Risks and Use of Alcohol and Drugs by Indigenous Australians

Alcohol and Other Drug Studies
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Abstract
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have distinct language sets and traditions. Their health status and well-being have been a matter of concern over the years, with the alarming concern over their use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD). Since they were exposed to alcohol and drug use by the British colony, they became a community that took alcohol fewer times than the indigenous community. However, they take in excessive quantities that pose a considerable threat to their health when they do. The patterns of AOD use show a vast rift between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities, with the indigenous community being more affected by AOD use. The harms of AOD use include unintentional drug-related deaths, increased sexual and familial violence, victimization, homicide, and criminal acts. Additionally, AOD use affects the economic well-being of these communities through the hefty costs incurred in treating drug-induced illnesses. Several factors deter the indigenous communities from seeking healthcare services. These barriers include lack of adequate healthcare services, hefty healthcare costs, long waiting hours, trust issues among the indigenous people, lack of transport, and access to telecommunications. Prevention and treatment recommendations are adopted from evidence-based strategies that help correct the problem.
Introduction
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are referred to as indigenous Australians, who have their own distinct language sets, history, and traditions. These indigenous Australians' health statuses and welfare are different from those living in the big cities, considered non-indigenous. The use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) has become a significant issue among indigenous communities. However, AOD use is not counted as part of their culture. People consumed weak and diluted alcohol in the past, and consumption was controlled by various traditional rules (CSPM, 2022). They believed that sicknesses and ill health were not caused by AOD use but due to black magic, witchcraft, and sorcery. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had traditional and cultural healers who had vast knowledge of local ailments, and the knowledge was passed from generation to generation. These healers used herbal bush remedies and spiritual intervention treatments to correct pain, grief, and suffering (CSPM, 2022). Over time, the healing methods were lost and forgotten, and people started relying on alcohol and other drugs to cope, heal, and survive.
The British colony, which arrived in Australia in 1788, exposed and introduced the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to alcoholism. Their arrival led to the opening of pubs, which shaped the manner in which the communities developed over the decades (CSPM, 2022). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander laborers were paid using alcohol or tobacco. Alcohol became abused to the extent that the white settlers would give these men alcohol and trick them into fighting. The essay will discuss and evaluate the differences in patterns of AOD use, harms of AOD use, barriers to seeking treatment, and prevention and treatment recommendations among the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.
Patterns of AOD Use
There is a vast health gap that exists between the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders and non-indigenous Australians. Tobacco use was identified as a factor contributing to disease prevalence among Indigenous Australians (AIHW, 2022). Tobacco use was attributed to causing twelve percent of the accumulative disease burden and a twenty percent gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. While Tobacco use has been noted to decline in Australia, it remains elevated among the indigenous Australians. Between 2018 and 2019, tobacco smoking among indigenous Australians declined from 54.5% to 43.4%. On the other hand, between 2017 and 2018, tobacco smoking among non-indigenous Australians declined from 23.5% to 15.1% (AIHW, 2022). Indigenous Australians have a higher chance of smoking even in pregnancy compared to non-indigenous Australians. In 2019, indigenous pregnant women were three and a half times more likely to smoke than non-indigenous pregnant women (AIHW, 2022).
Apart from tobacco, alcohol also significantly increases the risk of disease prevalence. Studies from different sources show that Indigenous Australians have a higher likelihood of abstaining from alcohol compared to non-indigenous Australians. Alcohol abstinence among indigenous Australians increased from 25% to 29% in 2019 (AIHW, 2022). Alcohol consumption trends among non-indigenous Australians show a consistent decline trend compared to indigenous Australians (PAAC, 2022).
The use of illicit drugs significantly contributes to the overall disease prevalence in Australia. In 2018, illicit drug use led to 6.9% of disease prevalence among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (AIHW, 2022). The most common drugs include opioids, amphetamine, and cannabis. Males are reported to engage in more illicit drug use compared to females. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people mostly use Marijuana, Hashish, and cannabis resin. Illicit drugs reported to be used in smaller proportions include heroin and cocaine (AIHW, 2022). Generally, the indigenous Australians engaged more in illicit drug use compared to non-indigenous Australians.
Harms of Alcohol and Other Drugs use
AOD use presents several negative implications on human health, economic well-being, and social well-being. Studies have found that ten percent of the indigenous Australians either lived in a household where there was a person who smoked daily. Additionally, approximately 15 percent of children from the indigenous community lived in a household where there was a smoker. These statistics explain the overwhelming state of deaths related to alcohol overconsumption among the indigenous people. The death rate among indigenous Australians was approximately 23.8 per one hundred thousand population from 2013 to 2017 (AGDH, 2022). On the other hand, the rate of deaths related to alcohol overconsumption and abuse among the non-indigenous Australians was approximately 4.7 per one hundred thousand population from 2013 to 2017 (AGDH, 2022).
Unintentional drug-related deaths are a significant concern among the indigenous Australians compared to the non-indigenous Australians. In 2019, the rate of unintentional drug-related deaths in a hundred thousand people was three times higher for Indigenous Australians than the general Australian population (Conigrave et al., 2021). However, the rate of deaths and illnesses due to AOD use uses volatile calculations since the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are in smaller numbers compared to the non-indigenous Australians. AOD use causes an overwhelming disease burden in Australia, but it also causes accidents, injuries, and mental illnesses (Zheng et al., 2022).
Additionally, AOD use also impacts society negatively among the indigenous communities. Social harm in these communities can be seen through increased sexual and domestic violence, victimization, homicide, and criminal acts. Economically, AOD impacts the indigenous community through increased household care costs, costs incurred in treating illnesses, and decreased individual productivity (Islam et al., 2018).
Barriers to Help-Seeking
The harms related to AOD significantly affect the community, family, and the individual, yet most indigenous Australians with AOD use disorders do not seek help and treatment. Several barriers deter the indigenous Australians from seeking the much-needed help and treatment. One common barrier to help-seeking is the lack of adequate healthcare services, accompanied by long waiting hours (Doyle et al., 2020). Additionally, healthcare costs have been reported to be among the barriers to help-seeking among indigenous Australians. Additionally, most indigenous people reported that they experience trouble trusting the local healthcare service providers (Gray et al., 2018).
Other barriers to help-seeking include the lack of transport and access to telecommunications among these communities, especially those living in remote areas. Lack of transport is a significant issue that limits access to decent healthcare services. Approximately 66% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have limited vehicle access, especially in drug use emergencies (Lee et al., 2019). The rate of access to decent transport usually deters them from seeking decent and professional healthcare services to curb the AOD use disorder. The rate of access to transport among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is similar to that of the Aboriginal population. Lack of access to telecommunication also deters several indigenous Australians with AOD use disorder from accessing healthcare services (Weatherall et al., 2022). The world is currently in an era where most services are offered through advanced technology, including telecommunication. Therefore, the lack of telecommunication forces most indigenous people to stay out of current trends and find more straightforward and enhanced ways to curb AOD use disorders. ...