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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

Herald Sun Article 28/10/03 "Party drug GHB toll mounts"

K

Kid_Cisco

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Messages
94
FOUND IT! (It's amazing what you can find when you actually look...):

Party drug GHB toll mounts
Tanya Giles
28 oct 03

MEDICAL teams should be available at raves for young people suffering dangerous side-effects from party drugs, Parliament was told yesterday.

Ravesafe said five people had overdosed on GHB, also known as Grievous Bodily Harm, at a recent party and needed urgent treatment.
High doses of GHB can cause nausea, blackouts, headaches, seizures, hyperventilation and loss of consciousness.

Ravesafe peer education officer Natalie Russell said other party goers who had taken "ice", or crystal meth, had suffered psychotic behaviour and needed police and ambulance help.

Ms Russell told the state Parliamentary inquiry that Ravesafe staff were at raves to provide peer group support and advice and did not have enough medical training to deal with overdoses.

The Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee last month released a discussion paper on amphetamine and party drug use and has called for public submissions.

The committee also heard how young people were increasingly suffering dangerous side-effects including strokes and bleeding of the brain from party drugs.

Frankston Hospital radiologist Dr Chris O'Donnell said one or two young people were being admitted to the hospital each month suffering severe side-effects.
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I'm pretty sure I know where this happened, but I won't name places. Apparently there was a batch of G that this group of friends had that was either suspect or alot stronger than they thought. Either way, watching someone OD is not something anyone should have to see... My friend freaked out and literally sprinted out of the club, because at one stage it looked like half of the people in the club were about to OD.

The medical teams aren't a bad idea, but I'd like to see it go a bit further... If the government really wants to take a pro-active approach to harm-minimisation they could provide more accurate education instead of scare-mongering, and maybe offer financial assistance and/or subsidised medical training for organisations such as RaveSafe, who I think do a fantastic job.

Kid_Cisco
 
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*ggrrrr* i HATE it when people call it grevious bodily harm. It isn't even the correct order of letters!
Fucking shit fuck crap wankers
 
Yeah, I know. I'm waiting for the media to find a 'Clever' way to re-arrange MDMA and turn it into an acronym to try to mis-educate and scare people who don't know any better. It's pathetic.

Kid_Cisco.
 
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Why didn't any responsible raver insert ice cubes up the rectums of the G victms?



/me hopes they get the joke
 
MDMA = mentally damaging mind assaulter? DAMM? Do it And your Mind Melts.. or Drugged Adolescent Mind Melters.. and also because ecstasy users are evil and doomed to eternal damnation in hell.. MMAD - murdering minors at dances? MMDA - making mashed druggies ambulatory? hmm.. fun!
 
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Mate of mine had a brain tumor removed

his words "Too Much Acid.. hehe.."
 
If anyone's interested on the (Victorian) government's perspective on party drugs, the discussion paper mentioned in that article can be found here.

The medical teams aren't a bad idea, but I'd like to see it go a bit further... If the government really wants to take a pro-active approach to harm-minimisation they could provide more accurate education instead of scare-mongering, and maybe offer financial assistance and/or subsidised medical training for organisations such as RaveSafe, who I think do a fantastic job.
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RaveSafe is government funded. That article was written by the Herald Sun, who can write anything they want as long as it's not libellous. For the government's view on shock tactics, see the above linked discussion paper.
 
I think this issue is a good point to discuss, and while it can portray a bad impression of dance parties to the wider public, it is important that people know the risk.

People must understand that there are health implications directly related to these drugs. Otherwise, they will fail to exercise appropriate care/personal harm reduction. Far too often people assume they are bulletproof and that overdoses happen to other people. Perhaps the 'special occasion overindulgence' (which I believe our society encourages with alcohol) is carried over naively into illicit drug use; people assume that it's OK to take three times your normal recreational dose, as long as - (...it's your birthday/a big event/a long time since you last dropped/the weekend/any excuse at all...) - because people expect you to be WASTED and it's all part of the game. However, the margin of error is not so wide with many of the recreational drugs people use, and that is when they need medical attention.

I strongly support having ambulance personnel on-site at ANY dance party.

BigTrancer :)
 
^ Agreed. But surely it is better to educate and prevent (as RaveSafe and Bluelight do) than treat symptoms of overindulgence?

I think it's also important to contextualize those overdoses as being around 0.05% of those in attendence at afore-mentioned large events. It is unfortunately the case that a small minority are irresponsible, however in comparison with the percentage of alcohol "overdoses" (vomiting, unconsciousness etc.) at an event of similar scale (e.g. a rock concert), it is still a very small figure.

It is unfortunately also the case that First Aid and even ambulance personnel are unfamiliar with party drugs and do not respond in an appropriate manner to party drug overdoses. More medical staff will not solve this problem unless the training gap is closed.
 
It is unfortunate that as always, I was misquoted by the Herald Sun, and the case of the 5 GHB overdoses was not put into the context of the large numbers of punters present at the party.

However, my presentation about RaveSafe and the importance of harm reduction was well-received by the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee, who developed the discussion paper.

They have offered their full support for RaveSafe and the importance of the education we provide to reduce harms associted with party drug use.

In fact, they have even asked me to take the staff of the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee and some of the politicians on a guided tour of the Melbourne dance scene on a friday night, to see for themselves the context of a rave, party or club occasion.
 
In fact, they have even asked me to take the staff of the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee and some of the politicians on a guided tour of the Melbourne dance scene on a friday night
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ROFL. That would be a classic to see all Those politians jumping from club to club :)
 
Make sure the tour also includes a trip to the local binge drinking establishment, for comparative purposes. Be sure to point out all the people who have "overdosed" on "drugs" (ie: alcohol).

On a positive note though, at least they seem willing to listen to people that have a clue about the issue. :)
 
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