What do *you* want researched?

[Tronica]

Oh well, at least some lucky bastard PhD student will be having fun with this project!!!

It's important to realize this project is not going to form the thesis of a PhD student. As Tronica mentioned, thelist is a collective of academics, doctors and researchers etc... and as such we feel we can collectively create a superior survey to those which have been previously developed. All agree that input of users themselves will be invaluable in achieving this.

Yes, the intention of having this thread is to feed into our collective ideas about what should be researched next... however I wouldn't be upset if it sparks a PhD project or five. What a great result - if more research questions can be lead by both scientific/discipline-specific questions AND by input from people affected by drugs and by their research, then I'll be smiling!

Given this thread is public, we certainly can't stop lurking researchers from using these ideas - and I see no reason to be protective about them. The more research and the more collaboration, the better job we can do.

There is at least one excellent BL PhD related project in the wind that I'm aware of, but you'll have to wait until the candidate is ready to detail it's objectives.

I'm proud to have my project proposal described as excellent! I'm doing all the preparatory work, but will launch a research project here soon. Yes I do actually feel really lucky to have this opportunity to be a PhD student, I know the opportunity is not available to everyone who wants it. Anyway, I'll get to all the detail in a few weeks!

Hi everyone - this is my first post, I have been purely a reader of Bluelight for many years but thought I'd finally post something.. ...

Did you start smoking (cigarettes) with or "as result of" the use of other drugs (amphetamines, ecstasy etc)?

Welcome teroxide! I think this is a great research question.

My own experience is that cigarette smoking was overwhelmingly associated with illicit drugs. I'd really not encountered much smoking until I started getting involved in the clubbing and raving scene (many moons ago!). Then it seemed everyone was smoking. In fact I was the only person in my group of friends who didn't take it up. It seemed that the feeling of smoking a cigarette was ordinary straight or even when drinking for a casual user, but when combined with other drugs, cigarettes took on a complete different meaning ... and feeling!

Given the rates of drug use among 20 somethings, and the high rates of cigarette use in this age group AND the impending ban on smoking inside nightclubs (mid 2007 for Melbourne) - more information on the relationship between cigarettes and stimulant drug use will be really important.

 

[(Wordy)]

I believe research into the glass pipe ban would be a great idea Tronica, expecially as they had the banning of bongs etc. on the drawing board too and I think they will find it has little effect on how people do their drugs, as people just use home made devices (this is all hypothesis of course

I agree this would be a very worthy research topic.

if we want to talk about functional drug use, it seems to make sense that we should try to measure those things that society deems makes a person "functional"; job, house, mortgage, bank accounts, car, income and so on and see how drug users in general are measuring up.

I’ve read some research on ‘functional’ drug use, and I agree that some more data-gathering should be done in terms of how users who consider their usage to be non-problematic (or relatively so) manage their finances, jobs, study, and other commitments. In short, I think we need to know more about the strategies these drug users employ to minimise the harmful effects of their drug use on their life as a whole. For example, what strategies do they employ to ensure that their drug use doesn’t have a negative impact on their work or study performance, or on their relationships with partners, family and friends? What advice would experienced users give to less experienced users in terms of maintaining a healthier life-balance? I’d like to see these questions addressed as part of a ‘holistic harm reduction’ approach.

The stigma around the possibility / actuality of ‘functional’ drug use obviously needs to be addressed. If drug policymakers in this country continue to deny the existence of functional drug use, then we cannot arrive at a genuine harm reduction strategy, i.e. one which is capable of listening to and learning from drug users themselves.

Tronica has heard me say this many times before, but I think the term ‘non-problematic drug use’ is itself problematic! It’s far too wide open to attack by those who would advocate more conservative drug policy, who could argue that “all drug use is problematic”, or at the very least “all drug use is potentially problematic”. It’s difficult to argue against the latter statement. ‘Functional drug use' is a far better term IMO. I think advocates of harm reduction and more progressive drug policy would be wise to avoid using the term 'non-problematic drug use', and by extension 'non-problematic drug users'.

 

[Fodder]

It's important to realize this project is not going to form the thesis of a PhD student. As Tronica mentioned, thelist is a collective of academics, doctors and researchers etc... and as such we feel we can collectively create a superior survey to those which have been previously developed.

Ahhh... my apologies if I offended as it seems I have (by my reading). It was not meant in that way.

I myself have a PhD (biochem) amongst my other degrees, so was most certainly not treating this topic lightly. I have a healthy respect of research and all that academia entails.

I shall endevour to tread more lightly on weighty matters in the future.

Soz,

Fodds


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Good luck with it all Tronica, and if there are projects that come out of this (as there surely will), I am sure they will be fascinating and any/all peer-reviewed (and possibly not!) articles might be linked here for some good solid reading

If I come up with something that is glaring above and beyond the majority of 'everything' drug related I shall.

