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NEWS: Courier-Mail - The Drugs Scrouge

hoptis

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This week, The Courier-Mail will reveal the stories of dealers, addicts, shattered families, police, judges, chemists, child safety workers, doctors, lawyers, and customs officials whose lives have been affected by drugs.

Please post all articles and discussion here.

Courier-Mail - The Drugs Scrouge

A DREAM night out with friends, or an ongoing nightmare? We invite our readers to share their experiences with amphetamine use and abuse.

DO SO HERE!

Don't forget to:

Vote in the poll

Other media:

Infographic: What's really in ecstasy

Video:

Professor John Saunders talks about the effects of amphetamines on the mind and body.

Drug dangers follow-up

Dr Daglish talks about addiction and psychosis

A few pills and she's gone forever

Rosie Bebendorf's parents tell of their tragic loss

A drug runner tracked by GPS visited 120 pharmacies in South East Queensland

Ch 9's Today: Scoring ecstasy in Fortitude Valley at $20 a pop

Ch 9's Today: The cheap thrill that can kill

Not true to label: ecstasy that isn't, and the cost of supplying

Ch 9's Today: Where the drugs are coming from


Brisbane, Gold Coast venues test positive
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Michael Crutcher
March 27, 2009 11:00pm

SOUTHEAST Queensland's bars and nightclubs, even some restaurants, are awash with drug users, but the joyride could be over.

With a wave of new technology targeting troublemakers, The Courier-Mail tested 10 licensed venues in Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the past fortnight and found eight tested positive for traces of amphetamine-type stimulants.

The venues, which The Courier-Mail has decided against naming, included nightclubs in Fortitude Valley, Gold Coast restaurants, major entertainment venues, a lawn bowls club and a theatre.

The swabs were conducted with equipment used by Victorian police in their roadside drug tests and targeted four types of drugs: amphetamine/methamphetamine/ecstasy; cocaine, cannabis and opiates.

Six of the venues tested positive for traces of all four drug types, including a toilet shared by a restaurant strip on the Gold Coast. One Gold Coast pub had traces of amphetamines. Swabs were taken in bathroom areas, which are common sites for drug use.

The tests were done as part of The Courier-Mail's Drug Scourge series, which starts on Monday, to discover the extent of drug use in the state.

And they reflected evidence which shows a pill epidemic in Australia, causing a new surge in drug-related problems.

The bowls club and theatre produced negative results while the Valley nightclubs produced the strongest positive readings.

But licensees say they are fighting back in a bid to lose a reputation for turning a blind eye to drug use.

The newspaper has learnt that some nightclubs are on the verge of rolling out facial recognition technology that will enable their closed-circuit cameras to immediately detect "people of interest" entering or leaving the premises.

Other methods ready for widespread use in southeast Queensland include: Headcams miniature audio and visual recording devices attached to the head which enable security to record patrons on the premises.; and a network between venues which could allow licensees to swap information on unruly patrons taken from scans of identification cards.

Cabarets Queensland vice-president Sarosh Mehta, who is a partner in Caxton St venue Casablanca, said any measures which could help licensees limit troublemakers were welcome.

"No licensee I know condones any drug taking at all and we do anything we can to comply with police to stamp that out," he said.

"But technology is now providing us with additional steps that we can take to get our main message out that we want people to be able to celebrate in safe environments."

Justin O'Connor, the chief executive of Queensland Hotels Association, said licensees did not condone drug use at their venues.

"Anecdotal observations from QHA members indicates the use of cannabis, and more recently ecstasy and methylamphetamines, is relatively common place among younger people in Queensland entertainment precincts and venues ... particularly in the late-night economy," he said.

He said monitoring of patrons at hotel entries remained the best method of preventing drug use at venues.

Other options, including security patrols of toilet areas, were also an option.

Australia is the world's biggest user of ecstasy per capita, and authorities fear the nation faces a wave of drug issues in years to come because of the mental health implications and other problems flowing from the pill epidemic.

Courier-Mail
 
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The Herald Sun did this a few years ago in Melbourne, usually this means they have nothing else to write about so they waste a few Drugwipes by swiping them on club toilets. :\

The tests were done as part of The Courier-Mail's Drug Scourge series, which starts on Monday, to discover the extent of drug use in the state.

Can't wait... can people add any articles to this thread if they catch these online? Thanks :)

The bowls club and theatre produced negative results while the Valley nightclubs produced the strongest positive readings.

