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- Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads'
- "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch
- 'Pathetic' and 'dangerous' sentence
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- Greens' downfall imminent?
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What we're talking about
- Troy on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I have seen this family fighting day after day for months trying to get their kids/siblings back home. The dedication and ... more
- Pauline on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS have destroyed my own family. They failed in their duty of care to provide a baby moniter for the deaf , thousands of ... more
- Christine on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' isn't it funny how DHS don't recognise the psychological effects of domestic violence on children and continue to allow ... more
- Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' There is a family In the Cairns Area who are Foster Carers.Atherton Child Safety have threatened the carers and own ... more
- duncan on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i have spent time with this family. it is a house full of love. "mum", grandfather and older sblings.this cannot be an issue ... more
- Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Family Law is different from the rest of the law in this country.. Ie. Family Law is based on probability: ie if it might ... more
- carol annetta on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' having known this family for some time i am disgusted with the treatment she has received. it seems more of a witch hunt ... more
- Maureen Hillary on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn,I have counselled traumatized parents as a result of DHS staff.There are great staff workers who care but they ... more
- Janet Tavener on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I am a visitor to this country.My attention was drawn to the case of these children and their foster mother by a relative of ... more
- sam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Happening in Tasmania also.Wewon a court case over 8 months ago and due process still hasn't been done.We spent 17,000 ... more
- Anne Glover on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I just cannot believe what the DHS has put the Foster Mother, and the children through - I thought the DHS was supposed to ... more
- Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS are the most disgraceful organization I have ever had the displeasure of becoming involved with. They are so ... more
- Vicki on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn,I have known this carer since primary school, she has always put others above herself. Being a carer myself I know ... more
- Gran'ma Pam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' As any of us with any sense know, these children should NEVER have been taken from this lady (mum) in the first place, they ... more
- Dominic Lombardo on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I see my daughter every six months DHS are conducting a vendetta against me I have not been told why I can only see her ... more
- cassy houghton on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hello Derryn,Firstly i would like to thankyou for your support and the willingness to help this beautiful family.I ... more
- Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Im a carer also in Qld. I see this happen way too much from our Government. They are starting to use Carers own children as ... more
- paul on "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch I believe what Liberal Party has done is stupid. But I feel for candidates like Joh Bauch and James Buonopane who want to ... more
- Andrea on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Why are these public servants allowed to blatantly flout the law without the same consequences the rest of society faces? I ... more
- birth mother on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i am the birth morther of these 4 children and i just want to say dhs dont care they just want the kids in care so they can ... more
'Drug addiction is not a disease'
OK. Let’s look at Part Two of the Ben Cousins doco.
Did it redeem itself in viewers’ eyes? Was the glamour world of drugs which they thought coloured the first episode get replaced by some real message about the dangers of drug abuse?
Channel Seven tried to dress it up as a community service with the panel of experts.
And I thought Bryan Cousins deserves a medal for doing everything a parent could possibly do to support a selfish, self-indulgent, flawed, drugged up Peter Pan son, who apparently has never said ‘sorry’ to his Dad, Mum, brother and sisters for what he put them through.
But I couldn’t take the hype, or Channel Seven’s self-promotion, seriously after an early exchange between host Hamish McLachlan and sports writer Mike Sheehan.
That was after ignoring the host’s preening habit of looking straight to camera while speaking to somebody in the same room.
McLachlan asked Sheehan how long he had been in the media. "40 years," he said. "And isn’t this the biggest story ever?"
Yeah, right. In his jockstrap world I guess he’d never heard of 9-11, or men going to the moon, or the Bali bombing or Black Saturday.
And two other points: At not stage in all of this did I heard the word ‘illegal’. Cousins was breaking the law. He hasn’t revealed the names of his dealers.
And WA Police must have gnashed their teeth at the friendship between Eagles players and convicted heroin dealer and gangster John Kizon.
The other point belaboured last night by well-meaning people was the argument that drug addiction is a health problem. An illness. A disease.
Bryan Cousins even said the AFL Three Strikes policy was right and zero tolerance was wrong because ‘you can’t make a moral problem out of a health problem’. People steal to support a habit. Is that just a health problem?
Drug addiction is not a disease. It can lead to illness and disease. Like cigarette smoking is an addiction. It can lead to diseases like lung cancer and blood clots.
Alcohol addiction is not a disease. It can lead to diseases like brain damage and cirrhosis of the liver.
I believe that if you neatly brand heroin or cocaine addiction as an illness then you are giving an addict an excuse. Conveniently forgetting that you snort the first line, inject the first muck of your own volition. It’s not compulsory.
FRIDAY AUDIO:
Andrew Demetriou - AFL will not penalise Cousins for 'shaved hair'
Neil Mitchell - Should Cousins be deregistered today?