Cheers,

Fodds

 

[Tronica]

Thanks Dr Fodder!

Nah, don't bother to tread to lightly on these matters in future. It's easy to thread so lightly that nothing gets said! I'm certainly not offended by your comment, as I mentioned, I'd love it if this thread continues .. and if we do end up with some good ideas for research, and they end up sparking off a few post grad students!

IMO, research ideas needn't be cultivated outside of public view... even if two different research groups end up doing a very similar study, comparisons between locations and populations would still make them both useful pieces of work.
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The stigma around the possibility / actuality of ‘functional’ drug use obviously needs to be addressed. If drug policymakers in this country continue to deny the existence of functional drug use, then we cannot arrive at a genuine harm reduction strategy, i.e. one which is capable of listening to and learning from drug users themselves.

Wordy, I couldn't agree more with this

However, given the recent resolution of the Ministerial Council on Drugs Strategy:

Drug Terminology
Led by South Australia, Ministers agreed to the adoption of a strategy that all jurisdictions notify their government agencies, and the organisations in receipt of government funding, of the preference not to use language that glamorises or promotes the use of drugs (such as the terms “recreational” and “party”) to describe drugs or drug use – in public statements, correspondence and reports. These requirements do not apply retrospectively.

...things seem to be getting worse. I wonder how MCDS would feel about the term 'functional' drug use.


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Strategically, I believe there should be more research into pill testing as a behaviour. Given there are new technologies on the hirozen, it would be interesting to know how people might use them, and how pill testing is integrated into people's drug use/choices... if it is at all. Bluelighters talk about pill testing quite a bit compared to drug users outside of this forum (in my experience).

Obviously another research area is the technology behind new methods of pill testing. This would be outside my area but perhaps the sort of area for chemistry students... Phase? Fodder? Or... is it more the case that the technology exists, but the political will is what is stopping it. In this case, research that illustrates positive effects (eg. pill testing reduces dangers) as well as working on examining the rationale against pill testing (that it 'sends a message') - might be more useful.

Thoughts?

 

[Fodder]

Thanks Dr Fodder!

Oh! Please! I never use my titles. lol I haven't changed any of my documents OTHER than when I had to rent an apartment... For some strange reason the title made real estate agents turn up for appointments. Bastards

OK, that being said, it is Dr Dr Fodder actually

Given there are new technologies on the hirozen, it would be interesting to know how people might use them, and how pill testing is integrated into people's drug use/choices... if it is at all. Bluelighters talk about pill testing quite a bit compared to drug users outside of this forum (in my experience).


Thoughts?

From personal experience most people I know don't bother with pill testing.

Why? For the simple fact that pills are not that easy to come by. As such, people don't have a choice. They buy and use whatever comes along.

The attitude is that something is better than nothing, and it will either be: lovey, dancey, smacky, introverted or weak as hell..., but not really dangerous. A highly, highly uncertain quality of enjoyment effect, but not danger effect.

If people had a choice of pills they would be more encouraged to test and discriminate better pill A and B before buying. Only people who are more thoughtful would buy the testers initially as things stand (?).

In addition, I have tested pills in the past and found that I would prefer much clearer definitions as to which compound was in there. The most recent pill I took was MDx, but it was pathetic. I took 5.5 pills in a 6 hour period. Not because I was being unsafe, just because they were terrible. According to the tester it had some amphetamine, MDx and K, but quantitatively they must have been low concentrations, and qualitatively I would have liked better discrimination from the tester.


Something that has occurred to me, is how much knowledge your average punter has about pills etc., and what they do. Not just that serotinin is released etc., but the common side-effects such as grinding and what these can mean to people healthwise. Looking through the BL threads really, really common health questions are repeatedly asked. Why? People should be better educated perhaps?

Need some sleep, been a long day. Hope that woffle makes sense.

 

[BigTrancer]

Another flipside to look at in a drug use survey might be non-drug use/abstinence. I guess a lot of this has been discussed in various threads on the forum over the years, but there are some questions that come to mind.

• Have you ever 'quit' drugs, for how long, why?
• Do you take breaks, for what reasons?
• If you resumed taking drugs sooner than intended during a break, was it through need/want/situational habit, social environment?
• Does lack of supply make a good break, or does abstaining for a predetermined amount of time while in possession represent a stronger self-discipline?
• Do you dream about drugs? Does it increase in frequency when you're not taking them...?

BigTrancer

 

[Tronica]

Thanks BigTrancer.

