Drugs and alcohol continue to be a major issue for young Australians with one teenager dying each weekend in Australia in drug or alcohol related incidents.

We are very conscious of this and are working to equip the boys with as much education in this area as possible in the hope that they will make wise decisions during this critical period of time in their lives. In fact it was a conversation about this that led Mr Jeremy Ticehurst and Associate Professor Michael Neil to start to organise a night for the boys to learn about the risks involved in drug and alcohol use.

On Monday 4th March we were privileged to have three very experienced men talk to the boys. Professor Gordian Fulde is the Director of Emergency at St Vincents Hospital, Associate Professor Michael Neil is a leading Australian Surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital while Detective Senior Sargent Mark Christie has experience all over Sydney and is currently based at Surrey Hills. These men presented three very different perspectives to the boys in order to give them some insight and knowledge about the risks that young men their age face.

I couldn’t possibly pass on all the detail of the three speakers, however, as a very brief summary:

Proffessor Fulde spoke about the effects of mixing drugs, the effects of party drugs on the body and mind, prescription drugs, the drug industry and what is actually in many of the easily accessible drugs. He also spoke about the risks involved with body building drugs as well as the social effects of binge drinking – particularly what he has seen come into the emergency department at Kings Cross.

Detective Senior Sargent Christie spoke to the boys about the risks he sees, in particular the number of fights that result from alcohol and drug consumption as well as many innocent people becoming the victims of crime. Throughout his talk, Mr Christie spoke about how each of our decisions affects many other people – not just ourselves.

He went on to talk about the consequences of drug use and possession, including lifetime employment restrictions, travel restrictions, inability to be the director of a company and the difficulties in getting insurance cover. He also spoke about the many “dirty meth labs” that he has seen as well as before and after shots of those who have used particular drugs commonly consumed by young Australians.

Mr Christie also spoke about the police use of Facebook and the on-the-spot fines for the use of fake ID or another person’s ID ($600 plus extra time on your P-Plates). Finally, he reiterated what Paul Dillon had told the boys with regards to never being afraid of calling an ambulance – the police will not become involved unless there is a threat of violence or safety concerns.

Professor Neil hit the boys straight away with the case study of a very talented school boy who overdosed on LSD. He compared today to many years ago and pointed out the higher risk factors (alco-pops, all day concerts, all night venues, pre-loading due to the increased price of alcohol and the resulting binge drinking. He also addressed the grooming of young people by certain areas of the alcohol industry.

Particularly pertinent to the boys was the information that Prof Neil presented on energy drinks on their own – as well as in combination with alcohol and the major health risks involved with this.

Prof Neil’s final comments were relevant to what all the speakers said. He finished by reminding the boys that they have a unique opportunity in life, particularly at Joeys … don’t blow it!

This was a night that was full of information for the boys. It provided insight from three experts across different fields and each of the boys left the session being more equiped with knowledge about the risks that they will face.

A huge thank you to the three guests who spoke to the boys and passed on many of their first hand experiences. In particular to Prof Michael Neil and Mr Jeremy Ticehurst who put the evening together. Also to Mr Tarlinton who has shown great support to all of the personal development opportunities we have and will continue to put on for the boys.

Photo 1: Detective Senior Sargent Mark Christie, Professor Gordian Fulde and Associate Professor Michael Neil.

Photo 2: Our three guest speakers after the talk.

Photo 3: Gordian Fulde answers some questions from Robert Gazal (Maroubra) and Patrick Distapan (Drummoyne).