News: 22/7/8 The Advertiser "Lack of information sends drug-users online"

TORY SHEPHERD

July 21, 2008 09:00pm

PARTYGOERS are resorting to online forums for information about potentially deadly drugs.

Federal and state governments' Just Say No approach means there are no official resources that detail "bad batches" of drugs such as ecstasy.

Internet sites that allow users to warn each other about drugs' unwanted side effects are filling the information gap.

For example, in a posting about Green Ralph Lauren ecstasy tablets, available in Adelaide, "pixiehead" warns that she tried just a quarter ofa pill.

"After half an hour I felt like s. . . My heart was racing, I wasn't breathing properly, and I couldn't move properly," she said.

"If I had had the whole pill, I think I would of chucked and needed an ambulance. Just be really careful with these people, please."

The sites have strict policies against listing sources, dealers or prices and are linked to addiction counselling services.

Adelaide drug researcher Dr David Caldicott said it was inevitable that the drug-taking community– many of whom purchase drug-testing kits for personal use – would create a resource for themselves.

"These kids are testing their pills already, the only difference is that they're doing so in a vacuum of medical advice," he said.

Dr Caldicott said the most people using these sites were "university educated, affluent, independent, quite cynical young people with no regard for the `just say no' message".

"We haven't got an official government-sanctioned product for that group of the market that wants to use drugs," he said, adding that doctors and drug researchers often contributed to the sites, warning about foolish or potentially dangerous actions.

Drug and Alcohol Services SA clinical services director Associate Professor Robert Ali said giving out information about specific drugs was a "complicated issue" and that federal and state governments were concerned about sending the message that they were condoning drug use.

He said listing any drugs as unsafe could also give a "false sense of security" about drugs not listed.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24056385-2682,00.html

Yay so they have an article about Pillreports in the newspaper... Hopefully government organizations will look at these and help with the testing of some pills to help harm minimization and to let us know what is safe or not.

He said listing any drugs as unsafe could also give a "false sense of security" about drugs not listed.

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Piss poor excuse! This already happens with OTC herbal and similar preparations, not to mention the synthetic psychoactives marketed as legal etc, and imported and sold in this country everyday. Many who take these preparations do so because of marketing claims that the products contain safe and legal compounds/plant extracts etc, when it fact this may not be the case.

Many users want to believe the hype, when in fact, in many cases a good old fashion MDMA pill may be a safer bet to some of these novel compounds or exotic cocktails for which no pharmacological evaluation has been done. Unless you wear blinkers, then it should come as no surprise that this trend has developed, but it must be said that misinformation or lack of accurate information are factors in why this practice is so widespread and gaining in momentum.


Users need info, it saves lives. Prohibitionist excuses such as "sending the wrong message" are nothing short of pathetic. Its completely unacceptable that policy makers are willing to let a few die for the sake of an unacheivable ideal, their position should never allow for them to be unreproachable. Whether this has been the policy makers' intention or not, it's been well forecast by those with a bit of common sense and a realistic picture of recreational drug use.

I, like many, eagerly await the stats that will follow as a result of shifting the Ecstasy market towards these new and novel substances. Word is, there's about to be an influx of new plant and pharmaceutical substances, some of which will not breech current analogue legislation. Users will no doubt embrace such drugs as the marketing approach will likely be as it is currently i.e. to highlight product safety and legality, sometimes in the same sentence.

Get real, Robert Ali and others; recreational drug use isn't going away, it's here to stay, whether we're talking about known drugs, some of which are less available today due to successes in LE, or the surge of future drugs that will be marketed to keen users.

To say "giving out information about specific drugs was a "complicated issue" and that federal and state governments were concerned about sending the message that they were condoning drug use" is ridiculous if one is being realistic. Harm Reduction has already addressed this point, and until recent changes in government approaches, this system was working well. HR is not and has never been about eliminating or even reducing drug use. It's about information, and allowing users - who will use anyway - to make an informed decision. Not accounting for possible editorial scissors, it's a pity this Associate Professor isn't a bit more detailed in his response. I would expect more from someone in his position. Mind you it can be a long road from associate to being appointed full professorship

So over the next 2-3 years when these figures become available, who will be held accountable for current decisions regarding moving the emphasis away from harm minimisation? If I had my way, I'd start with the politicians, then the law makers-advisors (who rarely follow the advise of their academic colleagues) followed by the inforcers, the social engineers and finally those of the public who discriminate and demand, when they have no idea of the likely consequences - or perhaps they do? "What's another few deaths if we can save future generations?" 8) Trouble is, in the long run they aren't saving anyone.

