madmick19
Bluelight Crew
Howdy all,
After a decade of being on this forum and pill reports I feel it has been long due for me to leave my position as a moderator of Australian Drug Discussion and Bluelight more generally.
I would like to thank the staff members that I have worked with on these forums for their commitment to keeping the discussions alive and Bluelight pointed in a harm reduction direction. there are way too many names to mention here.
Ten years ago Bluelight was definitely not the same place; its ability to adapt and change has kept it at the forefront of drug discussion forums. Then I was a younger and eager person wanting to consume as much information on drugs as I could for a few reasons. Some of these included seeking information on things I wanted to try and more info on these things that I had tried and harm reduction techniques for these for both me and my friends.
The one thing that was really evident back in early 2000's was the prevailing messages about harm reduction. It appeared that everyone offered advice on how to minimise the harm from use, it was popular and kept me and my friends alive many a time. My perception at the time was that it was a value that bluelighter's shared- care for themselves and care for one another.
I must admit there are changes i would have liked to see here on bluelight, some of these are required from the ground up; from people donating their time expertise and identity to furthering the cause and depth of this wonderful site. Especially changes to the staffing, bluelight as an organisation and securing the future funding of this site. We have many talented people from a diversity of fields that use this site who could contribute in many selfless ways to ensure that this resource stays accurate and alive for decades to come.
One of the things I reflect on in the last few years has been the changes in peoples language using Aus Drug Discussion, rather than reflect hope and cautious optimism about using substances; sometimes it sounds like the desperate consumerism of substances. Which is not unlike what I hear daily at the clinic where peoples relationships to substances have become unmanageable and untenable. To me again this would point to a shift in values on this forum- a move away from harm reduction and recreational/experimental use.
Many people’s voices who would verge on the border of chaotic/ problematic/ dependant patterns of use seem to be noticed more than the green lighter asking a very simple question. Many moderators and forum users over the years have recognised this spending a lot of their own personal time to share, guide, mentor and socialise green lighters into a mind frame of responsible drug use.
I would like to share some of the benefits I have received from my association with Bluelight in both its .nu and .ru forms. Some of these include meeting great people who have become great lifelong friends. And in some strange fate like way, I met my partner of 8 years though this site; before i me her i posted a pill report on pillreports.com on a bunk pill (Red cK which contained Morphine and made a lot of people sick in Canberra) She decided not to take the pill that night and spent the night looking after non Bluelight friends who ended up very sick and having an unanticipated experience. A year or so later through a common interest in harm reduction we met.
Indeed my interest in the Alcohol and other Drug (AOD) field was born here on Aus drug discussion- web pages like pill testing Australia and groups like enlighten harm reduction, Rave safe Queensland, Rave safe Victoria and Dance safe USA cultivated my interest in harm reduction and taking a stand against a lot of the misinformation perpetrated about substances.
The Canberra blue lighter’s got together - Code Blue Harm reduction services was born in 2001; with some mentoring support from Johnboy, Mac, the enlighten crew, Danny from Rave safe Victoria, Phase dancer from Rave safe QLD and Nicky Bath from Aivl- this group was able to advocate in national conferences and forums about the messages that originated here on Bluelight. Messages of reducing stigma, health promotion and inclusion rather than taking an exaggerated supply reduction legal stance to substance use.
These experiences inspired me to retrain from a mechanic to become an AOD Worker and now social worker in a government opiate treatment service. I have this forum to thank for most of the harm reduction techniques I use in counselling today.
I feel fortunate to have been mentored by other peers who courageously stood out from the crowd to present the voice and concerns of people; departing from their online anonymity to engage in social and political arena.
Johnboy, Phasedancer, Nick the cheese, tars, and the rest of the older bluelighter’s who took these steps, remind me of this poem where Duguid quoted Ruskin;
“I saw an injustice done and tried to remedy it, I heard a falsehood taught and was compelled to deny it. Nothing else was possible for me. I knew not how little or how much might come of the business, or whether I was fit for it; but here was the lie, full set in front of me and there was no way round it but only over it.” (Duguid in SEE CHANGE)
Keep safe and take care of one another
Kind regards....................... Madmick19 (should be Madmick29 now
After a decade of being on this forum and pill reports I feel it has been long due for me to leave my position as a moderator of Australian Drug Discussion and Bluelight more generally.
