Family Drug Support Australia

Support Line: 1300 368 186
(available 24 hours 7 days a week)

If you need help...
FDS can help
Family Drug Support

Supporting families affected by alcohol and other drugs in Australia.

Pill testing can ‘save lives’

A video article by Sky News on a recent overdose death at a music festival in Homebush, NSW.

This story includes an interview at the end with Gino Vumbuca – President of Harm Reduction Australia

Pill testing can ‘save lives’

Drug users shouldn’t be treated like criminals

Please see below a link to an article by Gino Vumbaca – President of Harm Reduction Australia, in the Daily Telegraph.

It includes excerpts from a speech by a family member at the recent Family Drug Support remembrance ceremony in Adelaide:

Drug users should not be treated like criminals

There are a number of negative comments on this article. Here is a response to those comments by Tony Trimingham (OAM) – CEO and founder of Family Drug Support:

“The hard hearted commentators don't appear to have read the article properly. This is not about condoning crime associated with drug use, or suggesting that drug use is a right. The mother quoted in the article stated that her son died as a result of alcohol use - a legal drug. Whether we like it or not, people use drugs. Some are legal, some illegal. Some more harmful than others. The point of the article is to emphasise the pain that is caused when people die from drugs, and trying to find a better way of dealing with the problem. There are many issues that were formerly criminal acts that are now accepted - prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, and even mental illness. We advocate for compassionate pragmatism, rather than a punitive moralising system of prohibition which has never worked. I sincerely hope that all the commentators never have to face the trauma of having someone dependent on drugs or dying from their effects.”

FDS Phoneline User Survey 2018

Family Drug Support are inviting all recent callers to our 24/7 support line to take part in a brief survey about your experience. Responses are confidential, and there is an opportunity to win a prize for participating.

Please follow this link to take part in the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FDS_Phoneline_2018

Stepping Forward - Key Modules of Change

Family Drug Support has produced in conjunction with Readymade Productions and with funding from PHN Wentwest, our Stepping Forward module – “Stages of Change and Balance Pole”. This resource will enable remote families and services to access this information and use it as a support option. Family Drug Support can deliver this and other Stepping Forward modules in person.