rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Situational analysis of drug and alcohol issues and responses in the Pacific
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2.2 Drug and alcohol
overview
The Cook Islands was first represented by a
delegate from its Ministry of Health at the July
2008 meeting of the PDARN. At the meeting
the delegate reported on the following
drug- and alcohol-related trends: increase in
under-age drinking; increase in marijuana use;
increase in drug-induced psychosis; increases
in violence, family disruptions, ill-health and
disease, injury, and crime; and an increase in
the prison population. 148
Furthermore, cases of binge drinking with
greater and more frequent consumption
(and consumption to the point of drunkenness)
among males were identified as
an issue. The drinks of choice were homebrew
for males and alcopops (pre-mixed,
ready-to-drink beverages) 149 for females.
Homebrew users reported drinking a minimum
of 6 litres per sitting, with blackouts
a common occurrence. 150 Alcohol consumption
has been identified as an issue of key
concern, reflected in the published data on
the Cook Islands. No reports of inhalant use
have been identified among the documents
reviewed for this analysis. Finally, kava is not
considered to have the same significance in
the Cook Islands as in other neighbouring
countries, and there is no wild variety growing
in the Islands in contrast to other PICTs.
2.3 Illicit drug trends
Very little information on illicit drug consumption
is reported for Cook Islanders resident
in the Cook Islands. As with other PICTs,
the Cook Islands is included in the Oceania
region for the purposes of the UNODC World
Drug Report 2007. 151 The Oceania region includes
Australia and New Zealand, each recognised
as having high rates of amphetamine
use, distorting the data and proving unreliable
for determining trends in other PICTs.
However, the Bureau of International Narcotics
and Law Enforcement Affairs included
the Cook Islands on its list of ‘countries
of concern’, pressuring the government to
strengthen money laundering legislation. 152
Money laundering is closely linked to drug
148 Cook Islands country report to 3rd PDARN meeting, Lautoka, Fiji, July 2008.
149 Australian Drug Foundation, Fact sheet on alcopops, available at:
(accessed December 2009), typically derived from a malt beverage, wine or spirit that is then
mixed with other additives and flavours. Regular alcopops contain between 4 and 5 per cent
alcohol; ‘premium’ or super-strength alcopops can contain up to 9 per cent alcohol. Alcopops
can also include caffeine and other stimulants which can give drinkers a false sense of alertness.
150 Ibid.
151 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2008), World Drug Report 2007. Vienna: UNODC.
152 4 Islands countries under watchlist: US pressures Cooks, Palau, Samoa, Vanuatu. Islands Business,
2007. Available at:
(accessed October 2008).