I've also thought that why people stop is a good topic. There has already been lots of research over why people stop using alcohol/drugs but it's usually about people who are in treatment, or are perceived as addicted or alcoholic, and stop without treatment. Everyone is obviously trying to find the best ways of treating people with substance issues, and when you have a proportion of people stopping without treatment - researchers are keen to find out what makes this work or not.

However - it's a different research question with a population of people who aren't necessarily in need of 'treatment' as such. Dare I say 'recreational drug users'. I think a research project where the stories of people's drug use patterns over time, asking the questions you've posed above, would be very interesting. Especially in showing what factors are the main drivers for people deciding to quit or to slow down, and then the main factors in people's ability to follow through with their plans.

 

[The Fish]

I second BT's comment and third (or is it's foruth now?) Hoptis's comment.

As well as these two critical areas, one thing that's always bothered me is the defenition of "regular" drug use. The NDARC surveys defined regular use as a minimum frequency of once per month. Now I know > 1 person has lied about their use (averaged no. pills/year) to meet this criterea. I believe that as a result of this definition, as well as the payment offered to participants, the results of NDARC surveys would be skewed to those members of the drug using community that use at levels many of us would define as excessive. I would seriously like to see this issue recitified and a survey with as many participatns and as much depth as the NDACR surveys (with as much credibility) applied to consistent users with a lower usage frequency/intencity.

Ok, that's my personal bugbear.

I would also like to see a lot of research conducted into the impact of various harm- or use-minimisation campaigns. I would like to know the levels of trust associaed with certain information-delivery pathways, as well as to what extent knowledge is applied. I personally know many well informed drug users who do not consistently apply that knowledge. I see a great opportunity for collaboration between social and biological scientists in this area of research.

It is vitally important that the harm minimisation community is armed with the best evidence on how to get our message across and research in this area would not only be greatly appreciated, but also could potentially save lives.

Smileyfish (BSc)

 

[Tronica]

I share your personal bugbear about the definition of regular ecstasy use, even though I also see why this decision was implemented... it may have had some unforeseen negative consequences for the drug using community through the way our media have presented this data to represent everyone.

Regular users are more likely to buy regularly and to be able to comment more clearly on trends in drugs markets. The PDI/ERDS is both a drug user survey AND a survey of drug market trends. It makes sense that it is more efficient to survey people who are using drugs often enough to get this sort of information.

PDI/ERDS never claims to represent the whole ecstasy using (or 'party drug' using) population. But as we've seen, this does not stop the media from using the information in this way - because it is the most comprehensive survey of its kind in Australia.

Fear not - I do know of one researcher who is looking directly at this issue. She has been reanalysing data from a large community survey to look at the differences between people who used ecstasy occasionally (a few times year for example) versus those who would make the PDI/ERDS sample. I'll definitely announce the research here when it's complete!

I would also like to see a lot of research conducted into the impact of various harm- or use-minimisation campaigns. I would like to know the levels of trust associaed with certain information-delivery pathways, as well as to what extent knowledge is applied. I personally know many well informed drug users who do not consistently apply that knowledge. I see a great opportunity for collaboration between social and biological scientists in this area of research.

Implementing harm reduction strategies is more complex than simply having the knowledge, as you've illustrated. I know of some research with heroin users where their understanding of, and their implementation of harm reduction messages were assessed - and it would found that other over-riding factors in their environment took precedence over harm reduction messages in practice.

Moore, D. and Dietze, P. (2005). Enabling environments and the reduction of drug-related harm: Re-framing Australian policy and practice. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24, (3), pp. 275-284.

For example, telling people not to drive after using drugs is one thing - having a drug bus to enforce this is another - but if we don't look at the environments where these activities are taking place, we miss a further opportunity to reduce harm. In this case, making sure there are more safe ways of getting home after a night out is crucial to the success of anti-drug-driving campaigns.

It is vitally important that the harm minimisation community is armed with the best evidence on how to get our message across and research in this area would not only be greatly appreciated, but also could potentially save lives.

I couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks Smileyfish!

 

[silvertree]

well i would like to know if there is any evidence to suggest that people who have ADHD self medicate by taking ecstasy or other drugs

 

[Tronica]

well i would like to know if there is any evidence to suggest that people who have ADHD self medicate by taking ecstasy or other drugs

There is some evidence that people with ADHD are more likely to use stimulant drugs. I haven't fully reviewed the evidence - I just had a quick look at the academic database PubMed and found this article - which is a large survey of young Canadians. They found that students who screened positive for ADHD were much more likely to report medical and non-medical use of amphetamines, compared with students who did not screen positive for ADHD.

I also found reviews that indicate that stimulant treatment of children with ADHD does not lead to substance use disorders later in life. Though I guess that result would be rather convenient for the makers of such stimulant treatment drugs!