Image: Amelia Willmer, Convenor of Armidale Skeptics In The Pub, congratulates Dr Matthew Allen on the upcoming international publication of his book, Drink and Democarcy: Alcohol and the Political Imaginary in Colonial Australia.

Analysis of wastewater at treatment plants throughout Australia shows that we have the highest use of drugs in the world.

That was just one of many surprising research facts and statistics peppering a lively presentation at Armidale’s Skeptics In The Pub attended by 65 people on Wednesday night.

Guest speaker, Dr Matthew Allen, also revealed that Australians are not a nation of boozers. More than 50 per cent of people drink less than once a week.

Dr Allen’s is Senior Lecturer in Historical Criminology at UNE. He spoke authoritatively, candidly, and humorously on the topic Drink, Drugs and Democracy. Much of the information is included in his upcoming book Drink and Democracy: Alcohol and the Political Imaginary in Colonial Australia, which is soon to be published internationally.

The Skeptics discussion included reference to the 1960s Rat Park experiment where rats were given the daily choice of plain water, versus opiod-laced water.

The rats caged in in boring, low-sensory, drab environments always opted for the opiods. The rodents living in bright, happy “rat heaven” conditions avoided the drugged water. Extrapolated to human beings, the experiment supported the claim that people with miserable lives are more likely to be drug users, whether their drug use is illicit, medically prescribed, or poured from a wine bottle.

Dr Allen’s comprehensive 45-minute presentation contained many facts which astonished the audience:

• 100,000 Americans died from illicit drug use in 2020-2021.
• The world’s largest opium producer is Tasmania
• In the 1800s, a teething syrup sold for babies was laced with opium and cocaine
• law enforcers detect less than 10 percent of illicit drugs coming into Australia

The tiled Art Deco floors in old gentrified pubs are often heritage-listed and admired. But their real purpose was being easy to hose down in the era of The Six O’clock Swill. Men, allowed just one hour at the bar, guzzled down as many beers as possible, saving every precious minute by opting to urinate straight on to the floor!

Skeptics In The Pub is a volunteer-run, community-based organisation affiliated with Australian Skeptics Inc which aims to promote critical thinking, reason, logic, ethics, and the scientific method.

Next month’s meeting is on Wednesday May 28 at the Welder’s Dog Brewery, 101 Beardy St, Armidale. Fresh from the international stage shared with skeptic luminaries Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins and Neil de Grasse Tyson, is Australian Skeptics Chief Investigator Richard Saunders.

Richard, who was recently presented with the Australian Skeptics Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of debunking pseudoscience and conspiracy theories, will inform, educate and entertain the pub audience including teaching them how to bend spoons like Uri Geller.

An audience of 65 people enjoyed Dr Allen’s presentation at last week’s Skeptics In the Pub.