Over 400 delegates from around Australia and the wider world attended the 5th International Conference on Drugs and Young People held in Randwick, New South Wales from the 24 – 26 May 2006. This conference was organised by the Australian Drug Foundation and the Centre for Youth Drug Studies in partnership with the Ted Noffs Foundation.   

Key themes of the conference program included a focus on monitoring alcohol and other drug use by young people, alcohol promotion, comorbidity and dual diagnosis, the impact of cannabis policy and programs and peer led responses to drug issues.   

Invited speakers included Emeritus Professor Howard Parker who explained that illegal drug use rose to unprecedented levels in the UK during the 1990s. However, it has stabilised in recent years and young people are now drinking twice as hard as a decade ago. British policy has moved from an ineffective "war on drugs" to a harm reduction policy with a focus on preventing and treating drug problems.

Jennifer Johnson of Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre reported on ecstasy use in Australia and Associate Professor Simon Lenton reported that civil penalties for cannabis offences do not appear to produce worse mental health outcomes than criminal penalties and may assist users to access treatment when required.  

Franca Beccaria of the University of Turin showed that industry self regulation of alcohol advertising did not prevent the distribution of advertisements that appeared to flout the Italian code of practice. Judge Vicha Mahakun spoke about changes to drug treatment approaches in Thailand which take into family and environmental features.  

Drug education was addressed by Associate Professor Richard Midford in the 3rd Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Oration where he suggested Australia needed a more consistent approach and by Professor Rodney Skager who outlined a harm minimisation program in Californian schools. Tony Trimingham of Family Drug Support launched a new Australian book on the topic Drug Education in Schools: Searching for the Silver Bullet.

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