ESSAY QUESTION: 'The patterns of drug use in the Northern Territory differ significantly to the rest of Australia'. Critically evaluate this statement, providing evidence of differences, exploring possible explanations for the differences, and discussing interventions from a harm minimisation perspective.
             Today, more than ever, drugs affect our daily lives. It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or watch a television program without finding a report or program that concerns drug use or some issue associated with it. This is certainly the case in modern Australian society where drugs play a large role in issues within the community.
             The Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) monitors illicit drug markets across Australia. It consists of three components: (1) interviews with injecting drug users (IDUs); (2) interviews with key informants, professionals who have regular contact with illicit drug users through their work; and (3) analysis and examination of indicator data sources that are related to illicit drugs, such as National Household Survey data on drug use etc. The IDRS monitors the price, purity, availability, and patterns of use of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and cannabis across all the Australian jurisdictions. National as well as jurisdictional reports are released which detail the specific drug use patterns across Australia. This will help determine whether the Northern Territory's drug usage patterns differ significantly to those of the rest of Australia in regards to the above mentioned substances.
             Heroin is one of several drugs classified as opiates and is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. It acts as a central nervous system depressant and has pain-killing properties. It usually appears as a white or brown powder (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2004). The short-term effects of heroin use appear soon aft...