I would like to thank the staff members that I have worked with on these forums for their commitment to keeping the discussions alive and Bluelight pointed in a harm reduction direction. there are way too many names to mention here.
Ten years ago Bluelight was definitely not the same place; its ability to adapt and change has kept it at the forefront of drug discussion forums. Then I was a younger and eager person wanting to consume as much information on drugs as I could for a few reasons. Some of these included seeking information on things I wanted to try and more info on these things that I had tried and harm reduction techniques for these for both me and my friends.
The one thing that was really evident back in early 2000's was the prevailing messages about harm reduction. It appeared that everyone offered advice on how to minimise the harm from use, it was popular and kept me and my friends alive many a time. My perception at the time was that it was a value that bluelighter's shared- care for themselves and care for one another.
I must admit there are changes i would have liked to see here on bluelight, some of these are required from the ground up; from people donating their time expertise and identity to furthering the cause and depth of this wonderful site. Especially changes to the staffing, bluelight as an organisation and securing the future funding of this site. We have many talented people from a diversity of fields that use this site who could contribute in many selfless ways to ensure that this resource stays accurate and alive for decades to come.
One of the things I reflect on in the last few years has been the changes in peoples language using Aus Drug Discussion, rather than reflect hope and cautious optimism about using substances; sometimes it sounds like the desperate consumerism of substances. Which is not unlike what I hear daily at the clinic where peoples relationships to substances have become unmanageable and untenable. To me again this would point to a shift in values on this forum- a move away from harm reduction and recreational/experimental use.
Many people’s voices who would verge on the border of chaotic/ problematic/ dependant patterns of use seem to be noticed more than the green lighter asking a very simple question. Many moderators and forum users over the years have recognised this spending a lot of their own personal time to share, guide, mentor and socialise green lighters into a mind frame of responsible drug use.
I would like to share some of the benefits I have received from my association with Bluelight in both its .nu and .ru forms. Some of these include meeting great people who have become great lifelong friends. And in some strange fate like way, I met my partner of 8 years though this site; before i me her i posted a pill report on pillreports.com on a bunk pill (Red cK which contained Morphine and made a lot of people sick in Canberra) She decided not to take the pill that night and spent the night looking after non Bluelight friends who ended up very sick and having an unanticipated experience. A year or so later through a common interest in harm reduction we met.
Indeed my interest in the Alcohol and other Drug (AOD) field was born here on Aus drug discussion- web pages like pill testing Australia and groups like enlighten harm reduction, Rave safe Queensland, Rave safe Victoria and Dance safe USA cultivated my interest in harm reduction and taking a stand against a lot of the misinformation perpetrated about substances.
The Canberra blue lighter’s got together - Code Blue Harm reduction services was born in 2001; with some mentoring support from Johnboy, Mac, the enlighten crew, Danny from Rave safe Victoria, Phase dancer from Rave safe QLD and Nicky Bath from Aivl- this group was able to advocate in national conferences and forums about the messages that originated here on Bluelight. Messages of reducing stigma, health promotion and inclusion rather than taking an exaggerated supply reduction legal stance to substance use.
These experiences inspired me to retrain from a mechanic to become an AOD Worker and now social worker in a government opiate treatment service. I have this forum to thank for most of the harm reduction techniques I use in counselling today.
I feel fortunate to have been mentored by other peers who courageously stood out from the crowd to present the voice and concerns of people; departing from their online anonymity to engage in social and political arena.
Johnboy, Phasedancer, Nick the cheese, tars, and the rest of the older bluelighter’s who took these steps, remind me of this poem where Duguid quoted Ruskin;
“I saw an injustice done and tried to remedy it, I heard a falsehood taught and was compelled to deny it. Nothing else was possible for me. I knew not how little or how much might come of the business, or whether I was fit for it; but here was the lie, full set in front of me and there was no way round it but only over it.” (Duguid in SEE CHANGE)
Keep safe and take care of one another
Kind regards....................... Madmick19 (should be Madmick29 now
Mick. It's good to know you. 
