First Time User's Guide - Your thoughts please!

This is a first time users guide - I was wondering if I could get people's thoughts on it. It's something that I would like to put forward to Moreland City Council (Melbourne) as a harm minimisation tool within their Drug and Alcohol program for Young People.
This HAS NOT been written by me - I would like to use it as a guide - many things I realise are not relevant.
http://p-raves.tbp.mb.ca/art/scroumf-e.htm
This has also been posted in the EVERYONE READ thread by pinger
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"Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on" - Billy Connolly
[This message has been edited by haste (edited 06 September 2000).]

haste -> How goes it psy-fiend? Hope you had a ball @ Ganesha! Anyway, that's one hell of a User's Guide! A bit too much to digest (pardon the pun) right here and now but a quick glance through it and it reads ok. Some good writing there.
That's a good link to add to the FAQ's as well! All the best proposing that one to Moreland City Council...Is Kelvin Thompson still part of it or has he moved on to bigger and better things? He's such a knob.
Cheers!
EnJoy..and some acid and weed.. ;-)

g'day haste. I've read most of the preload stuff & down to "Experience". umm, looks ok... could be better. If you were thinking of giving this to council (excellent idea, BTW) I'd suggest that you fix up some parts & condense the main points (Councils will want to chop & change so it's probably best to give them as little to chop & change as possible). I'm a little worried about this bit in particular:
500-1000mg u-i-nethyl-p-tyrosine - Dopamine has been shown to play a clear role in MDMA induced neurotoxicity. A linear correlation has been demonstrated between acute Dopamine release and extent of long term 5-HT terminal deficits. U-i-nethyl-p-tyrosine is a dopamine synthesis inhibitor, it protects against 5-HT terminal destruction. Amphetamines affect both serotonin and dopamine release. Tyrosine and it's ability to raise dopamine levels can only be considered a plus, adding to the intensity of the dopamine related effects of the MDMA.
In one sentence they call tyrosine a dopamine synthesis inhibitor, in the next it has the ability to raise dopamine levels (correct). I also wouldn't consider raising dopamine levels a plus - as we know (and as was pointed out at the beginning of the paragraph) excess dopamine has the potential to increase the neurotoxic effects.
There is also no mention of magnesium for preload.
It's probably a good idea to combine the stuff in "EVERYBODY READ" with the stuff here.
Do you want some help? I'm sure there are a few councils out there that need this kind of thing, so maybe we could try & condense our knowledge into something that would come across well as a pamphlet. Bluelight project???
Cheers,
Ben.

I would appreciate all the help I can get...and sure, lets lobby it to other councils, it cannot hurt. There is a pamphlet that is being handed out at the momment (published by the Australian Drug Foundation) but it is aimed more towards parents - as a means of education and determining whether your child is a user. All together it is not a bad pamphlet, but as a harm minimisation tool it fails misearably.
I'm not sure how rececptive Moreland City Council is going to be....shit by past dealings when I was working for them as a Youth Worker they were very uneasy when it came to such matters. We managed to set up a program called the (wait for it) J.O.I.N.T. It stood for Job Orientation and Information Network Team - originally setup as a one stop shop for young people to access information on education and training. We later branched out a provided information on other youth related issues (including drugs) and worked very closely with the Glenroy Needle Exchange Program. The beauty of this information network was that it not only was run by Youth Workers, but the staff also included young people.
I realise this is tough and ambitious by any stretch of the imagination, you don't try you don't get. So any help would be much appreciated.
Thank
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"Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on" - Billy Connolly

haste thats some fairly decent writting but i'd have to aggree with the comments above- it needs to be edited (with a view to being shorter!!!) and simplified (it's full of jargon that could be removed/changed without dumbing it down too much).
i dunno about the suff and the end tho, 'fun things to do on E'!! heh heh!
it's good but considering the target audience and the format (probably folded brochure thingy) i can't see it all fitting!
i'd wack some ADF data/refrencing to sure up the credibility factor if you were gonna give it to a council

Presentation is everything. You need to design it in the way that will meet councils expectations, in a way it has to be writen for the council not for those it helps.
If it doesnt get approval, then it wont be picked up. So i'd suggest you write in the form of a beginners guide, with all terms and jargon explained. Look at other guides and stuff to get the format right.
You'll also have to make it sound like it is not promoting drugs in anyway, but rather simply helping in reduce misinformation about drugs. Might help if you write up some type of introduction, like an over all introduction and an introduction to section so that anyone can pick it up and know what it is talking about. A first time esctasy user may not even know what pre-loading is.
Also, write it up to sound professional, look at other pamphlets to get the terminology and language used. Well, anyway it does sound like a good idea.

Haste, I think this is a great idea.
I do think that it needs to be simplified somewhat- as the kids who are likely to want to take E probably aren't going to feel like reading all that dense material first.
It's easier to understand "this will help you , this is why...'
Anyhoo, if U want some help I'll volunteer 'cos it's a good cause and it's worth doing right.
Cheers,
Milky

good stuff haste but will have to agree that it should be a bit simplified.
Like Ben said.Make it out like a pamphlet,would be a wicked idea!
I think its o.k the way it is,if you are to read it from the net!
Keep it up dude,and i wonder if we ever crossed pathes?
You where a Youth Worker in Moreland hey?!?!
hum...

Thanks for the feedback guys...I really appreciate it.....I was never intending to keep it that long...alot of stuff that doesn't need to be in there I agree. I'm going to print the whole thing out and attack it see what to keep and what to take out.
I also agree that it needs an introduction of some sort...so I'll work on that too.
If any would like to give me a hand and would like to catch up for drinks one night I think we could get some really good ideas happening. Of course this obviuosly suits Melbourne people better (doh), but I would like everyone's input. Even if you download the page, cut and paste it and email the finished product to me!!!
thanking you in Advance...
Its Chaos...now how would we have crossed paths....hmmmmmmm
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"Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on" - Billy Connolly

This is an online copy of the brochure I mentioned earlier from the Australian Drug Foundation:
http://www.adf.org.au/drughit/facts/ecstasy.html
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"Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on" - Billy Connolly