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Tag: Drugs In The Workplace Archives

What Should I Do if I Suspect a Colleague is Using Drugs

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suspecting a colleague is using drugs

So you noticed that a colleague at work had been acting rather oddly the past week. First, you see him just staring blankly into space while sitting at his desk. Then, as you passed by each other on your way to the water cooler, you notice that your co-worker’s eyes are bloodshot and glazed. Later, as he handed you some documents, you couldn’t help but notice that he keeps on wearing long-sleeved shirts even when the weather is hot. With everything you’ve observed, you are beginning to suspect your work colleague is using drugs.

If you suspect that a colleague is taking drugs, you cannot just ignore it and hope it will pass. Especially if that colleague also happens to be a friend. Just consider the impact drugs can have on your colleague, their family, your employer/company and your other co-workers.

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The Strangest Drug Awareness Training Ever

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As the founder of Drug-Safe Workplaces I have a few unusual stories to tell. Some I will never be able to divulge. But this is one of the strangest, and I can talk about it.

Early in the development of the alcohol and other drugs industry good work was hard to come by. So I would accept any opportunity to develop my skills and knowledge. Particularly when I was able to charge for my services.

Then one day I got this call…

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Drugs: Like Ordering A Pizza!

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ordering drugs by phone

If you are still thinking that Australia’s drug epidemic is the result of an overly dramatic media or it is “over there” and not impacting people in your ‘world’ or in your company – think again.

News in the past few days from authorities in Sydney is proof that drug activity in this city (and all the other state capitals) is rampant.

Interestingly this fact comes from a highly credible source that is hard to argue with…

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The Effects Of Ice

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Australia is the world’s highest consumer of illicit recreational drugs. It is not a reputation to be proud of.

One reason why we’ve won “the gold medal” in drug use is down to the explosive increase in the availability and consumption of Ice.

The National Drug Survey revealed that approximately half of all methamphetamine users consume Ice and the number of people on Ice has doubled.

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Ice In The Workplace – A Real-Life Confession

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This is a real-life confession from an Ice user who revealed how it is possible that illicit drugs can be present in the workplace without employers knowing.

It is a scary reminder to management that what seems to be alright…with trusted workers being punctual and putting in a good day’s effort…might be disguising something much more sinister. This is why no-one can claim to have a drug-safe workplace unless they have examined it and implemented a professional drug-safe regime.

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Fentanyl: The Next Wave

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Imagine a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin and 80 times stronger than morphine. A drug so powerful that the smallest amount, just a few milligrams, is enough to kill you. Overseas it has already earned itself the street name, ‘Drop Dead’.

The drug is Fentanyl, a ‘Schedule 8’ synthetic opioid, and the Founder of Drug-Safe Communities, Michael White, is warning that it has the potential to sweep across Australia much like the methamphetamine ‘Ice’ has in recent years. It could become The Next Wave.

“Fentanyl is starting to make its presence felt in Australia – especially in the regional areas. Eight hundred people die each year from prescription drug overdoses and the toll is highest in the bush.”

In the small country town of Bairnsdale in Victoria a local pharmacist revealed that he knows of eight deaths attributed to this drug.

Fentanyl is a respiratory depressant drug which slows down messages between the brain and body, and when taken incorrectly can affect the ability to breathe. It is used for relief from chronic and severe pain. Major trauma, back injury and nerve damage patients are administered fentanyl. Slow release skin patches are often
used by cancer patients. Used legally, fentanyl is improving peoples’ quality of life.

However, there is a rapidly growing illegal market for this drug.

Michael White said fentanyl is becoming popular because it is easy to manufacture and it can make drug dealers a lot of money.

“Fentanyl has a massive multiplier effect. For example, when authorities overseas seized 63 kilograms of pure fentanyl they prevented 32 million doses from hitting the streets.”

