Collateral Damage - Your experience needed

Howdy all.

I'm from The Australian Heroin Diaries and I have recently posted an article called Collateral Damage which highlights the carnage caused by the "War on Drugs". It was mainly US based and I received a few requests to include more local examples. This has prompted me to seek out some Australian stories.

I am looking for your experiences that exemplify the damage caused by our drug laws and policies. For example; family members unfairly jailed, corrupt/unfair police actions, confiscated property, being refused something because of your addiction/drug using, unfairly losing a job because of using drugs, losing custody of children, police harassment, discrimination by family/friends etc.

Please email me here if you have a story to tell.

You can do it anonymously or include your details. Dates, names and places can be changed if needed.

Thanks

Terry Wright
The Australian Heroin Diaries

hi terry hopefully you find some stories for to add to your growing list

Two thumbs up for Terry's blog. I hope you get some useful stories from our members.

i like ur lil blurb "i dont rob peoples houses" etc..

im in the same boat, im a totally functional heroin user. i got money, a family... im not fuckn stealing from people...

its funny how many of my friends decided heroin was okay after noticing it is actually managable and not some disease that you cant cure.

Although, i dont agree when you think heroin addiction is a medical issue - its will power, ive got clean before, and stopped using totally until i felt i could function normal and hit a decent medium - although i did go thru the "OMG IM DYING I NEED A HIT" phase that one time... and it was a very painful 3 months

My inbox is lonely!

C'mon guys ... where's those stories???

You know you want to do it
--

Thanks Madmick19 and Hoptis for your support.

Thanks for your comments, MrIbis
There are 2 kinds of opiate addicts. Some have a chemical imbalance in their brain and some don't. Those who don't have the imbalance are not addicted for life but those who do will probably be on opiates forever or relapse constantly. The ability to use "will power" is largely dependant on this. I have a few articles about it on my blog.

ahh the discusion of dependance Vs mental addiction should be its own thread !!! ithink this basic discourse here does not really reflect the whole picture. Your argument is a little reminder of Descartes' mind-body dualism........ a content learned through immersion in this western culture, but not a truth

as for the hopeless relapsing addict- thats a tall tale too, ive seen lots of resilience in the face of great adversity in the work i do on a daily basis.

Because I have been an oxycontin addict now for 1.5 years and a heroin user every now and then using IV but not always but awhile ago I was a full on junkie, every time I used was Iv.

Anyway doctors have treated my like shit. I have a strained relationship with my sister, I told her I use drugs and shoot up looking for some support from her but it went the opposite way, she now calls me a dirty junkie on a daily basis, has told my friend I shoot up, a lot of my family treats me like crap. Luckily I havent had problems with the police but im in about $500 debt to my oxy supplier.

Im certainly one of those with will power and while ive been to rehab 3 times...only once for opiate dependence though, but I always have it in the back of my mind that ill quit using someday and im sure I will. Its unfortunate I know a lot of junies who believe theyre making their death bed and have a very negative attitude toward it al and hink theres no help out there for them which is sad.

I will email you when I get the time to...this heroin diary site looks like a great place. I am a person who likes to relate to others, it gives me a sense of comfort. But yer, ill check this site out for sure.

Thanks cashel_7890.

I'm looking forward to your email.

Hi Terry
I cant give you heaps of time at the moment, am extremely busy with studies. But I promise that as exams are over I can give you years of stories going back to the late 70's. Particularly in regards to police treatment of users during the 80's and early 90's. I think, by far the most out-of-control police during those times, were those from the Far North of our country. Also, the so-called detox centres (Psych Wards) from that era were renowned for the 'break your spirit before rebuilding you anew' type treatment. They had some kind of rationale behind it but ultimately you were treated as though you were garbage. And that was nothing compared with how the rest of the medical proffession looked upon us. I don't really know if you are interested in stories from that era. I know that predjudice still exists, I still have one foot in on the scene, but I know for certain that drug treatment centres in Australia these days focus on harm minimisation at the very least and most of the people involved in it are a pleasure to deal with. As for the Police of today, I can't say much as its been like at least 17 years since I last dealt with them. Like some of you I have learned to tame the beast somewhat and live well while enjoying just enough.
Oh by the way this is my first post. I haven't intro'd myself as yet. but glad to chat in ur forum. I hope to drop by regularly, time permitting. %)

Thanks WotNowJim

Just send me an email when you're ready.

And good luck with your exams.

cashel_7890 said:

Because I have been an oxycontin addict now for 1.5 years and a heroin user every now and then using IV but not always but awhile ago I was a full on junkie, every time I used was Iv.

Anyway doctors have treated my like shit. I have a strained relationship with my sister, I told her I use drugs and shoot up looking for some support from her but it went the opposite way, she now calls me a dirty junkie on a daily basis, has told my friend I shoot up, a lot of my family treats me like crap. Luckily I havent had problems with the police but im in about $500 debt to my oxy supplier.

Im certainly one of those with will power and while ive been to rehab 3 times...only once for opiate dependence though, but I always have it in the back of my mind that ill quit using someday and im sure I will. Its unfortunate I know a lot of junies who believe theyre making their death bed and have a very negative attitude toward it al and hink theres no help out there for them which is sad.

I will email you when I get the time to...this heroin diary site looks like a great place. I am a person who likes to relate to others, it gives me a sense of comfort. But yer, ill check this site out for sure.

Click to expand...

I had very similar experiences, then one day everything turned around.. i got money, got out of debt, my friends realized that not everyone who uses heroin is a dirty junkie.. and nothing has been a problem since... well, not drug use anyway