Happy Holiday Message 2007

• Rollout, or planned implementation, of roadside drug testing in all states in Aus
• The emergence of the Neorganics range of products and their subsequent discussion & testing as documented in this forum (Thread 1 & Thread 2).
• Further evidence of the normalisation of recreational drug use with the big stories this year of the drug "outings" of Ben Cousins & Andrew Johns and the death of Chris Mainwairing, among others.
• Predications by some of a heroin comeback, meanwhile the media and government focus is still centered on the "ice epidemic".
• The outcome of the ACC Inquiry into Amphetamines and Other Synthetic Drugs one of the recommendations of which was that "harm-reduction strategies and programs receive more attention and resources"
• Months later, the parliamentary committee report on the impact of illicit drug use on families suggests that "research organisations should only receive taxpayer funding if they abandon the philosophy of harm minimisation in favour of zero tolerance"
• The death in March of 20-year-old Annabel Catt who consumed PMA in an ecstasy tablet.

BigTrancer said:

It's pretty usual for people to look to New Years as a time of change, introspection, and an opportunity to make changes in their lives... and as a time to get really, really fucked up. A time of excess. Just look down the first page of threads in Aus/Asia/NZ Drug Discussion - more than half of them are pill information requests. It's not difficult to see how keen people are you get out there and get on it for the New Year celebration. I think this is important, because people do need to let their hair down to take respite from the cares, dramas and worries in their lives.

Some people use drugs to escape, some people use them to have fun, and some people use them out of habit and not knowing what else to do. Some people do this to excess, and especially at New Years something just makes people say "what the hell?" and go that extra inch. Why not? It's the one time of year you CAN be expected, by society, to absolutely OBLITERATE yourself with alcohol and other drugs. Provided the only damage you cause is to your own brain, this excess is generally without fear of reproach.

However, it's in human nature to fuck up. Part of staying safe, and minimising harm as we try to encourage at Bluelight, is choosing to place yourself in situations where there's a large margin for error... that way if something goes wrong, you may get a chance to learn from your mistake. This is possibly one of the reasons why alcohol is viewed as such a soft drug, because the huge margin for error means that if you grossly overdose through lack of self control or just downright overindulgence, the worst that usually will happen is that you be sick, make a fool of yourself, and wake up with a splitting headache and a sore liver. With illicit drugs this is not always the case, and the desire for excess at New Years and other significant occasions can lead to difficult experiences and tragic circumstances when people take too much. A simple mistake or error in judgement can turn a fun night with friends into a disaster.

If you or your friends do fuck up, learn from it - some lessons are harder than others. There are lessons to be learnt from both good and bad experiences with drugs, and in my opinion, they can enrich your life significantly if you use them carefully.

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