• 🇳🇿 🇲🇲 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇦🇺 🇦🇶 🇮🇳
    Australian & Asian
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

CONFERENCE: Club Health 2005 - Sydney

Well, I have now survived Club Health back to back with Parklife 7. It was great to catch up with everyone, especially during the social program.

I hope those who came enjoyed checking out home....which may feature more widely in future Club Health experiences.

and thanks for everyone who came to all of my presentations, although I think that "Effects of Alcohol on Club Health Social program Attendees" was clearly the favourite.

Cheers,

Buck
 
oh yeah sorry buck i forgot to thankyou for that, mabey you should post it up here....... any how ill see you at digweed champ :)
 
Thats great news about the ion scanner! :) I'll definately have to get my stuff checked whenever enlighten are in SA. On the topic of the scanner, im curious, just how powerful is it? Will it be able to differentiate between for example mdma/mda/mdea? Can it determine if there are any impurities from the manufacture? Would it be able to determine any of the active quantities?
 
Will it be able to differentiate between for example mdma/mda/mdea?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Can it determine if there are any impurities from the manufacture?
Click to expand...

Yes, so long as we tell it to. It only looks for what we program it to. We hope to be able to put some common impurities in.

Would it be able to determine any of the active quantities?
Click to expand...

No. We may be able to tell the ratio of active ingrediants, but this isn't clear yet.
 
Cheers JB. This will certainly be a huge step forward for harm minimisation in this country. Great work enlighten! :)
 
Absolutely top work JB, Mac, buck_reed and madmick19!

Great news about the ion scanner. Hope to hear some results of it's application soon. Well done for having the courage of your convictions and getting Enlighten up and running as a truly powerful force. Time for another donation drive?

The boy and I would have liked to go, but only found out this was all happening a couple of days before hand. Glad we were so well represented!

(cameo)Smiley:)
 
^^ I think another donation drive might be on the cards to assist with costs we are likely to incur over summer and with the recent development costs of pillreports. It will be a very interested summer with the new toys though!
 
Looks as though things went well at Club Health, and that's fantastic news on the ion scanner. Well done guys
16.gif


Any idea on the cutoff point of the Sabre 4000?
 
Yes Mac. I couldn't find anything on Smith's site other than mention of trace amounts. I'd be interested in knowing if the minimum detectable quantity would vary between different types of substances.
 
From what I understand, it is actually having too much of a substance that causes problems. If the swab is loaded with too much it can take quite a while to recalibrate the machine, I know it does detect substances at the nanogram level, but I will ask for you.
 
Thanks Mac. I was just curious to see if any particular ion fragments may be more difficult to measure. It will certainly be interesting to see how it performs in the field.
 
Hi to all those on Bluelight that I met at the conference, including Mick, Buck, David, the Stargate crew from New Zealand, and to those I got a better chance to catch up with, JB, Mac, Danny.

I'm glad JB has posted the script from his presentation as I was too busy watching in awe to be writing any of it down. However I have compiled my notes from the conference. I haven't written notes for every presentation so this will just be a selection. The book of abstracts can be downloaded here

continued...
 
What MDMA is doing to your brain

What MDMA is doing to your brain
Dr Iain McGregor, School of Psychology, University of Sydney

We never see ‘Guy on E has great night’ on the front page of the newspaper!
Toxic ecstasy? Debate has been going on for 20 years, lead by Ricaurte. Serotonin depletion has been shown in laboratory animals. There is no debate that large amounts of MDMA cause neuronal damage – eg, in monkeys. Even after 7 years, brain damage was still evident. The American ‘brain on ecstasy’ image used in the television campaign was based on Ricaurte’s erroneous research which was later retracted, where MDMA was actually methamphetamine. Heavy users’ brains were compared to controls with brain imaging, but this was criticised by Kish who cast doubt on Ricaurte’s team’s brain imaging skills.

Research indicates that heavy ecstasy users show:
- depression (particularly former users)
- increased anxiety
- sleep disturbance
- impulsivity
- cognitive dysfunction (particularly memory)
All are consistent with 5HT depletion.
However there are a number of confounds in human ecstasy research:
- polydrug use is the norm
- ecstasy not MDMA
- low 5HT may cause ecstasy use
- self medication with MDMA
- low 5HT may cause short term reversible effect

Rat models were used to overcome these confounds. Rats were given MDMA (high and low dose groups), 90 days passed, then tested brain and behaviours.

Video shown of rats on MDMA. Increased social interaction (not normal for rats). The rats were nuzzling each other! When the ambient temp was increased from 21 to 30 degrees, the rats displayed enhanced social effects.

In addition to serotonin, there is another brain chemical which is of interest. Neurohormone = oxytocin, which is indicating in regulating the parent/child social bond. Ecstasy causes an increase in oxytocin.

Three months after MDMA use, the rats displayed less social interaction than the controls. Rats were more anxious, rats who had the high MDMA dose had trouble with the memory test, MDMA rats responded more passively to stress.

Doesn’t seem that long term 5HT depletion is the cause of these differences. Other possibilities: long term deficit in oxytocin; one part of the brain may be damaged (eg hypothalamus); hippocampus may be particularly vulnerable.
 
