. One of the factors is to communicate effectively to the
people (Oberschall 2017). In this case, the people engaging in the activity should not be
condemned but should be accepted which is the first step to stopping the activity in the area.
While seeking for support politically, leaders should be involved in the planning process, for

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them to understand the need of preventive drug measures for Victorians (Reiman &Leighton
2015).
Future Directions
Regarding the condition at Victoria, several recommendations are helpful in making
the young people avoid drugs. One is on education, where people are to be informed about
several issues. One is about the dangers of drug taking, for example, health wise (Schuckit
2013). Young people should be informed that taking drugs leads to health issues that would
require huge amounts of money to treat or death. Also, the education should inform them of
the social and economic problems realized in taking drugs for example violence and poverty
(Foxcroft et al., 2018). Educating the people is necessary as most do not know the effects of
the substances, as they are illiterate. Educating people on ways to prevent the substance is
helpful, mostly to those that have not started using those (Carson et al., 2017). On the other
hand, educating addicts do not end the practice due to the addiction aspect. Therefore, the
other recommendation would be on establishing community-based groups to help the addicts
stop the behavior gradually. Notably, it is not possible for an addict to stop abusing drugs at
once, but where gradual steps are taken, the people would change. For example, if a person
took the drug three times a day, they would be advised to take twice, and then after some
time, they take once and eventually they would stop the practice. The other vital
recommendation is to create job opportunities for the people, as this would ensure that they
are not idle. Considering that the place is rural, it is expected that jobs are rare, leading to the
people being idle and thus engage in substance use. The government should, therefore,
provide jobs to the affected which is useful in making them refrain from the activity.
Currently, several policies are evident, though they are not specific to the Victoria
area. For example, in 1985, a national campaign was launched which was to fight against
drug use in Australia (Evans et al., 2015). However, the laws were not much effective, which

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has led to the development of policies, aiming to reduce drug use in the nation. one, there
have been the use of social marketing campaigns as well as the distribution of information
products, that have informed people on ways to prevent drugs. There have also been the
developments of community projects that have implemented some policies in preventing the
practice (Moore et al. 2015). Peer education policies are also evident, where the young
people have been informed on ways to prevent using and possessing of drugs (Vitry et al.,
2015). In addition, laws to alter the supply of illicit drugs into the nation, as well as internal
production, have also been applied in the war to fight drugs in the nation (Lancaster et al.,
2017).
In curbing drug use in the area, short and long-term activities are needed. The short-
term activity is on educating people on problems related to substance abuse in terms of
health, economy and the social life. The other short-term activity is on involving political
leaders in the planning process; of developing measures to assist the affected quit the
behavior. The long-term activities, on the other hand, involve the implementation of gradual
steps in helping the affected people recover. For example, letting the affected reduce the
number of times they use drugs, which would eventually make them recover. The other long-
term activity is on making amendments in the policies against drug taking, which would
make the situation better as discussed above. Job creation and area development are also
necessary, making the people occupied and thus reduce the urge for substance abuse.
In implementing the option of educating people, several considerations are important.
One is on finding out specific areas that have been affected by the behavior. Even though the
entire Victoria is affected, there are small towns that need more care than the others. Where
the points are identified, the educators should, therefore, put more emphasis while planning.
Also, the cause of the behavior should also be known. With information on that, the educators
would determine the suitable information to pass to the people. For example, if the cause is

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poverty, it would be right to teach people on how to boost their economic status.
Determining the number of people affected and their educational level is also important, as it
guides the informers on the educational tool to use and the language that the people would
understand.
In evaluating the performance of the said options, data comparison would be carried
out. For example, police records would be used in comparing the number of crimes recorded
in the place before the implementation of the measures and after. The other way is through
interaction with the people of the area while asking them on how the implemented measures
are helpful to the community.
Several negative consequences would be expected from the listed recommendations.
One is that the people educated would be different from those that are affected. This would
happen, where the addicts are not willing to change and therefore would not listen to the
informers. The other negative aspect is that the gradual way of making the affected people
change would not be consistent. If that happened, the options would be said to be unhelpful,
as the people would recover for some time and later get back to the behavior.
Conclusion
In conclusion, basing the paper on Victorian drug use and possession problem, it is
clear that the condition is solvable. The paper has described that the issue has affected the
area in terms of socialization and economy, requiring a solution. On that note, the solutions
needed are several, where their implementation would solve the problem. One is that the
policymakers should reduce the number of laws made against drug use, as they have not
reduced the behavior and have led to other negative issues like robbery. The other solution is
educating the people on ways to prevent the practice and the effects. Also, developing
gradual steps in making the affected youths refrain is also useful as well as creating jobs for
them to get occupied and improve their economy is helpful.

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Carson, K.V., Brinn, M.P., Labiszewski, N.A., Esterman, A.J., Chang, A.B. and Smith, B.J.,
2017. Community interventions for preventing smoking in young people. Health.
Coomber, K., Toumbourou, J.W., Miller, P., Staiger, P.K., Hemphill, S.A. and Catalano,
R.F., 2011. Rural adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use: a comparison of students
in Victoria, Australia, and Washington State, United States. The Journal of Rural
Health, 27(4), pp.409-415.
Degenhardt, L., Coffey, C., Carlin, J.B., Swift, W., Moore, E. and Patton, G.C., 2010.
Outcomes of occasional cannabis use in adolescence: 10-year follow-up study in Victoria,
Australia. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 196(4), pp.290-295.
Evans-Whipp, T.J., Plenty, S.M., Catalano, R.F., Herrenkohl, T.I. and Toumbourou, J.W.,
2015. Longitudinal effects of school drug policies on student marijuana use in Washington
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Foxcroft, D., Ireland, D., Lowe, G. and Breen, R., 2018, April. Primary prevention for
alcohol misuse in young people. In Society for Social Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting &
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