mibrane
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 22, 2000
- Messages
- 226
1st International Conference on Using Direct ACtion to end the War on Drugs
Those tripped-out troopers of the tropics, the Network Against Prohibition, will this year play host to the 1st International Conference on Using Direct Action to End the War on Drugs (ICUDAWD), which will coincide with the 2nd Annual Darwin Syringe Festival. The conference will run from the 22nd to 25th of November, with a dance party scheduled for Friday 26th as part of the Festival.
The Australian drug users' movement is at a crossroads. Many activists, while celebrating the many important harm reduction programs we have created and the successes we have had in, particularly, slowing the spread of HIV through drug user communities, feel that we have hit a brick wall. There is a belief that to achieve further, more fundamental change in the way this society approaches drugs and treats drug users, we will need to change the way users organise. We don't want to stop offering the funded programs - publishing mags which offer users a voice, specialist NSP services, the various Ravesafe/ party health initiatives, complaints advocacy etc - but we also want to encourage the growth of an activist movement that is not tied to the government by our purse strings.
NAP in the NT is pioneering the activist approach in Australia - rallying, holding smoke-ins, fighting legal battles when arrested. There is also the approach taken by you wonderful pill-testers, of just going out and doing what needs to be done, while not necessarily being openly defiant or seeking out conflict with the state.
The "second wave" of drug user activism which is starting to surge has a different make-up to the movement which responded to HIV. While that movement was primareily led by heroin injectors, today there is a healthy and vital cross-section of users; both in terms of different drugs used, and different ways of using them.
Darwin is going to be a lot of fun, and will hopefully provide both the inspiration and the skills needed to go back to our cities and get active.
A number of international activists will be attending; nxt years International Harm Reduction Conference will be held in Melbourne and there will probably be a founding conference of an international drug users' organisation at the same time, and Darwin will play an important role in bringing people together and sharing ideas in the lead-up to the formation of the international group.
If you're interested in meeting drug user activists, in keeping volunteer user or harm reduction projects afloat, or in campaigning for an end to the war on drugs, think seriously about getting up to Darwin at the end of September.
Activists in some cities will be organising anti-prohibition pilgrimages (mini-buses), and there are various plans afoot for fundraisers etc to help subsidise people's travel costs.
To find out more visit www.napnt.org or email [email protected]
Sydney/ NSW bluelighters interested in heading up or helping to fundraise or promote the conference should feel free to contact me at [email protected] as I am a part of the organising committee.
It would also be great to have a presentation about pill-testing efforts. If it is not possible for anyone appropriate to attend, maybe somebody could prepare a powerpoint slideshow which we could run, or a poster presentation.
Those tripped-out troopers of the tropics, the Network Against Prohibition, will this year play host to the 1st International Conference on Using Direct Action to End the War on Drugs (ICUDAWD), which will coincide with the 2nd Annual Darwin Syringe Festival. The conference will run from the 22nd to 25th of November, with a dance party scheduled for Friday 26th as part of the Festival.
The Australian drug users' movement is at a crossroads. Many activists, while celebrating the many important harm reduction programs we have created and the successes we have had in, particularly, slowing the spread of HIV through drug user communities, feel that we have hit a brick wall. There is a belief that to achieve further, more fundamental change in the way this society approaches drugs and treats drug users, we will need to change the way users organise. We don't want to stop offering the funded programs - publishing mags which offer users a voice, specialist NSP services, the various Ravesafe/ party health initiatives, complaints advocacy etc - but we also want to encourage the growth of an activist movement that is not tied to the government by our purse strings.
NAP in the NT is pioneering the activist approach in Australia - rallying, holding smoke-ins, fighting legal battles when arrested. There is also the approach taken by you wonderful pill-testers, of just going out and doing what needs to be done, while not necessarily being openly defiant or seeking out conflict with the state.
The "second wave" of drug user activism which is starting to surge has a different make-up to the movement which responded to HIV. While that movement was primareily led by heroin injectors, today there is a healthy and vital cross-section of users; both in terms of different drugs used, and different ways of using them.
Darwin is going to be a lot of fun, and will hopefully provide both the inspiration and the skills needed to go back to our cities and get active.
A number of international activists will be attending; nxt years International Harm Reduction Conference will be held in Melbourne and there will probably be a founding conference of an international drug users' organisation at the same time, and Darwin will play an important role in bringing people together and sharing ideas in the lead-up to the formation of the international group.
If you're interested in meeting drug user activists, in keeping volunteer user or harm reduction projects afloat, or in campaigning for an end to the war on drugs, think seriously about getting up to Darwin at the end of September.
Activists in some cities will be organising anti-prohibition pilgrimages (mini-buses), and there are various plans afoot for fundraisers etc to help subsidise people's travel costs.
To find out more visit www.napnt.org or email [email protected]
Sydney/ NSW bluelighters interested in heading up or helping to fundraise or promote the conference should feel free to contact me at [email protected] as I am a part of the organising committee.
It would also be great to have a presentation about pill-testing efforts. If it is not possible for anyone appropriate to attend, maybe somebody could prepare a powerpoint slideshow which we could run, or a poster presentation.
Last edited:
