Australians Rack Up $7 Billion Annually On Drugs, Only $3 Billion On Books ‘n Fashions

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Published

June 22, 2013

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australians are spending a casual $7 billion every year on [illicit] drugs.

Perhaps you have contributed to this staggering figure, perhaps you haven’t; perhaps you’re entirely surprised by this amount, or perhaps nothing phases you these days – nothing so shocking as to rouse you from the clammy haze of your drug-induced stupor. Perhaps you need help?

Anyway. Today’s Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australians spent about seven times more buying drugs in 2010 than the $1.1 billion our governments spent enforcing laws to stop people doing just that. ABS research suggests there’s a profit margin of more than 80% for manufacturers and dealers, which if anything is a glowing endorsement of this small business practice – ‘very profitable, great overheads!’

Chief executive of drug harm minimisation group Anex, John Ryan, has called for a Productivity Commission to examine these counter-productive costs, stating “The drug market is clearly much bigger than most people give it credit for. There is no doubt that the profit incentive is driving it.” Which is, arguably, the goal of any capitalist endeavour.

Sadly, these statistics dwarf the $361 million Australian governments are spending on drug treatments, or the $36 million spent on harm reduction.

Also incredibly shocking: the $7.1 billion spent on drugs in 2010, The Year Of Our Laundering, is nearly twice what Australians spent on literature, and $2 billion more than what is being spent on fashions.

“These figures put together really blow the idea we have got the drug market in check out of the water,” Mr Ryan continues.

Lol, blow.

Real talk: If you need assistance or support with narcotic abuse, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Quitline on 13 18 48. For further contact information, see the Australian Drug Foundation, talk to a medical practitioner or someone you trust.

via #SMH