Disappointing... here in Melbourne all the seniors are on it.
 
Hey guys, people take drugs at nightclubs! Bet none of you saw that one coming huh?

If they really want a field day, they should take a look through all the junk on the dancefloor after close. That's if the people working at the clubs don't get to all the dropped baggies and pills first.
 
Hey guys, people take drugs at nightclubs! Bet none of you saw that one coming huh?

If they really want a field day, they should take a look through all the junk on the dancefloor after close. That's if the people working at the clubs don't get to all the dropped baggies and pills first.

lol seriously, there must be hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of shit dropped every night at every club.
 



The newspaper has learnt that some nightclubs are on the verge of rolling out facial recognition technology that will enable their closed-circuit cameras to immediately detect "people of interest" entering or leaving the premises.




Boycott any club that dose this.

I want them to check out the toilets of a police station, parliment house, council chambers etc
 
lol seriously, there must be hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of shit dropped every night at every club.

You have no idea. A mate of mine used to work at a particular nightclub very popular with the rave crowd, and the amount of free drugs he'd find after close on the dancefloor, behind the couches, in the toilets, in peoples lost jackets, on the ground in the alleyway outside, was just mindblowing.
 
Maybe that's where I need a job.


And of course there will be traces of drugs, if there wasn't then the nightclubs probably wouldn't have been popular enough to bother testing.

I thought from the title they were testing workers. Now that would be a bad idea. 60% of the hospitality industry would loose it's workers
 
I remember 2 or 3 years ago they tested things like the handrails and escalators of Flinders St station, Southern Cross station & handrails on different trains all came back positive to basically any drug you can think of. These tests show nothing, the amount of people that come into contact with drugs is massive of course some of them might catch a train every now and them.

If you're at a club till closing or even on the last day of certain music festivals you can almost guarantee finding dropped baggies with all sorts of shit on the ground.
 
Of course these places will test positive, the hospitality industry is known to take drugs because of the shifts/hours they have to work... I know 7 chefs and every single one of them takes drugs on a regular basis.

This report is hardly shocking, I dought it would be to many people as well... Of course nightclubs would as well, what is the most popular thing to do in a nightclub apart from pick up and drink alcohol...? TAKE DRUGS! Well obviously mushi mushi you didn't have to write that one out lol.
 
I have known many a chef to start their shift with a line of speed.

It makes the day fly by and means you can work 90+ hours a week without dying on your feet.

Hell I've been to work tripping my ass of a few times.

If you know what you're doing (eg. after a few months on the job) then it's easy to get away with. As long as it's not affecting your work (quality of/actually turning up) then noone gives a shit.

I doubt there are many places that will show a negative result when testing for all kinds of drugs.

And as for the facial recognition software, what are the clubs going to do? Hire more staff to watch the camera's all the time? Waste of money on their part.
 
they should do some swabs at a police station.....;)



That's the smartest thing I have heard today ...

Police only get tested if they shoot someone which is rare ....

Anyone remember the 2 cops who shot that bloke on the beach who had a knife ?

they tested positive for cocaine and something else ...

I bet some cops have a line of coke or something before going on a raid.
 
Boycott any club that dose this.

I want them to check out the toilets of a police station, parliment house, council chambers etc

Bingo!

I'd also love to see them with drug sniffer dogs outside the front of the Logies or the ARIA's or take swab's from their toilets. When is the media going to accept that taking drugs is common place amongst all people at all levels in society and from all walks of life? The ironic thing is police, jounalist's, television presenters, media executives, politicians, actors, sport's stars, lawyers, docters etc etc all use drugs too. Do they think that only people from low economic stature, junkies and people who wear phat pants use drugs?
 

Ecstasy turns to agony at the end of a bad trip
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Matthew Fynes-Clinton
March 29, 2009 11:00pm

0,,6554582,00.jpg

This graphic shows brain damage from methamphetamine.

SPEED and ice play a malevolent ruse on the brain, sparking exhilaration in the early phase of use but over time eroding any sense of pleasure at all.

"Methamphetamine is a thoroughly bad trip for people to be taking," says Professor John Saunders, drug and alcohol program director at the Pine Rivers Private Hospital, on Brisbane's northside.

"Eighty per cent of the day, (users) would be experiencing low mood and an absence of the neural pleasures of life, interspersed only when they've just smoked or shot up enough methamphetamine to temporarily give them a boost.

