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My yr 12 english oral on the issue of pill testing and harm minimisation at raves

bikki_muncher69

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Jan 4, 2005
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Hey fello BL's! After being inspired by the government banning pill testing at raves i thought id cover the issue for my year 12 english oral and would love some feedback ITS IN THE INTRESTS OF HARM MINIMISATION!!!8o 8) :D

Yr 12 english oral by bikki_muncher69


CAROLYN WEBB was an attractive and sociable young woman. The former secretary loved partying and by all accounts was a devoted mother to her little son Daniel. Now six-year-old Daniel has been left an orphan. His mother "took what she believed was the ravers drug Ecstasy but which turned out to PMA, a dangerous adulterant similar to the effects of ecstasy but which is highly toxic and cooks the body inside out”

Good morning Mr. ***** and fellow classmates, in recent times the issue of making pill testing at rave parties available to party goes has sparked a heated debate after Melbourne based harm minimization group, Enlighten was told they would face prosecution from police if they went ahead with pill testing, at a south Australian rave in November. Enlighten has conducted tests like this before illegally with great success, but the government has stepped in with its tough on drugs policy stating that this type of testing is not accurate and that it will do more harm than good. The governments reasoning behind this is that it gives people a false sense of security and promotes illegal drug taking behavior at parties as being “ok”. Enlighten and Medical experts have lashed back at government officials claiming that the government has no regard for the lives of young people arguing that to stop pill testing is much more dangerous than allowing it. It was no surprise that during the rave 3 people were taken to hospital suffering overdose symptoms following taking a mystery green pill, if enlighten were testing at this event these overdoses could possibly have been prevented.

Humans have been altering their consciousness for thousands of years and will continue to regardless of the laws put forth by society. Popular drugs like ecstasy or known by its chemical name MDMA are sought after by users due to the stimulating and empathetic effects that it gives. In a world fueled by greed Drug cooks will often cut pills with other dangerous substances known as adulterants, to try and mimic the effects of MDMA. The problem with adulterants is that some cause your body to heat up to dangerously high levels causing vital organs to shut down resulting in death. In many cases the victims have had no idea until it is too late, in an attempt to save lives this is why pill testing should be made available. The government states that the current testing methods are inaccurate and users may get a false sense of security, Enlighten harm reduction has stated that in the past this had been true but now with the availability of a new technology called an ion mobility scanner, tests can now be conducted within seconds returning a very accurate result. Ion mobility scanners are used at most international airports to identify drugs and explosives, Enlighten was hoping to debut this new technology at the south Australian rave.

At the winter Enchanted rave party last July, where Enlighten tested 50 pills one girl discarded her pills after an adulterant Ketamine, a veterinary anesthetic showed up in the test, this is solid proof that pill testing is an effective means of harm reduction. Pill testing not only gives useful information to the users on the contents of what’s in a certain pill, it is also very valuable information for medical authorities so if a person comes in to hospital in a condition caused by a pill, they can quickly discover the drug contained in the pill that’s causing the problem and treat the patient fast and effectively. "Parents need to ask themselves: do they want to know what (their) kids are taking or do they want to find out at autopsy," says Dr Caldicott a doctor who has seen many of these unfortunate cases.


Another argument that the government has put forward is that drug dealers might use this to their advantage somehow getting false testing information through enlighten, some government officials have even questioned enlightened funding, at the idea they might receive funding from drug dealers. Of coarse this is a totally ridiculous statement as enlighten are a private organization purely interested in methods of harm reduction at which most donations are from medical body’s and through the sale of reagent testing kits.

To conclude this issue I leave you with this, statistic’s show one in five people will try ecstasy at some stage in their life; you may not think it now, but this issue will affect you and possibly the lives of your best friends. Harm minimization is no dubitably a very effective means of reducing the risk of drug use and possibly consumption. The government has to face the facts and realize that the war on drugs is a loosing battle and move forward to harm minimization instead of backwards at the already statistically proven failing prohibition. Government scare tactic’s do hardly much to discourage use of a drug widely accepted by the youth culture, so to preserve the lives of our youth this is why pill testing should be made available at raves so that horror stories like Carolyn Webb hopefully never happen again.


