Revealing her own son is addicted to the drug “ice”, the controversial Tasmanian senator speaks out on why she believes all parents should have the right to force their children into drug detox. Here’s an extract of Senator Lambie’s powerful speech to the Senate.
“Australian parents deserve the right, if their children are addicted to lethal and harmful drugs like ice, to involuntarily detox them. Australian parents deserve the right to speak to their children, not the drug, when they are trying to put them back on the straight and narrow. I have to say that down there in Tasmania we have a massive ice problem.
“I am a senator of Australia and I have a 21-year-old son that has a problem with ice, and yet even with my title I have no control over my son. I cannot involuntarily detox my own son. I am not talking to my son anymore; I am now talking to a drug. And I can tell you I am not the only parent out there; there are thousands of us.
“So, in addressing this Social Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2015, I would ask senators to think more broadly about the issue of mental health and how injuries and harm are caused in individuals. I ask you to do that because the way that ice is affecting these kids is phenomenal and it is a very, very bad result.
“These kids will have three or four choices in their lives. They will either end up on a slab, end up in a mental institution or end up killing somebody else because of their actions because they do not have control of the drug. This is where this society is heading, and we are sitting here and we are not doing anything about it. When we realise that this ice is a major problem in our society, it will be all too late…
“Unfortunately, with our ice epidemic these [terrible] sorts of crimes committed by people who are mentally damaged will only become more common. I expect that to escalate very quickly—like it already has over the past few years—as the harmful effects of highly addictive, very dangerous, cheap, easily accessed drugs are felt on our sons, our daughters and our grandchildren. This mental health crisis will continue and grow unless both federal and state governments take very strong measures to prevent mental health injuries in our young people.
“One of the provisions that the [Jacqui Lambie Network] wants all political parties to consider is national legislation which makes detox for children who are drug addicted mandatory. My research to date in preparing a private member’s bill shows that mandatory detox is available in every state of Australia, with New South Wales enforcing it only for as long as the withdrawal period and Tasmania having the capability to enforce it for six months if a medical professional recommends it.
“However, this is only used as a last resort, and it should be used as a first resort.”
