[Done] The Bluelight Survey - We need your input!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ok, a couple off the top of my head - not necessarily related or in any particular order:

(could all be changed to whatever drug)

1) Do you feel there is enough publicly available, accurate information on street drugs provided by schools/government?

2) Were you aware of the potential effects/dangers of recreational drugs the first time you used one?
2.1) If so, where did you get this information?

3) Has taking a drug ever caused you to break the law (in a way other than the act of consuming the drug itself)?

4) Have you ever taken a recreational drug despite knowing that the overall effects on your wellbeing will be adverse?

5) Has your point of view on drugs changed over the past 1-3 years?
5.1) If so, why and in what way?
 
I really hate it how surveys dont ask u questions such as..

What have been the positive effects on your life because of drugs?

and

What have been the negative effects on your life becacuse of drugs?

I find these questions to be extremely relevant because I find I have lots to tell about both... and im sure many others would agree.

:)

Thanks
 
I'd like to see surveys that question a respondants education, employment and criminal record. Touchy subjects I know, but I'd like to have some evidence published to give an indication that not all drug users are uneducated, unemployed thugs and hooligans.
 
A truly balanced research survey needs to be created from an independant 3rd party to avoid bias. As we form a significant stakeholder in the overall debate its difficult for our questions to be created in a manner that isn't designed to illicit a certain response. BUt for my 2c.

All survey should include detailed Demographic and Geographic information as well as some simple psychographic questions. I haven't seen or participated in one yet that completely draws a picture of who I am as a person. This information is crucial in developing a picture of what drugs are consumed and why.
 
GREAT THREAD!

I'm really pleased to see this thread and all the thoughtful responses! I'm bumping this for now, but will definitely put some thought into a reply soon.

BigTrancer :)
 
Do you think drug dependacy / addiction should be treated as a medical issue rather than a criminal?
--
Have you ever injected any drug (recreationally)? And if so with what frequency, which drug(s), and over what period of time?
--



i'll add some more when i get a moment to think. bit scattered now.
 
^^^ I agree with Psydo G and Airwalk, I think any survey should try and establish the lifestyle (aside from drug use) of the particpant.

We all see the media portray drug users as unemployed, uneducated, or criminals, and while there is obviously a portion of users that fit this description, I'm consistantly amazed by the intellect, level of education (both about their drug use, as well as formal qualifications) and general well-roundedness of people I meet who regularly take recreational drugs.

I think the data about peoples lifestyle, job and criminal history, referenced with their responses about their own drug use would prove pretty interesting.

As for my questions...

1) Is your family aware of your drug use?
1a) Do they take drugs themselves?
1b) Do you feel you could turn to them for help if your experience turned bad (OD, addiction, etc)

2) Do your friends take drugs? If so do you take drugs together because you are friends, or are you friends because you take drugs together.

I'll post more, but I keep getting sidetracked at work, so I'll sign this one off for now.
 
Things that I personally want to know.... "why do you take drugs" has already been posted, but I think that is incredibly important. It's more than your socio-economic status, age, location, education, peer influences... but is it a mindset, a personality or genetic disposition, a particular attitude?

Also: (all pertaining to illegal drugs)
* At what age/when do you think you will stop using drugs? Why?
* Do you identify with a sort of 'drug culture' in your local area/city?
* Do you have close friends who don't take drugs, and what is their stance on drug-taking, particularly yours, and how does this affect your relationship, if at all? (You could generalise this to: how do your family and friends' attitudes towards drugs affect your drug use/your own attitude towards drug-taking?)
* In what ways do drugs/drug-taking affect your day-to-day life?
* In what way has drugs (particularly psychedelic drugs) changed your perception of the world/life/etc, both positively and negatively?

and for my benefit :)
* Are we better people for having explored a range of human mental life through drugs?
 
The social context of drug use is well-known to drug users, but for some reason gets ignored through policy, up the chain of command, towards places where decisions happen.