"It's a miserable existence."

Professor Saunders, an international authority on addictions medicine, says methamphetamine induces the release of dopamine – the brain's potent "reward pathway" chemical.

But the surge is monstrous . . . about 12 times the level discharged during natural activities such as sex and eating.

"That's the buzz," Professor Saunders says. "The feeling of being happy, euphoric, energised and overactive."

Normally, after a short period of pleasure, dopamine is removed and recycled to the brain for future use.

However, methamphetamine not only blocks but reverses this "re-uptake pump" – hence the chemical flood.

In a classic binge, of up to 48 hours, users will keep ingesting until the excess dopamine is spent and the "high" abates.

Then their bodies will "crash", says Mark Daglish, director of addiction psychiatry at the Royal Brisbane Hospital Alcohol and Drug Service.

"The sort of lay phrase we use to describe it is that they're 'nailed to the bed' for about 24, 36 hours," Dr Daglish says.

"They've got no energy, they sleep a lot, and when they wake up, they'll be agitated and ravenous because methamphetamine is an appetite-suppressant and they haven't eaten.

"A few days later (is the danger time). Their mood can absolutely plummet. They'll get really depressed. Sometimes, it gets to the stage where they just want to kill themselves."

Professor Saunders says: "Of course, what people do is take more methamphetamine to (counter) those effects."

Yet, with prolonged use, the continual brain drain of dopamine is compounded by damage to the infrastructure – the receptors that bind the chemical and the transporter cells that should be helping to replenish reserves.

"The brain's natural reward system is hijacked," Professor Saunders says.

"'Things like a beautiful sight, a game of sport . . . sex, become dull and intensely boring activities. People end up in a state of chronic, recurrent, lethargy and depression."

As well, other parts of the brain – notably the mid-brain – can be permanently altered.

A landmark 2001 study by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse found methamphetamine users displayed brain inflammation and impairment to memory, movement, attention and motivation, even months after withdrawal.

Courier-Mail
 
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Tale of a trip gone wrong
Article from: The Courier-Mail
March 29, 2009 11:00pm

A DRUG user suspects they have taken adulterated ecstasy. They tell of the unexpected effects of the drug taken on November 17, 2008.

AN average night for me is 4/5/6 pills, but I chose this night to triple-drop for the first time. Tasted foul and half an hour later I felt it coming on, and following the rush, an urgent sickness. Slumped down, vomiting and semi-paralytic, I lose the urge to communicate and go through 3 litres of water sitting there. Got some feeling back and eventually I started wandering around just a little. If I gave myself a mission, eg: to find someone, I felt better. Less lost. Felt like I could pass out and sleep for a week

. . When I got home I slept until late night. No comedown that I noticed. For the rest of the week, stomach felt as though it had been torn to shreds.

Courier-Mail
 

Police target drugs, DUI
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Jeremy Pierce
March 29, 2009 11:00pm

POLICE on the Gold Coast launched a mass crackdown on drink driving and drugs at the weekend as part of a new warning of the dangers of illicit substances.

More than 2000 drink and drug driving tests were carried out at Palm Beach between Friday night and last night as part of Operation Palm Olive, while uniformed and plainclothes police also searched music revellers at the V Festival for drugs.

Palm Olive field commander Sgt Dave Glaister said drug use by drivers was a recipe for disaster.

Two drivers out of 60 tested by police returned positive readings for amphetamines.

"People who think they won't drink alcohol, but do drugs instead, and think they can get away with it are wrong," Sgt Glaister said. "It's still driving under the influence and it is just as dangerous."

Until late yesterday, 21 motorists had been charged with drink driving, including one man who recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.211, more than four times the legal limit.

Courier-Mail
 

War on drugs needs injection of funds, says expert
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Dennis Young
March 29, 2009 11:00pm

DURING more than 30 years in the drug and alcohol field, I have seen many changes in policing, prevention and treatment strategies.

There are many dedicated, professional individuals working in this field, addressing the serious problems of drug and alcohol misuse.

However, we continue to need a greater investment and focus on treatment here in Queensland, especially in the provision of treatment bed and support services to keep pace with increasing demand.

This is especially true during the current economic uncertainty.

Despite our network of treatment services, it is estimated fewer than half of dependent drug users are in treatment in Australia, compared with rates of more than 70 per cent in some Western countries.

Illicit drug use is not just a health issue. It also affects us economically, because of the resources needed to support our prison system, criminal justice system and the health system.

