Drug prohibition is not protecting young Australians; it is killing them.

Last weekend, an apparently tainted batch of illegal drugs caused the needless deaths of three Melbournians and left another 20 hospitalised. In 2015, six ecstasy-related deaths were reported at Australian music festivals, and the latest statistics show that, on average, four Australians die every day from drug overdose. That's 1400 people per year. 

Nicole Lee, Curtin University

Most people who use alcohol and other drugs do so infrequently and never become dependent (or "addicted" as it's sometimes called). On average about 10% of people who use alcohol or other drugs are dependent. 

But for those who do become dependent, reducing their use, getting off or staying off can be difficult.

Alison Ritter, UNSW Australia The author speaking at the UNSW UNSOMNIA event.

There is only one way to make better decisions about illicit drugs and so save lives and money: we need to change the way drugs policies are made.

The alternative is to remain stuck in the same futile cycle. Every time a young person dies tragically and needlessly at a music festival or dance party, our commentators clamour for our politicians to respond immediately.

Stephen Bright, Curtin University and Monica Barratt, Curtin University

NBOMe is an abbreviation for N-methoxybenzyl. While NBOMe is often referred to as a drug, it's not a singular drug but a series of drugs that contain an N-methoxybenzyl group.

The most common NBOMes that are used recreationally are extensions of the 2C family of phenethylamine psychedelics that were discovered by Dr Alexander Shulgin. Some, such as 2C-B, became popular in the 1990s as a substitute for MDMA (commonly referred to as ecstasy). The 2C-B NBOMe derivative is 25B-NBOMe. Other common NBOMes include 25I-NBOMe and 25C-NBOMe.

Is Australia really being flooded by new killer drugs?

Stephen Bright, Curtin University and Monica Barratt, UNSW Australia

Recent media reports have suggested Australia is set to be flooded with new types of deadly "synthetic" drugs.

Don't worry, as far as we know, there's no "turbo-charged version of ice" on its way. And we need to steer clear of drug-related moral panic, which increases stigma and makes it harder for users to seek help.

But there is a potential for significant harm in Australia if we don't have adequate systems in place to monitor our drug markets and respond rapidly when specific dangers are detected.

Nicole Lee, Curtin University and Sarah J MacLean, La Trobe University

While rates of methamphetamine use in Australia have remained fairly stable at 2.1% over the past ten years, there has been a shift among people who use the lower-grade powdered form of methamphetamine (speed) to using the higher-grade crystal form (ice) in recent times.

Ice is much stronger than speed and has the potential to cause greater problems.

Purity and availability have increased, while the price of both speed and ice has decreased. The number of people using weekly or more has grown, which is an indication of dependence.

In 1998, a special session of the United Nations General Assembly agreed to set a 10-year deadline to make the world "drug free". After an embarrassing failure to achieve this goal, the deadline was extended a further 10 years, setting the world up for another inevitable failure in 2019.

In the intervening years, the use, availability and variety of illicit drugs have escalated exponentially. It is estimated by the UK charity Transform Foundation that 300 million people worldwide used illegal drugs in 2012, contributing to a global market with a turnover of $US330 billion a year.

Nicole Lee, Curtin University and Alison Ritter, UNSW Australia

Some of the greatest harms from using illicit drugs are because they are illegal.

Illegal drug production is unregulated and many drugs are manufactured in backyard labs. Users cannot be sure what’s in them or how potent they are, so the risk of adverse reactions, including overdose and death, is high.

A large proportion of the work of the justice system – police, courts and prisons – is occupied with drug-related offences. Many people have a criminal record for possessing drugs intended for personal use, which can affect their work prospects.