Enchanted Forest 2003 / Enlighten

A very big and public thankyou to Superbabydoc (+1!) and Cowboy Mac for their patience and understanding in teaching me and my junior docs so much about what they do, and why they put themselves out the way they do with Enlighten. No pay, no rider, bull-dust boogers for the next fortnight, and having to listen to the Fat Italian argue with Potty
Mouth for both legs of the road trip- beyond the call of duty if ever there was...
Bringing doctors and dancers together, translating language for BOTH sides, you helped us get the information that we need to keep your community safe. You worked through the night like absolute bastards; if medicine wasn't so mundane, you'd all make great doctors You have made youselves some very serious friends... and you need to know we LOVE you guys
Kudos, kudos, kudos...

Are they actually fully qualified doctors??

I am, and given their concern for their fellow human beings, I think they could be- at the drop of a hat- if they put their minds to it... It would probably cramp their style though

Of course that rather pre-supposes that being a doctor these days gives us much reason to be proud

hope we can continue this work with you guys!

We (babydoc and myself) are not doctors, but we were able to work at Enchanted Forest with a group of doctors and other professionals to further the efforts of harm reduction. I believe we reagent tested 89 pills and did work like bastards for about 9 hours non stop. I'll put the results from this party (and earthcore) on the Enlighten website sometime this week. It was an amazing experience with a very special purpose.

Thanks to drplatypus and his team who are making headway to take harm reduction to the next level in Australia. We really appreciated working with you guys and hope that we can arrange something in the future to continue these efforts!

You would also think being doctors the route of administration anally wouldn't be such an amusing thing to them.. potty mouths

Cowboy Mac and Babydoc aren't, no... but they have worked with some I think

The Sunday papers never provided such exciting reading. Well done to all involved !!

Is always good to have people like doctors interested in the harm minimisation for such people. It is also unfortunate that some people who would make great doctors due to their interest in helping humans can often not be doctors because the universities don't consider them smart enough. Not saying that CowboyMac or babydoc aren't, just would be great to have those sort of people all through the medical profession. Good work guys, sounds like you have put in an amazing effort.

p_d: was this in the papers? If so, linkage please???

Cowboy Mac pretty much explained what we were doing, in some of the harshest conditions imaginable! (You guys thought earthcore was dusty - the South Australians have dustier dust than we do!) I lost my voice (again) due to the dust. We also had to tolerate hours of Nrg *shudders* Not to mention the Potty Mouth on that Irish fella - my ears have been soiled! You would think that being surrounded by Dr's, someone could have treated my severe case of lung irritation and vocal chord inflammation caused by all that dust, but no it obviously wasn't gruesome enough for them

Anyhow, this was an amazing weekend (despite the harsh conditions) - a big thank you to all involved for the hospitality that was extended to myself, Cowboy Mac and mr babydoc. Cowboy Mac in particular worked like a trooper, even after I had bailed for a rather cramped sleep in the back of a Landrover. mr babydoc also impressed me with his tenacity.

We also met Nubreed on the plane on our way back - what a friendly bunch of guys! That plus meeting the most amazing team of health professionals (er, maybe professional is an overstatement ). I was highly impressed with their dedication, and their tshirts. I was howver unimpressed by their navigational skills.

LOL, thanks so much for the pill testing at enchanted guys, if I had known it was you I would have come and said hello, anyway I filled out a survey and stuff for everybody. Love your work.

I was unable to make it to Enchanted this year, but I was reading reports on it Via inthemix.com.au and it said that one of the differences was the fact that there were Police Patrols? Is this true, the reason I ask is I just wondered how this effected the Pill testing?

Was the pill testing planned or approved? Could anyone get it done or was that only for "trusted": people?

It can only be a good thing, I just ask out of curiosity....

The police knew about pill testing, and from the information drplatypus and his team conveyed to us they are very harm minimisation minded. Pills are tested for free to anyone who would like us to do it, there is no police intervention for those wanting to obtain an indication of what substance(s) are in their pill so they may make a more informed choice if they are to take it. This is the same in Victoria where we have never had any police altercations toward us or anyone with their pill tested.

I'm not sure what you mean by planned and approved, however seeing we did come from Victoria to do it there was planning involved by us, the promoters, and the team of doctors we were working with.

That's Fantastic to hear that the Police left you alone. I guess it must almost be nice for them to Patrol an event with 10,000 people and not see much trouble going on. Try Having a 18 hour rock concert in the middle of no where without heavy security, It just would'nt happen.

I think in SA a Club Owner can be fined up to $15,000 for allowing drug use in there Cub, SO what I meant to ask, were the event organisers happy for you to be doing the testing? As it could incriminate them with allowing drug use at there event? Perhaps these are laws no one reallyfeels the need to enforece??

Seeing this type of testing at events give me a better hope that one Day we might see some Full Lab testing available...

I guess as Harm minimization is main factor here we should really keep moving forward.

Hey and if some of those open minded hippies from the 60's start making decitions for the country we could start some realistic laws put in place for person use of....

Perhaps these are laws no one reallyfeels the need to enforece??

Click to expand...

I know nothing of the details surrounding this event, but I would guess any such arrangements made between promoters and those involved, would likely be specifically organised for that particular event.

At the end of the day it probably comes down simply to trust, and any such arrangement would require a high degree of trust between all parties concerned IMO. No mean feat however you look at it.