Brian Taylor - My sons think it's OK to take drugs after watching
Debate - Neil Mitchell and Dr Michael Carr-Gregg
Smaller audience for Cousins doco part II
LATEST: Andrew Demetriou has revealed Ben Cousins evaded a career defining drugs test but the League chose to overlook it.
In his tell-all addiction documentary, Cousins admitted shaving his body hair to avoid AFL drug testers knowing he'd used narcotics and could be caught.
Cousins dismissed it as just a haircut at the time but the AFL boss has told Neil Mitchell the league was suspicious.
Cousins misled the football community at a time when Demetriou says his career, and life, was on a knife edge.
FRIDAY: Ben Cousins has admitted dodging AFL drug testers by cutting his hair, knowing he had used drugs and would have been caught.
It was just one of many revelations from the second part of the Such Is Life documentary which aired on Channel 7 on Thursday night.
Paul Dillon from the National Drug and Alcohol Advisory Centre says the Cousins story had little value in educating young people about drugs.
Some of the key points from part two, after part one was widely criticised by anti-drug campaigners for its obligatory and 'unnecessary' portrayal of drug-taking, were.
- Ben Cousins' father Bryan was forced to go with his son to buy drugs as a last resort to avoid a physical confrontation. He was left in his pyjamas at a bus station while Ben apparently made the final transaction for the illegal drugs.
- Bryan struggled so much with dealing with his out-of-control son that his family feared it was he who might die from the stress, while Ben remained a 'life or death' prospect during his rampant drug use.
- Bryan Cousins said his son was suicidal at times and feared that 'he wouldn't be with us now' had Richmond not thrown Ben a lifeline by drafting him at the end of 2008.
Again, it will be interesting to hear the feedback on 3AW Radio's talkback line as to whether the program really achieved any major positives other than bringing the drug discussion to the mainstream media.
However, there's no doubt the documentary arguably leaves plenty of questions unanswered about issues.
How did Cousins beat the drug-testing system?
What really happened when he relapsed in the US (all Cousins said in relation to that incident was that he was admitted to hospital via an ambulance)?
Who supplied the drugs to former West Coast Eagles star Chris Mainwaring which are believed to have killed him?
Blog comments
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Derryn, Is any medical condition that occurs because of a lifestyle choice and ends up involving medication the same as drug addiction? No one asked diabetics to have another slice of chocolate cake.
Mylene Thursday 2 September, 2010 - 12:20 PM -
Hi Derryn, my husband and I agree with you 100%, drug addiction is not a disease, it is a choice that a person makes, just like putting a smoke in your mouth and lighting it, just like putting a drink to your lips and drinking it, no one makes you do it and if you hang around people that pressure you to do it, they are people not worth knowing and you would be better off without. I ask you would Jim Stynes prefer to have a disease of choice? I'm sure he would give it up in a minute. Giving these people the label of having a disease is unfair to people that really do have a disease and wished they didn't
Sandra & Graeme Brown Wednesday 1 September, 2010 - 1:08 PM -
I love Derryn Hinch, such a ----. Derryn, Blood Clots aren't a disease and neither is Brain Damage, though i defer to your obvious expertise in that area.If you are going to open your mouth as widely and as often as you do, please make some effort to be factually accurate
paddy Saturday 28 August, 2010 - 6:24 PM -
Adult onset Diabetes (Type II) is a genetically based, life-style disease. One the disease is diagnosed, the diabetic has the responsibility to alter their life style in order to keep their blood sugar in check and prevent or delay the multi-organ effects of poorly controlled diabetes.
Likewise, addiction is genetically based and life style disease as well. Once they get their disease into remission, it's their responsibility to keep it in remission by changing life style.
Calling addiction a disease does not relieve the addict of responsibility. They need help in getting the disease diagnosed and finding effective treatment. But then they need to do what it takes to stay clean and sober. It's folks with your attitude that prevent making progress. Read some of the science.
Jack Saturday 28 August, 2010 - 3:58 PM -
Derryn,
Usually I agree with you, but here I must break with tradition.
Were you unworthy of empathy when you were a raging alcoholic? Of course not. You still had morals, you were still a functioning respectable human being.
The particular manifestation of addiction is really irrelevent. Be it drugs, gambling, weight loss, alcohol, sex, hoarding, plastic surgery, shopping - all of these behaviours are just symptoms of the same disease. Compulsive behaviour is another way of looking at it. You find your particular pressure-release valve, and grow to depend on it to function.
So many addicts remain on drugs simply because asking for help invites the harsh judgement and criticism that you have dished out. The shame of addiction can prevent one from seeking help at all.
That was the point of the documentary, and so it should be applauded.Suprised at you Derryn! Friday 27 August, 2010 - 9:35 PM
