POT, BOOZE REGION'S TICKING TIME BOMB

Alcohol abuse caused more widespread medical and social damage than
illegal hard drugs such as heroin, Wollongong clinical psychiatrist
Robert Kaplan said.

Dr Kaplan, who will participate in Friday's Illawarra and Shoalhaven
Drug and Alcohol Summit, said liquor and cannabis abuse were two of
the region's worst problems but were often overlooked.

The amount of illness and medical problems stemming from the abuse of
heroin, cocaine and amphetamines, although serious, was "really
minute" compared to the devastating effects of alcohol, he said.

Drinking problems affected every age group from young people who drank
excessively and had road accidents, middle-aged people who wiped
themselves out after work, to older people who spent their days
drinking in clubs.

"Alcohol is a socially acceptable drug in western society, and in many
countries in eastern society, and there is a huge tolerance for it,"
he said.

"We have got to change the society view that alcohol abuse is far more
tolerated because it can cause considerable consequences."

Dr Kaplan said people with alcohol dependencies had a high rate of
suicide, often suffered anxiety, and put themselves at risk of
damaging their brains with long-term excessive drinking.

Cannabis abuse was another problem rife in the Illawarra, he
said.

"I think we have got a huge cannabis problem here but I don't know
whether it's worse than other parts of NSW," he said.

Dr Kaplan has seen children as young as nine who have tried cannabis,
heavy users at the age of 14 and adults who consume up to 40 cones of
the drug daily.

Heavy cannabis users were prone to changes in their mood, behaviour
and thinking.

The drug was also associated with serious physical and psychiatric
illnesses, he said.

Dr Kaplan decided to participate in the drug summit because there had
been very little input from the medical sector, particularly from the
psychiatry field.

"The summit is important for the region because there is a terrible
drug problem in this country, and there are a lot of specific aspects
which apply to this region, as opposed to Sydney," he said.

The medical sector played a crucial role in the primary care of drug
users, who had direct contact with general practitioners, hospital
workers and psychiatrists.

And there needed to be a greater effort in highlighting drug-related
problems and their treatment, he said.

Dr Kaplan said better education about the dangers of alcohol, cannabis
and hard drugs needed to start at school.