Episode description:

In this compelling episode of The Unnecessary Harm Podcast, Shane Varcoe sits down with Professor John Toumbourou, Chair in Health Psychology at Deakin University, co-leader of the SEED research centre, and a globally recognised leader in prevention science.

The conversation traces John’s journey from studying recovery at Odyssey House therapeutic community in the 1990s to his current prevention mission. Witnessing addiction’s devastating grip drove him to ask: what if we could stop this from happening in the first place? Through longitudinal studies comparing Australian and American youth, his team discovered that adolescent substance use isn’t inevitable when we build the right protective factors into communities and families.

At the heart of this episode is the recently published paper that Professor Toumbourou co-authored with Shane Varcoe and Elizabeth Jane Doery: “Prioritising Abstinence-Based Prevention, Regulation, and Recovery to Reduce Substance-Related Harm and Promote Mental Health at a Population-Level” in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. John believes this paper will shape drug policy for the next decade, documenting how Australia’s shift from harm reduction to abstinence-based prevention after 2009 led to generational reductions in substance use.

The discussion examines why Cochrane reviews show 12-step programmes like AA are superior for long-term recovery, yet struggle for support in Australia. Shane and John tackle cannabis legalisation, the normalisation of drug use in policy, and why prevention is the real key to saving not only lives by ‘life’ –  something that harm reduction mechanisms do not consider. This episode challenges prevailing pessimism and offers a vision where investment goes to the fence at the top of the cliff, not just the ambulance at the bottom.

For more on protecting children from drug exposure, see UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 33 and the Eindhoven Declaration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oJD1UM7sYA

Professor Toumbourou will be speaking at the Drug Advisory Council of Australia’s Cocktail Reception and Oration at Kew Golf Club on Tuesday 14th October at 6:00 pm, alongside Dr Philip Drum and Paul D. Santamaria KC. Book at www.trybooking.com/DEXGT or visit https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/