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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

7:30 Report -TONIGHT - 5/3/07: PMA death and why ppl won't told about the PMA sooner.

Not entirely a waste of time, I would suggest. Fighting political battles is a long term game, like chess, and frequently involves putting pieces into place before making decisive moves. This was a story about a girl and her parents predominantly, and showed to everyone that drug use in Australia can't be dismissed as other peoples problems. It showed a senior NSW police officer openly admitting that the current system of analysis is deeply flawed. These are excellent pieces to have in place for further battles. For the record, I DID talk about testing systems with the reporter, but I'm actually quite pleased, for the sake of the parents, that the ABC didn't turn it into the massive finger-pointing exercise that it could have become. We can put it in the bag, and save it for later, once some wounds are healed....
I think the producers would be very happy to hear from the Bluelight community, and get their feedback on the programme... the more they get back, I think the more likely it will be that they extend this episode into looking at the sort of pill-testing that Bluelighters are interested in.
 
Splatt said:
Would of been great instead of that lame dramatisation they gave the time to Johnboy to talk a little about Enlighten and pill testing using the ion scanner, and how the government wouldn't allow it. And explain harm minimisation to viewers that didn't understand it.
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^I guess I was expecting something more like this.

Hopefully you are all right and this is only the tip of the iceberg..... fingers crossed.
 
Oh, most of the good work, and the hard work is done by the Blulighters who scrutinize every single piece of data out there, and draw the inconsistencies into the broad light of day... I couldn't do a third of what I do without the vigilance of the broader BL community- Gawd bless all of your collective cotton socks!!
 
Sure the program could have been better, but thats a fairly good step in the right direction for a program that a fairly mainstream audience would watch.
 
As drplatypus has said above, it would be a fantastic opportunity for members of Bluelight to express their constructive opinions on this matter through the 7.30 Report guestbook. Bluelight as a community knows the benefits of Pill Testing and other Harm Reduction techniques, but sadly, a good percentage of the Australian community are unaware of them.

If we can present a further voice to the argument, we might just see the Harm Reduction message being supported, or at the very least, reported further by The 7.30 Report.

This is our opportunity as a community to voice our opinions in a constructive way. Let's make the most of it. :)
 
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Similar delays occur in Victoria with the forensic testing of seized drugs, in the past this has even led to people being dismissed from drug charges due to long delays. Obviously there is a problem with the amount of resources being diverted to forensic drug examanation and perhaps a symptom of more frequent police seizures in a country where drug usage is becoming more common.

It's also troubling that police refuse to release details of the pill/capsule that Annabel Catt took on the principal that it sends the message some drug usage is safer than others.

Police urged to release drug details after festival death.

From that article:

But they say they will not identify the colour or logo of the pill Ms Catt took because they do not want to create the impression some tablets are safer than others.
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I find the above statement unacceptable. PMA is vastly more dangerous than MDMA alone and significantly more dangerous than just about any other impurity you might find in a common ecstasy pill. If there were any truth to the statement that all pills were equally as dangerous as the one's Annabel Catt took, we'd have thousands dying every weekend.

Props to Dr Caldicott and thanks also IWillHostIt for recording and hosting this
 
I found it a little concerning that one of the pills they showed during the program which I have had, were the orange shields They didn't say whether or not this particular press contained PMA though.
 
Drug testing system 'needs improvement'
March 5, 2007 - 9:44PM

NSW police have admitted it takes too long to test confiscated drugs, following confirmation that pills seized several weeks ago were laced with a highly toxic substance that killed a young Sydney woman.

Routine test results, revealing the presence in tablets of PMA - a deadly form of amphetamine - came back in late February.

Police immediately put out a public warning, as they did again for last weekend's Mardi Gras festival, but it was too late for 20-year-old Annabel Catt.

Ms Catt, of Elanora Heights in Sydney's north, died last month just days earlier after attending the Good Vibrations music festival at Centennial Park, where she took what she thought was ecstasy (MDMA).

Toxicology reports, however, revealed the presence of the rare - and lethal - drug Paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA).