“A fentanyl patch sold for a few dollars at a chemist can fetch a lot more on the streets. Users remove the fentanyl from the patch and inject it. They know that they can get the same number of hits from $100 of fentanyl as they would from say $400 worth of heroin”, added Mr White.

Mr White said small amounts of the drug can be smuggled in postage and the Department of Immigration & Border Protection has detected fentanyl in international mail on 30 occasions.

“Just how far people are willing to go to get high on fentanyl was demonstrated in a court case in Brisbane last year. A man who worked in hospital operating theatres allegedly replaced fentanyl needed for operations with syringes of saline. He injected himself with the drug then went back to work. Meanwhile, the patients in the operating theatres were left to undergo their surgeries without the pain killing anaesthetic.”

“We are used to hearing about Ice seizures and court cases in the media almost every week and studies by authorities in Australia into fentanyl have revealed that we might be on the crest of a very ugly wave. Whilst most prescriptions for fentanyl were issued to people aged over 80 it was people aged under 47 who accounted for three quarters of all fentanyl overdoses. And, 64 percent of people who died from fentanyl had not had it prescribed to them. This indicates misuse of the drug on a large scale.”

“I saw the comment from Victorian politician Fiona Patten MP who went to North America to learn more about the scourge of fentanyl. She said fentanyl is here, it’s coming and it’s killing.”

Mr White said recent media stories prove that Australia has become a big target for the importation of illicit drugs,

“In just over a month Australia recorded its biggest ever seizure of methamphetamines worth more than one billion dollars…three men were charged with allegedly planning to ship $250 million worth of Ice to Sydney…the brother in law of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim was charged with heading up a major cocaine syndicate which made $50,000 a week from their deals…close to one million dollars worth of cannabis plants were found on a property in country NSW…four men are facing charges over the discovery of 32 kilos of methamphetamines and $800,000 in cash…and our Navy operating in the West Indian Ocean has seized heroin and hashish from vessels worth a total of $900 million.”

Truckie Intended To Drive 42 Trips High On Ice

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A 42 year old truckie who faced Mackay Supreme Court for drug possession revealed that he was carrying enough Ice in his truck to drive 42 trips under its influence.

He said there was constant pressure from his employers to cover long distances and he was driving up to 140 hours per week, and needed the Ice to stay awake.

Police pulled the B-double over after another truck driver reported he had seen it swerve across the road, and they found $5000 of methamphetamines in bags in the cabin.

Since being apprehended the driver has stopped taking the drug, he has changed from long haul to short distance local routes and changed industries to drive a front end loader.

Over 40’s Taking More Illicit Drugs

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The Australian Journal of Pharmacy has reported that in the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) it shows that more people aged over 40 are taking illegal substances.

The proportion of people questioned by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare with a positive response jumped to 16 per cent.

The most commonly used drugs across all age groups are cannabis, pharmaceuticals (misused, not taken for their proper reason), cocaine and ecstasy.

Ice is the most used methamphetamine – it leapt from 22% in 2010 to 57% today. In fact, methamphetamine use has now overtaken alcohol in Australia as “the drug of most concern”.

Older people are also more likely to binge drink. The survey found an increase in the number of people aged over 50 who consume 11 or more standard drinks in a single sitting.

Other statistics to come out of the NDSHS include a spike in the number of people who reported being a victim of a drug-related incident. In 2016 there were 1,800,000 people impacted by a person or persons using drugs. That figure was 200,000 people lower just three years ago. At the same time, the number of victims of alcohol-related incidents fell…from 26% in 2013 to 22% in 2016.

Another article , which appeared in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, describes the inherent danger of the factor that cannabis is the most used illicit drug in Australia. The author, Dr Michelle Taylor, states that teenagers who regularly smoke cannabis are 26 times more likely to move on to harder drugs by the age of 21.

Her study has provided definitive proof that cannabis is a gateway drug to substances like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. Dr Taylor’s findings came after analysing 5,000 teenagers aged between 13 and 18 of which 20 percent were cannabis users.

