Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President, with Steve Price, Radio 2UE
PRICE: As I said, as a parent, one of the fears I have is the use of illicit drugs by our children, particularly teenagers and I really do have a problem with Ecstasy and so-called rave parties and, I just don't think we have a very good handle on exactly what drugs like Ecstasy are doing to the minds of young Australians.
There's a conference on in Canberra, today. The AMA is hosting it. It's a National Drug Summit. President of the AMA Kerryn Phelps, has been good enough to join me. Good morning again, doctor.
PHELPS: Morning, Steve.
PRICE: Do we know what Ecstasy, do you think, is doing to our children's minds?
PHELPS: Well, I think we're getting emerging evidence of long-term harm to the brain of people who use a lot of Ecstasy. One of the interesting things about Ecstasy is that it seems that the more somebody uses it the less they get the positive effects and the more they get the negative effects of it. So I think we are a long way from having all of the evidence that we need, but I think we certainly have enough evidence, at hand already to know that it's not something that's particularly good for you.
PRICE: One of the problems with Ecstasy, of course, doctor is that unlike Heroin you don't see the evidence of use with things like syringes, you simply - people are taking a tablet and so parents somehow don't think that it's an issue. Marijuana smoking, even you have all the paraphernalia, with Ecstasy you simply go to one of these dance parties, you slip an Ecstasy tablet and you might drink a lot of water, but that's the only evidence of some parents that their children are actually using it.
PHELPS: Well, this is true and I think one of the issues for young people is that they see lots and lots of their friends and contemporaries using substances like Ecstasy without coming to any harm or rarely hearing instances of harm and they think it must be harmless. But we do, of course, know that there have been some facilities related to Ecstasy and that we are seeing the emerging evidence of long term problems with the brains of people who have been using a lot of Ecstasy.
So I think it's important that we take a sensible and measured attitude to the use of party drugs, because I think if you say it all has to be stamped out immediately and tomorrow, that's unrealistic.
PRICE: Well, it won't happen.
PHELPS: And so what we need to do is to look at ways of minimising harm associated with the party drugs and a lot of that is going to be about having as much information as possible and having that information available to young people so that they can make reasonable and responsible decisions for themselves.
PRICE: So what would you be telling a young person after today's summit about the use of Ecstasy?
PHELPS: Well, I think that in the first instance if you want to completely eliminate harm then don't take anything that's going to affect your brain.
PRICE: But as we know, kids will say to us, well, stop drinking then.
PHELPS: Of course, and so, we have to take a much more realistic approach to that and, if somebody is surrounded by a culture where people are taking these substances, I think that they need to know that first of all they don't necessarily know what they're buying. It's not easy for the manufacturers to come by the substances required to manufacture Ecstasy. It is a variable make up, the actual substance that people are taking, they don't necessarily know what they're getting. I think that if they are getting what is considered to be Ecstasy then they need to know how to manage that and things like drinking water at a particular rate during the night, looking out for each other, looking out for signs that there is a problem, knowing that you can get medical attention on a non-judgement basis, that it's much more important to get the medical attention than worry about the consequences.
PRICE: Well, good luck with today and, as long as I'm here I'll continue to campaign against people just treating Ecstasy as some party drug that is harmless because it's obviously not.
PHELPS: Well, clearly, and I think with a growing popularity of rave and dance parties, the use of party drugs and the whole range of party drugs is increasing and it's creating problems for families in the community and I think it's important that we get on top of this and to actually formulate as a community responses to what is actually an emerging public health challenge.
PRICE: Good on you. Thank you. Doctor Kerryn Phelps there and we'll go back to her in a week or so and find out exactly what it's achieved there.
Ends