Time for Change Survey and Report

43 Public drug early warning systems Establishing a public early warning system to alert people to drug-related events of concern was strongly supported, with 94.6% of people indicating their support or strong support. An early warning system (EWS) aims to disseminate timely information about unusual drugs of concern and drug market shifts directly to the public. Information can be gathered from multiple sources, including people who use drugs, health agencies, and law enforcement. Support was fairly consistent across demographic groups, with the highest support from people who identified as a professional (96.7% support/strongly support) and the lowest among students and/or young people (94.1%). Support was significantly higher across some demographics, with significantly more support from people who identified as someone who uses drugs, as a professional, or as a friend of someone who uses drugs, and higher support among people residing in NSW compared to other jurisdictions. Respondents who resided in QLD showed significantly less support compared to other jurisdictions. Additionally, young people who use drugs who participated in SSDP’s #BeHeardNotHarmed Survey showed very strong support for early warning system s. 25 S pecifically, 77% thought that access to timely alerts about dangerous drugs in circulation was very or extremely important and 59% indicated that these alerts would be their preferred source of drug information if they were accessible and available. Figure 19. Support for the establishment of a public early warning system to alert people to drug-related events of concern Recommendation #18 We recommend that the Federal Government (a) work with state/territory governments to support the development, implementation, and data collection and sharing for a national, public early warning system, (b) ensure the system is focussed on public health and harm reduction, and (c) ensure the system is co-led by health, customs, police, and community, including people who use drugs and peer organisations. 25 Stronach O, Farah B & Webb P (2024) ‘#BeHeardNotHarmed National Survey Report.’ Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia . Available here.