*edit* just removed your name and your teacher's name
-kat
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice one, haha, I just got approval from my supervisor at uni to do my honours thesis on this very topic!

This kicks the arse off most things that I ever did in year 12 :)
 
dude, for your conclusion, you never mention the word "conclude"
teachers fucking hate that
 
Maybe take your full name off it in the interests of harm minimisation as well. :p ;)
 
i like it but for a year 12 english oral haha your school must be pretty easy going
 
My year 12 English teacher would have died if we discussed something like this.

Moving over to drug discussion :)
 
preacha, my english [literature] teacher was the exact opposite; she'd hate it if you did that.

But I love that you're getting a chance to get HR info out in your school. I think it needs to be recognised that a HR approach is not mutually exclusive with abstinence. Just because someone is educated about the real risks (as opposed to being lied to) and effects of a drug doesn't mean that they aren't still free to say no.
 
Nice speech. I admire your courage to present something like this in the face of inevitable scrutiny. Maybe more statistics (i know you already have a few). Also, I don't know what the guidelines are for your speeches as each school differs I think, but what about tackling it from either side of the story and then meeting at a conclusion that 'pill testing should be endorsed and given appropriate funding as the above stats show that overall this will be beneficial to society as far as safety is concerned' . This would eliminate a lot of potential bias when it comes to marks and all that.

Enjoy year 12 English, was by far the most enjoyable subject which I did.
 
Wow!

Kid's got some balls to present a harm reduction speech in class.

More power to you, my friend. Well done.
 
What was the reaction of your teacher? More importantly your fellow classmates or have you yet to deliver the speech?
 
Yer im doing it tomorrow so wish me luck, teacher knows what im doing dosent really give a shit, just said its a good argument ect... and the other students are pretty aware of my pastime habits so yar should still be interesting.
 
bikki_muncher69 said:
the other students are pretty aware of my pastime habits so yar should still be interesting.

Uhh... I'd keep an eye out for random locker searches... and what about if some of these students spoke to a teacher who decided to speak to your parents? It never hurts to be discrete, you can't ever underestimate the length that some people will go to in pursuit of their anti-drug zeal.

In response to your oral presentation, well done. I noticed a few grammatical errors but I think it was more the result of typing it out incorrectly.

i.e.
In many cases the victims have had no idea until it is too late, in an attempt to save lives this is why pill testing should be made available.

If there's a question and answer session at the end, make sure you're ready for the various counter arguments people might throw at you.

Good luck, let us know how it goes :)
 
As much as I admire your dedication to harm minimisation, this is a surefire way to bring unwanted attention upon yourself. Honestly, even if this doesnt get back to your parents as hoptis suggested, what's to say the teacher(s) won't hold an unspoken bias against you in the future? I know it sounds petty but yeah, shit happens.
 
sounds good as mate...

As said- U got balls Kiddo...

I agree with Numbo's^^^

It may bring unwanted predjudice towards yourself and your marks in the future, but hey screw it- we need to spread the word and make people aware of the HARM MINIMISATION bandwagon!

Well done, let us know how it goes- Hopefully you dont get stage fright and a good public speaker and the mark is made on the *speech topic* not on presentation!

SpecTBK=D
 
^the parents know what i get up to on the weekend, no they dont like it but they respect that I'm now an adult and can be responsible for my own actions. Im also a boarder at my school, one of my mates illigal draw got raided by his parents and i got called up to the princibles office, when i got there my bulberator was sitting on the desk(the one i lent to my mate) they just gave it back to me, so yar people have an idea of what i get up to on my weekends away but they said keep your weekend life seperate from your school life and thats exactly what I do. As long as I'm getting the grades the school or my parents dont give a fuck, so it works out nicely:D
 
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