Detective Superintendent Greig Newbery of the NSW Drug Squad said the time it now took to routinely test police drug hauls - eight to 12 weeks - could be improved.

"Yes, we can improve, the system can improve," Det Supt Newbery told ABC television.

"Police are continually providing the message to the public that all prohibited drugs are dangerous.

"(Knowing the test results sooner) certainly may have provided a bit more information to the public, whether it would have made a difference in Annabel Catt's case is very difficult to say."

Annabel's parents Peter and Alison Catt said their daughter's friends had told them she had only taken ecstasy twice before at music festivals.

Ms Catt and her friends had pre-arranged to take ecstasy at the Good Vibrations festival and had bought one tablet each outside the venue, they said.

But when the effects started to wear off, Ms Catt and a friend decided to buy another dose.

Peter and Alison Catt remain convinced their daughter would not have taken the fateful second capsule, had she known it contained PMA.

"I know in my heart that Annabel would never ever want to cause herself harm because her life was so rich and she had such a future," Peter Catt said.

Alison Catt added: "We just want to turn the clock back."
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The Age, News.com.au
 
I thought the documentary was quite good and very saddening too. I think it highlighted quite well the serious threat of pma and the problem with illegally made drugs. It pointed out how a timely release of information by police about dangerous pills in ciculation could have potentially saved this poor girls life, we may never know.....but hopefully someone paid attention to this documentary in the right places.
 
It was certainly very touching, watching those poor parents grieve. They seemed to have quite an open honest relationship with Annabel, something which above all else should be encouraged. My Kids were told about PMA in response to their first questions about Ecstasy. While it doesn't guarantee their safety if ever they decide to take pills, it nevertheless highlights the dangers of illicit drugs and further encourages them to educate their peers.


I agree with the good Dr, it wasn't the time to launch into a speil about alternative forms of pill testing, but hopefully the subject will receive some attention down the track.
 
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I have to admit that a shed a few tears watching the parents. I was impressed with the way they presented; they clearly loved their daughter so much and at least they hadn't transformed that love into a kind of rage against drugs or society or another source of blame.

It was also good to see that the police admit the system needs improving. An early warning monitoring system that doesn't have a 6-10 week lag time, and captures more than just the police seized drugs, just might prevent deaths like Annabel's happening in the future. I think this was the unsaid conclusion to this piece.

I agree with Hoptis: I'm also concerned at the police's decision not to warn people about particular pills. Of course a PMA pill is more dangerous than an MDMA only pill! It doesn't mean that by naming the PMA pill, people will assume that all other pills are completely safe. The information needed for harm reduction is being held back for the sake of trying to prevent all drug use by applying a blanket warning. Clearly this doesn't work... *sigh*
 
God that story makes me want to buy all my friends pill testers.. Never realised PMA took 3hrs to start affecting the body and that SA had the highest number of PMA deaths in the world.

Those parents were so dignified in the way they took their daughters death, as you said Tronica they didn't level blame at anyone, they were more looking to make sure this kind of tragedy never happens again. I spoke to my folks about this story - they are usually pretty conservative on drug issues - it was interesting to see them agree that something like pill testing should be availiable to those wishing to seek it after watching the 7:30 Report. If my parents are any gauge then the way this story was presented could really help do some good for Harm Minimisation in Australia.. Too bad it keeps taking the deaths of young people for governments to stand up and take notice..
 
Just a quick question guys...........Can a test kit tell you if a pill contains PMA?
 
If a pill contains nothing but PMA Marquis will not show any colour change.
Mandelin however will show a change of green to red to brown.

If a pill has a mixture of MDMA and PMA then this becomes a bit more tricky to detect. You will have to order Ropadobe tester from the internet, as currently Enlighten do not stock it. If Ropadobe shows a colour change to a pinkish/reddish colour then the pill copuld be dangerous, or it could just contain MDA as well as MDMA/MDEA, or MDA alone.
 
Cheers for hosting.

Props to the Dr :)

Some interesting issues were raised and hopefully that will mean something will be done. The police admitting theres a problem is a good start.
 
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