Writing-up Global Drug Survey 2022 and the Bluelight Census! Open to and relevant for absolutely everyone :)

[Dr. J]

A bit late but completed survey. Glad that it was kept open! Was quite enjoyable and I appreciated the option to skip certain triggering questions/scenarios.

 

[Imaginarium]

Thanks for the response and detailed feedback, @Tronica. I've provided my responses to several of your points below.

...Just a note that the question numbers are not static, so they don't mean anything to me in terms of understanding your comments on these later items. But we should be able to match them with the questionnaire.

Apologies for this, I wasn't aware that the numbers weren't static. I know which questions the comments correspond to. I'm not sure what options are for me to assist with linking the questions and comments? What I could do is copy the questions' text to the corresponding comments and replace the question numbers with this text? I'm not sure what the best way to do this would be and if it would even be of assistance?

If this above suggestion would help, I could

1. Edit my submitted survey and copy the text of the corresponding questions and replace the question number with this text? Or,
2. Work through a new survey (without submitting) and copy the relevant questions' text and post this text in place of the question numbers in the post above?

There are probably other options too. I'd be happy to assist where necessary.

We should be able to make some changes to GDS2023 which accommodates these issues, e.g. consideration of measuring IM/IV ketamine dosage, alcohol unit measurement clarification, frequency clarification, grams/g/gm etc.

Great! The review in my post above was only an initial attempt. I'd be happy to review the survey in more detail if it would add value.

As for person first language, generally we already do this (avoiding drug user or drug abuser terms - ugh) but yes there were some questions about source that use the term dealer. There's such a huge literature about what people even consider to be a dealer (as opposed to a friend who also sells). It's tricky. So would not only be considering possible stigmatising language but also what is meant. If we use seller, will people equate that with dealer, or will there be more people confused between friend/dealer

Great point, and I understand the conundrum. Personally, I try to look at ways to start changing the narrative, especially with the intentional use of certain words. Noting the literature and discourse around the terms 'dealer', 'seller' or 'friend who sells', I still think there is scope to use person-first language. For example, using the phrase 'person who sells drugs' or 'person who deals drugs', acknowledges the person and would be less likely to cause confusion for the reader/participant. I think using this approach of person-first language still contributes to changing the narrative without causing confusion around the meaning of terms and words used. In general, I don't see people having trouble with equating a 'person who deals drugs' with a 'drug dealer' (or preferably, a 'person who sells drugs' with a 'drug seller').

Should there be an option for 'a friend who sells me drugs'.

Personally, I'd be hesitant to use a term like 'friend who sells drugs' because there is variability and contextual differences associated with how people define someone as a 'friend'. What are the bounds and thresholds for 'friendship'? Unless a specific definition of a 'friend' is provided for use in the survey, this would be a source of bias and potential confusion. I do see what you're getting at though. In my opinion, there could be a whole section around people who sell drugs in the survey. (I'm a strong proponent of including people who sell drugs in harm reduction)

We always have that issue with GDS of whether to change the measurement (to improve it) but then makes it incomparable with previous years. A conundrum that arises regularly

I get this. I guess one would need to look into what bias is inaccurate or confusing measurements contributing to and compare this with the integrity of inter-annual comparisons. I'd tend to push for refining and making the measurements as accurate as possible, even if this would hinder inter-annual comparisons.

Comparing inherently biased/skewed data with previous years' biased/skewed data could be problematic and reproduce errors? I guess this would depend on the variable and should be considered on a case-by-case basis. This is just my opinion though and I definitely don't understand all the intricacies and iterations behind the GDS, so I might be completely off with my understanding.

Regarding an assisted survey completion, I don't see a problem with this. The survey however isn't set up for it. The idea is that we get partners in different parts of the world who then translate the survey into their own language. We then include that language as an option for people to self complete. So for GDS2023 we could hook up with people from your networks and translate the whole survey so it is more accessible in South Africa. But then there is the issue of the technical skills or the techology access to complete it. That we've not tackled yet. But we are open to it.

Regarding language, I don't think using English would be a problem for a country like South Africa. The only language changes that would need to be made would be around colloquial terms and local names for the various drugs. Technological competency and availability of technological infrastructure is a whole other issue though. We've tried getting some of our champions from various PWUD networks in South Africa to complete the survey. We then asked each of them to assist two additional PWUD to complete the survey. I don’t think we’ll reach n = 100 this year, however, I think a coordinated approach like this, implemented by several organizations in SA is feasible and would improve the response rate.

In terms of country numbers, once we get over n=500 things tends to be more reliable but we do still report on numbers 100 to 499 for countries. We don't report on anything <100 per country.
Still even with massive numbers they can be skewed as the samples are not representative. E.g. we usually get many 1000s from New Zealand but they often have an older age and are more likely to be alcohol only people. So it's not comparable to the Australian sample which tend to be younger and more drug involved.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm not sure if we'll manage to get more than 100 responses this year from SA (I'm not sure if you have ever previously?), but with some planning and coordination, getting a sample size of n > 500 for GDS2023 would be feasible and achievable!

 

[Arnold]

Imagine that your country makes no attempt to control illegal drugs through criminal law and allows people to be free to make their own decisions. Drug use, possession, selling, production and cultivation are allowed. Drugs can be sold freely and people who sell drugs can set up as legitimate businesses or membership-based social clubs, subject only to taxation; otherwise, the government has very little role to play in how people consume or sell drugs. It is up to sellers to decide how to package and label their products and where to sell them. People who would like help with drug use are offered counseling or treatment, but this is not compulsory.

This is how Spain runs their shit.

 

[Tronica]

GDS is now open until the end of February... which means us Bluelighters have a few more weeks to add ourselves to the Bluelight census.

Would be great to have 1000+ Bluelighters in our census - currently it's around 500. So... any survey participation would be warmly welcomed!

 

[deficiT]

If you haven't taken the Global Drug Survey yet, please consider doing it! I have shared it in a few different places now.

I'm about to do it myself actually, since I've slacked a bit on it.

It's only open until Feb 28, so get on it!

 

[Tronica]

If you haven't taken the Global Drug Survey yet, please consider doing it! I have shared it in a few different places now.

I'm about to do it myself actually, since I've slacked a bit on it.

It's only open until Feb 28, so get on it!

Thanks a lot for your promotions and I'm interested in your thoughts on the survey (after you've taken it). As you will see there's on item that measures use of Bluelight in the last 30 days so it will be interesting to get a snapshot of the drug use and other characteristics of the BL community (those who complete the survey anyway!).

 

[Tronica]

Update, thanks to everyone who participated. We have now closed the survey. I'll report back with findings!