[AUS] [Melbourne] GHB use research

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findcameron

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Sep 29, 2004
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Hi All,

Hi my name is Dr Cameron Duff and I work in research at the Centre for Youth Drug Studies here in Melbourne. Here at the centre we've just launched an on-line web survey on the subject of GHB use in Victoria.

I'd like to get as many people as possible to complete the on-line survey to help us plan more effective harm reduction and education strategies for GHB users. We are currently working with ravesafe Victoria in the development of these harm reduction strategies.

We are interested in the views of both users and non-users of GHB in order to get a better picture of the context of GHB use in Melbourne. The online survey should only take about 5 or 10 minutes to complete and is of course completely confidential and anonymous. The survey’s also very easy to complete – it’s mostly just yes and no answers that are required.

the survey is available at

URL]http://survey.adf.org.au/adf/index.php?sid=6 [/URL]

Many thanks,

Cameron

I've also attached the research background and blurb for those who are interested!

RESEARCH BACKGROUND
This research is motivated primarily by our concerns about recent increases in the use of GHB across Melbourne, and the subsequent rise in GHB related overdoses and presentations at Melbourne Hospitals. Whilst we know that more people are using GHB in Melbourne, we don’t really know enough about the various cultures and contexts surrounding the use of GHB here. I mean, we don’t know how people are typically using this drug, where they use it and how often they use. We don’t know what types of harms are associated with the use of this drug for people and how often users might experience these more harmful side effects. This has made the planning of effective prevention and harm minimisation strategies very difficult.

Really, our principal aim with this research is to talk with as many GHB users as possible to try and get a sense of where people are using this drug; what they enjoy about using this drug; what they dislike and what they think about the overdose risks associated with GHB use. We hope that in completing this research we will be able to develop more effective harm reduction strategies that agencies like the Australian Drug Foundation and Ravesafe might be able to use to help people stay safe if they decide to use this drug.

And this is why we are really trying to encourage people to complete the on-line survey that we have developed. GHB Survey

Please Contact me for more details;

Dr Cameron Duff
Australian Drug Foundation
PH 03 9278 8118
EMAIL: [email protected]


Dr Cameron Duff
Australian Drug Foundation




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Any specific reason why the survey is called the "GBH and Clubbing Survey" rather than the "GHB and Clubbing Survey?" The survey software is great, but it is difficult to determine the rows on the larger bullet point selection questions such as Q11. If each row was an alternating background colour it would fix this.
 
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GHB Survey

Hi,

Embarrassingly, this is a web developer typo!! I've spent so much time workign on the survey that I completely overlooked the title page - I'll get on to the web develop to fix this.

I'll also email him your comments on the survey formatting - he'll be happy on the feedback regarding the functionality of the survey.

Regards,

Cameron
 
I thought it would have been a typo, a good range of questions on the survey Cameron. Now all you need are tablet PCs you can carry around for data collection rather than pen and paper. =D
 
Done.

All in all its a fairly good survey, it would be helpful to discern if people knew the difference between GHB and 1,4-b, mainly to see if people really understood what they were taking and how it works.
 
Survey completed

I was quite impressed and surprised by some of the questions. Very easy to use layout also. Well done!
 
Munchee said:
Done.

All in all its a fairly good survey, it would be helpful to discern if people knew the difference between GHB and 1,4-b, mainly to see if people really understood what they were taking and how it works.
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree with this man.
It kind of disturbed me to have no differentiation between GHB and 1,4b on the site at all. The point seemed to be completely overlooked.
 
MoeBro said:
I wholeheartedly agree with this man.
It kind of disturbed me to have no differentiation between GHB and 1,4b on the site at all. The point seemed to be completely overlooked.
Click to expand...

There is an open ended question asking what people think GHB is - this is where you can rant on about it all being 1,4B - so there is definitely the opportunity for this distinction written into the survey :)
 
Every GHB survey you ever complete is unlikely to discern GHB from 1,4b and its various other analogues. Why you may ask? The majority of people don't know what they have, and because 1,4b and other GHB analogues or precursors are metabolised into GHB, from a research viewpoint they can be treated as the same.
 
The Party Drug Initiative separated out GHB, 1,4B & GBL - but as the research assistant administering the survey, I found this distinction was a bit difficult to manage. Only a few people knew with some level of certainty that they had consumed both GHB (usually years ago) and 1,4B (usually recently). Most people chose one or the other.
 
I understand what you are saying there cowboymac, however, I believe the time between ingestion and onset of the chemicals are different. There is a risk of unwarily ingesting too much 1,4-b if you are used to taking GHB, due to the delayed onset of 1,4-b. Therefore, if there is a chance that people still obtain GHB, but obtain 1,4-b on other occasions it provides a health risk.
 
I did this survey.
I found it abit of an eye opener answering the questions in relation to my own chem use.
A well constructed questionaire though :) Hope it serves its purpose.
 
I highly recommend this article, which was a result of the above mentioned online survey (plus some face-to-face interviews). It's long but it's interesting!

Duff, C. (2005). "Charging" And "blowing out": Patterns and cultures of GHB use in Melbourne, Australia. Contemporary Drug Problems, 32(4), 605-655.

Abstract:

Recent increases in the use of gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in club and rave settings have been associated with a series of acute health problems including overdose. Drawing upon research recently completed in Melbourne, Australia among a sample of young club and rave patrons, this article explores the knowledge, attitudes and related "risk-behaviors" of individuals who use GHB, as well as the various cultures and contexts surrounding its use. A mixed quantitative and qualitative research design was utilized, comprising a detailed survey (N=923) and semistructured interviews (N=24). Almost all survey respondents reported to have consumed illicit drugs in the past, with around half reporting "lifetime" use of GHB. A quarter reported using GHB in the past year. GHB related harms were widely reported with 22% of GHB users reporting to have overdosed on the drug at least once. The article closes with recommendations for GHB specific prevention and harm reduction strategies.
Click to expand...
 
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