Adelaide drug researcher Dr David Caldicott said it was inevitable that the drug-taking community– many of whom purchase drug-testing kits for personal use – would create a resource for themselves.

"These kids are testing their pills already, the only difference is that they're doing so in a vacuum of medical advice," he said.

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Another problem is, now that MDMA is becoming less common in pills, the substitutes are often mixed with compounds designed to fool the kits. As we have always said, we need a far better testing system. Not blaming the HR campaigners, but it's a pity the political momentum towards this seems to have waned over recent times.

But just wait until we have upcoming data (which is always usually a year or so behind) If drug usage is found to have increased, then it can be effectively argued that the latest scare campaigns have failed. But if use is seen to have dropped or is relatively constant, yet more hospital admission or deaths have resulted, then the blame can be squarely aimed at prohibitionists and law makers for making the illicit drug scene more dangerous. Either way prohibition will be shown to have failed terribly. I can feel a witch hunt coming on....

Reader comments on News.com.au

^^
Some intelligent responses there for once. Good to see. I wonder how many of them are people from BL?

The morons still made their way out of the woodwork, but thats always going to happen.

The more druggies that die the better I think.. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Druggies always bring out the old "More people die from alcohol and smoking" argument. If the chemicals hadn't fried their brains they would realise that alcohol and tobacco are legal, illicit drugs aren't.

Posted by: Brain not fried of WA 7:31pm July 22, 2008
Comment 12 of 23

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seriously. wishing harm upon a person based purely on lifestyle choices,
i bet this person is racist, homophobic and bigoted.
it's people like this that we'd be better off without.

since when has the legality of the substance been the topic on pillreports?
there are mods on there like myself who stop people from sourcing and dealing.

it disgusts me that people are complaining that sites like pillreports and bluelight exist.

mdma, rohypnol, large big mac meal, tobacco, amphetamines, valium, alcohol, lsd

some are legal, some are not.
all have some negative side effects.

people have the right to be informed.

drplatypus said:

TORY SHEPHERD

July 21, 2008 09:00pm

PARTYGOERS are resorting to online forums for information about potentially deadly drugs.

Federal and state governments' Just Say No approach means there are no official resources that detail "bad batches" of drugs such as ecstasy.

Click to expand...

Police do issue warnings, though, at least after people end up in the hospital. And these, though very infrequently, seem to be posted to pillreports (as well as in places around the media). I guess by "official," they mean directly from the government?

Internet sites that allow users to warn each other about drugs' unwanted side effects are filling the information gap.

For example, in a posting about Green Ralph Lauren ecstasy tablets, available in Adelaide, "pixiehead" warns that she tried just a quarter ofa pill.

"After half an hour I felt like s. . . My heart was racing, I wasn't breathing properly, and I couldn't move properly," she said.

"If I had had the whole pill, I think I would of chucked and needed an ambulance. Just be really careful with these people, please."

Click to expand...

They could have least chosen a report that actually was an adulterated pill. And how did they determine a gender of "pixiehead", given the anonymity of pillreports, and the ambiguity of the username?

Dr Caldicott said the most people using these sites were "university educated, affluent, independent, quite cynical young people with no regard for the `just say no' message".

Click to expand...

Quite cynical? I prefer the term "ecstatic"

Police do issue warnings, though, at least after people end up in the hospital. And these, though very infrequently, seem to be posted to pillreports (as well as in places around the media). I guess by "official," they mean directly from the government?

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The problem is, unless there's an independent body established that releases this information, users will never be sure whether the pills in question are really dangerous, or whether the police are merely on another scare campaign. This has happened before, when someone died and it was initially announced it was caused by a bad pill. Mass confusion resulted, but after months of user reports, it was concluded that either there was a bad batch, or the police got it wrong - intentionally or otherwise.

More recently, police announced that the 4-methylmethcathinone they seized was actually 4-MTA or 4-methylthioamphetamine, which it most certainly is not.

Sites like this are important to correctly inform the using public or to highlight such mistakes or inconsistencies. Unfortunately, this potentially life saving resource (police info on bad pills) is lost on many users, as they simply doubt they've been told the truth. Some might argue that it's all acting as a deterrent, but in reality, if someone intent on doing a pill hears the one they've got might be sus, in many cases they'll simply choose another, often one for which nothing or little is known. So, the all drugs are bad attitude once again serves to actually make drug use more dangerous.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for authorities releasing this info, but I'm also well aware that credibility is everything; if users loose respect because they are being spun lies, then they are less likely to heed a genuine warning.