Effective treatment of drug and alcohol problems has clear economic benefits. Every $1 spent on treatment can return a benefit of up to $7 to the community by way of reduction in crime and medical-care costs.

But we cannot expect the burden of resolving these issues to lie solely on government services.

Both government and non-government agencies, together with local communities, can greatly assist positive solutions by drawing on evidence-based treatment and prevention programs, that respond to community needs.

In recent years, governments have supported non-government agencies to expand their range of prevention and treatment services.

However, there is an urgent need for parity in the funds provided to the non-government agencies, compared with their government counterparts, to make sure we retain an effective non-government sector here in Queensland.

With that said, we have made significant advances in recent years.

Although there has been a general increase in illicit drug use, the number of fatalities from overdoses of drugs such as heroin and morphine has fallen.

This reduction could be attributed, in part, to the National Drug Strategy, established in 1985, combining supply, demand and harm-reduction coupled with extensive reviews in law-enforcement strategies and responses in relation to illicit drug overdoses.

We are also fortunate in this country to have one of the lowest rates of HIV infection among injecting drug-users in the world, due mainly to our innovative harm-minimisation strategies that include needle-supply programs and the pharmacotherapy interventions such as methadone and buprenorphine.

Another major advance in recent years has been the expansion of diversion programs, including drug courts, police and court diversion programs as well as the Queensland Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (QMERIT) and their aftercare programs.

These programs refer illicit drug offenders to the health system to receive assessment and treatment for their drug use as a means of reducing future contact with the criminal justice system.

Despite our advances, many challenges remain in addressing the issues surrounding illicit drug use.

The number of Australians aged 14 or over who have used drugs continues to increase.

Growth in the use of amphetamines and ecstasy is particularly notable.

It is also worth noting that despite the growing concern of illicit drug use, our legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco remain the most socially, economically and health-harming substances we have in our community, with Australia ranked 22nd in the world in terms of per capita consumption of alcohol.

I applaud The Courier-Mail for its in-depth examination of the impact of illicit drugs on our society.

We, as a society, will continue to need a collaborative working relationship between government, local government, individuals and the non-government sector on alcohol and drug abuse.

Dr Dennis Young is executive director DRUG ARM Australasia and president of the Queensland Network of Alcohol and Drug Agencies.

Courier-Mail
 

Chemistry of night on town
Article from: The Courier-Mail
March 29, 2009 11:00pm

A GOLD Coast ecstasy user has detailed an alcohol-and-drug fuelled big night out. Submitted to pillreports.com: October 20, 2008.

Had no lunch, dinner about 6.30pm.

8.30pm: Start drinking. About 3-4 standard drinks in 15mins.

9pm: Waiting for ride to arrive.

9:30pm: Have another drink on way out the door.

10pm: Arrive at pub to meet others. Buy a Jim Beam and Coke (7% alcohol volume).

10:30pm: Me and mate both drop first pill, whole.

11pm: Mate's pill comes on hard. I still feel nothing, maybe a little bit tipsy . . . not pissed. I buy another drink.

11:15pm: Start getting into music. Live band sounded good.

11:30pm: Was sitting on comfortable chair. Felt my whole body drop/sink into chair and, BANG, pill comes on quick.

11:45pm: Real happy and excited to go out. Pretty much sprint to bus stop. Jumping around. Not peaking yet.

11:59pm: Get on public bus. Throw money at bus driver and sit in baggage racks. I am happy.

12:15am: Get off bus and jump around, go across road to club.

12.30am: Finally get into club. I am peaking. Dance, Dance, Dance. Seeing friends is great.

1.00am: Feel like I'm starting to come down. Drop 1.5 (pills) and drink a Smirnoff Black (5% alcohol volume).

1.01am: Chronic eye wobbles, good eurforia (sic). I am feeling maximum effects.

2am: Decide to eat other half of a pill but drop a tiny bit. I can't see a f***ing thing. F*** it, I'm having fun.

2.45am: Go outside and meet friends, have a smoke.

2.59am: Get in before lockdown. I am still charging.

3.30am: Friends are coming down, want to leave. I have no money. I leave with them.

4am: Taxi is mad. I can't stay still.

4.30am: Pupils are still f***ing huge. The rest is a blur.

8am: I wake up sweating, go back to my own house, get changed. Start drinking at 10.30am for mate's birthday. I feel like s***.

Courier-Mail
 
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