Doing research into the social context of drug use - eg. Cameron's theme of the normalisation of drug use - needs not only to be expanded upon - but we need to look at how to get the recommendations through the heads of important people!

A large portion of researchers think similarly (though not all) - but
1. commissioning studies that answer the hard questions - and can provide answers which might lead to obvious, but taboo, conclusions - is difficult when most research is funded by government-influenced bodies
2. even if the research is done and complete and leads to controversial conclusions, how do we get that through to government and leaders?

I guess the answers lie in patience, as over time, things are bound to change... I just don't wanna wait that long!

*again* this is a top idea!!

PS. some of the ideas people have given above have been explored in some research I'm familiar with (although no harm in asking similar questions again, as the answers differ between populations and across time). So it's good to see that *some* of the questions people are keen to have looked at are part of the current australian drug research.... but many are not, and hopefully this initiative will go some way to address this.
 
MazDan said:
Here are a few to start with. May come back with more after a bit of a think and after checking they arent already on here.


1. At what age did u first use any drug or alchol or smoke.

2. Prior to your doing each of the above........what was your attitude to them?

3. How did u arrive at the point where u actually used each of the above?? (ie, I always had a negative idea of drugs and would never take them. A friend whom I trusted told me he used them and spent time teaching me the facts...and invited me to try. I did.....

4. What was ur parents attitude to drugs?

5. Did you feel that your parents were truly educated about drugs.

6. Were you able to talk to your parents about your use of drugs?

7. Was there anyone outside of your group of drug users that you could talk to about it?

8. Have u ever used drugs alone?

9. If u have then when was the first time and when was it in relatriuon to the first time u ever took drugs at all.......and how many times have u done that since.

10. Why did u take drugs alone?

11. Why did u try in the first place??

12. as your use continued, did the reasons change and if so how did they eveolve for u?? (ie maybe first time to experiment then next time to enjoy the same feeling and maybe 12 months down track cos I was hooked or whatever)

13 Have u ever stolen in order to get drugs?

14. Have u ever sold drugs in order to try and support ur habit?

15. Over the years, how much money would u think u have spent on drugs?

Nice work, I think this one would open a few eyes
 
1. Do you consider yourself to be a responsible drug user?

2. Do you partake in harm reduction techniques and strategies?

3. Do you know what to do if somebody overdoses?)

4. How often do you do (drug in question)? Do you think this is a responsible amount?

5. How much do you take?

Edit:

6. Do you test your substances before taking them? (Probably not so much weed, but other substances definately).

Edit 2:

7. Do you have any plans to stop taking drugs in the future? If so, at what age? (Roughly)

8. Describe what it feels like to be under the influence of (drug in question).

Edit 3

9. If you live with your parents, do they know about your drug use?
 
Last edited:
I feel if we are going to ask people if their life has improved through their drug use/which drugs... we should also be asked if we believe our life has got worse through our drug use, and by which drugs. It would be nice to have a balanced survey as I think it adds more credibility.
 
Do people think, that some drugs may have use in theraphy? Like MDMA and psychedelics(LSD,Mushrooms etc).
 
1. How open are you about your drug use? Do you feel that people's opinions about you would change significantly if they knew of your drug use?

2. Do you feel that drugs overall have had a more positive or a more negative effect on your life?
 
Which drug do you think has the least harmful side effects (other than cannabis), and/or which drug do you think has the least harmful long term problems (once again, not cannabis)

By side effects, i mean things that would make your ability to do normal activities hard.
 
Do people believe that anti-drugs propaganda diseminated by the powers that be is (a) Wildly overstated (b) slightly so (c) about right (d) slightly understated (e) hello?? drugs can be dangerous, you know!

Would you introduce another person to drugs? A family member? A stranger? Why/not?
 
Do you feel your use of recreational drugs has had a positive impact on your life overall?

If so, what factors do you believe have led to your successful avoidance of the negative side-effects in the long run?

If not, where did you go wrong?

BigTrancer :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top