Those classed as “occasional smokers” of cannabis still had higher odds of getting hooked on other illegal drugs, smoking cigarettes and drinking excessively.

Dr Taylor kept track of her test group through to when they turned 21 and found that at that age methamphetamine and cocaine were the most common illegal substances they had “graduated” to.

“The most important findings from this study are that one in five adolescents follow a pattern of occasional or regular cannabis use and that those individuals are more likely to be tobacco dependent, have harmful levels of alcohol consumption or use other illicit drugs in early adulthood”, said Dr Taylor.

 

Ice Users As Young As 10

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It beggars belief but it is true. Police are discovering that the age limit on young people using illicit drugs is now less than teenage years. Over the past few weeks they have found people as young as 10 years of age high on Ice.

This is just one of many alarming incidents across the nation…including a mass drug overdose involving a dozen teens at Yeppoon…a grandmother trying to smuggle drugs into a jail…authorities being asked to examine if there is a connection between Islamic extremism and drugs since finding out that Brighton gunman Yacqub Khayre was a drug user from the age of 16…and the revelation that Ice cartels have set up a network across Victorian regional towns.

In other news…WA police launched their biggest ever asset seizure operation following the discovery of $10 million of methamphetamine…

$42,000 worth of high grade cannabis has been seized on a rural property in Queensland…

Police in the Northern Territory found drugs with a street value of $150,000 when they pulled over a vehicle on the Stuart Highway…

A drug taking burglar has been arrested after going back to the scene of his crime – where his image was captured on CCTV cameras – to ask for a cigarette…

Methamphetamine valued at $860,000 have beeN found in a house at Shepparton…

Yacqub Khayre, the Brighton gunman, has been found to have had a serious drug habit since the age of 16…

NSW police have been issued with vans which allow them to take secondary drug tests rather than take drivers back to the station and in the first two weeks of use Deniliquin police have caught 15 drivers…

Two Perth men are facing serious drugs charges after detectives seized methamphetamine and heroin from their vehicle…

WA police have been busy…they have also broken a drug distribution ring after finding $7 million of drugs and $#70,000 in cash…whilst other officers pulled over two cars nearby and found almost 500 grams of methamphetamine in one and 250 grams and cash in the other…

The former partner of AFL star Ben Cousins said he had chosen drugs over everything including her and his children and if he doesn’t pull out of his drug spiral he might die…

A driver who allegedly dragged a police officer along a pavement, whilst racing down the wrong side of a road with his headlights turned off, admitted that he was “off his guts on drugs”…

A grandmother has pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs into a prison in Mackay…

A drug user has pleaded guilty to multiple charges in a Rockhampton court including stealing copper wire from a BHP mine and selling it, as well as driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle…

A man arrested by Hunter Valley police for stealing caravans had a stash of methamphetamine and cannabis on his property…

Logan police have raided two properties and found marijuana plants growing in them…

Victorian police say Ice cartels have infiltrated rural communities across the state and regional towns are now the front line on the battle against drugs. Mildura, Wangaratta, Shepparton and Bendigo have been named as Ice hot spots…

A 12 year old girl is amongst seven people arrested over drug offences on the Gold Coast…

Former State Of Origin star player Jarrod Mullen says he is happy to cop the four year ban after being discovered using a banned substance. He said the steroid was given to him by a person he had known for 10 years and who he trusted…

Cassie Sainsbury, the accused cocaine smuggler from Adelaide, claims she thought she was on a money laundering mission to make $10,000 when she became a dug mule…

Police are asking parents to be diligent after being made aware of a popular bracelet that hides a marijuana pipe…

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Druggie Jockey

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Michelle Payne, the jockey who won the Melbourne Cup, has tested positive to a banned substance.

Racing Analytical Services confirmed the presence of Phentermine in her urine sample taken after a race meeting at Swan Hill. It is an appetite suppressant.

Michelle will have to face Racing Victoria stewards.

She has been stood down from riding and track work.