Acute adverse effects of ecstasy: In the heat of the night

Acute adverse effects of ecstasy: In the heat of the night
Dr Rod Irvine, University of Adelaide

Interested in why PMA is much more toxic than MDMA in humans, given that its chemical structure is not that different.

Experiments were conducted with rats. Comparing rats given MDMA with PMA on a number of measures found no differences. However the experiments so far ignored ‘behavioural thermo-regulation’, eg. taking off jacket when hot. Rats were put in 30 degrees for 30 minutes then let out to a runway where it got progressively cooler along the runway. The PMA rats did not run towards the cooler area as the MDMA rats did, indicating that PMA messes with behavioural thermo-regulation.

Studies were also conducted with humans in a natural setting – they went into the field and measured objective effects (eg. blood, urine, body temp). Measured a group of people before going out, got them to measure own body temp whilst out, then they were measured/tested afterwards. Although they were not instructed to go out and take drugs, everyone did (no surprise there… although they were hoping for a control group).

Blood levels were much higher than would be expected from people with no adverse symptoms. Comparing the number of pills people reported taking with their blood levels of MDMA showed no correlation, in fact, one person who had taken only 1 pill had a blood concentration as high as others who had taken 4 pills. The concentration of drugs in people’s blood were, in some cases, in the same range as the blood levels of monkeys who have been shown to have sustained neuronal damage.

Conclusions: we need to have more objective measures. Animal studies need to look at blood levels not amounts given to be comparable.
 
Don’t lose the music: Clubbing yourself deaf

Don’t lose the music: Clubbing yourself deaf
Lisa McDonald

We are facing a generation who will have hearing damage. We are exposed to much more noise than ever before. Social noise tripled since the 80’s. This generation will have their grandparents hearing at their parents age.

The damage affects people differently. Loud music may have temporary or permanent damaging effects. The hair cells in the ear die from loud music. Tinnitus (permanent ringing in the ears) can also occur. There is no cure for tinnitus, and in UK, it is linked with sleep deprivation and depression. Hyperacusis – sudden exposure to loud music – can cause hypersensitivity.

www.dontlosethemusic.com is a website created to increase awareness of the potential for hearing loss and damage. If you can’t talk to someone two metres away without shouting then it’s too loud! Dangerous noises don’t equate to being un-pleasurable. Once noise-induced hearing loss happens, it’s too late because there is currently no cure (hearing aids only amplify what hearing you have left).

Human impact of hearing loss is dramatic. The aim of the campaign was to stop premature deafness. A survey was done which found that there was very low levels of awareness of the risks and factors associated with hearing loss, and low awareness of the warning signs.

Messages for club and venue owners:
- consider safe listening for patrons in acoustic design process
- provide chill out space which is actually quiet
- publish noise levels
- visible and available ear plugs

Messages for clubbers
- look after your ears now, enjoy music forever
- many different kinds of ear plugs to choose from (See website)
 
The RAVE act: Expectations, perceptions and consequences of US club drug policy

The RAVE act: Expectations, perceptions and consequences of US club drug policy
Aimee Ferraro
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA.

Background
Increased ecstasy use in the 1990’s and raves were identified as a primary setting of use. Four cases tried to use the ‘crack house’ laws to shut down raves. Had mixed results. Glowsticks and pacifiers used as evidence of drug use even though no drugs were found. Federal government decided they needed better tools. The RAVE (Reducing America’s Vulnerability to Ecstasy) was introduced, which expanding the crack house statement to include one-off settings. The Act was introduced into the Senate 18/6/02 and passed quickly without public hearing. Protests by civil libertarians, claiming the bill threatened 1st amendment rights. Eventually it was put through in 2003 as the ‘Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act’ sneaked in on another bill. There has only been one use of the act so far. A federal agent used the law to threaten the Eagles Lodge from hosting the NORML event, but in this case it wasn’t even used properly and was withdrawn.

Effect of the bill
Local law enforcement are largely unconcerned with activities of legitimate clubs as long as they maintain order. Club owners appear to be cooperative. However Dancesafe is unable to work at clubs because club owners are scared that its presence will be used as evidence that drug use occurs on their premises. In one case the boss told staff not to alert ambulances in nightclub settings because police would become aware that drug use was occurring in the venue. Deejays have been affected in that many clubs have stopped using electronic DJs that are associated with drugs. Promoters have changed their references to ‘raves’. Eg, a warehouse rave was marketed as a private party, where attendees had to have invitations and be over 21, invitations were expensive but covered alcohol so they didn’t need a liquor license. The law has affected club/rave attendees in that there is less overt use of drugs and paraphernalia. Clubbers are no longer allowed to sit on the floor in nightclubs. Underground venues are starting to crop up. Obviously drug use has not stopped…

Is the RAVE act effective as drug prevention?
No prosecution using the law to date. Is it just a useless law?
Ecstasy use has declined but had already been declining. Eg. after 9/11, increased security meant decreased availability of ecstasy.
As feared, there have been negative consequences. Electronic events are going underground. For own legal safety, venue operators are not calling ambulances for patrons. It has made the scene more dangerous for clubbers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top