SBS forum on party drugs

[thinkingwelfare]

Ok, Well wat a friggin hike it was from Perth. But definatly a positive experience.
i have to say i was a bit apprehensive, until the BL crew rocked up and introduced themselves (yay among friends). I wish we coulda caught up properly after without the stress of the cameras, hehe, i sure they think im insane .. hello random nervous rambling.

Can i just say the "suit" ran out the back door after screening, which was probably a good thing, cos i reckon i coulda run him over

Unfortunatly we all had sooo much to say, and it was so hard to get a word in, but i think the main point was there. Good job guys, you definatly are the clever ones!

So all in all, a good experience, JB, Nick, and Mick, cheers for the support, hopefully we can catch up again. (when im a little less sporatic hehe)

And Thanks to Cameron Duff who had some good solid things to say. And despite it all Mr Wood and the others (minus evil suit man) .. where all nice folks, we spoke a bit after, i guess we cant change everyones opinion... only hope for the best.

Cheers for the experience... now lets go take a pill to de-stress :D

 

[pullacone]

Well done guys! It was a excellent show to watch. I was pretty skeptical before I sat down, thinking it would just be another rant about how bad drugs are ect ect but by the end of it, I couldn't have been happier. All in all I think it sent a strong but positive message to the goverment about our current drug laws.

It was good to see some professionals getting in amongst it all and having there say. Thumbs up to the doctors that rocked up.

(that guy in the suit really got on my nerves though :D)

 

[potato]

I really enjoyed the show and thought everyone presenting the HR/tolerance argument did a great job. Johnboy et al deserve congratulating, it's not an easy thing to maintain composure and formulate convincing arguments on camera with so much pressure.

The most striking thing about this program was that it was the drug users that came across as well-informed, well-educated and intelligent whereas the prohibition crowd seemed ignorant and emotive.

What was Tony Wood even doing there though? He does not belong in that type of forum. I guess emotive journalism sells but Tony is too 'close' to the issue in terms of personal experience to ever have the perspective to bring anything worthwhile to the discussion.

Really wish that someone told him MDMA didn't kill his daughter- ignorance did. Or if someone did say something akin to that it's sad it got cut. I mean Anna Wood is possibly one of the stongest cases against prohibiton and scare-tactics education, as opposed to giving people REAL FACTS so they can make decisions of their own.

Congrats to everyone that represented the 'Pro-Drug pirates' here at BL.

 

[[S]alvatore]

It is now available for download as a DivX file from here. It is 141MB and if you can provide a mirror for it please post one in the thread. You will need the DivX codec to view it and that can be found via this website.

Thank you so much. I'm going to burn this to vcd so me & my parents can watch it, rather than them just seeing the "bad" side of drugs. And ignoring me whenever I try to give factual information.

*EDIT* I wanna punch that guy in the suit in the face.

 

[ANDO420]

Yea well done guys

A big hand to the suits who put in the good word for harm minimisation, they done well and I think it put the point out there that there are many people who take drugs on the week end for fun and can still goto work, not just kids getting fucked up every day.

Also a big thanx to jhonboy and the enlighten crew for putting the info out there about pill testers. I had friends ask me no sorry no....tell me that they you can only use them once and you need a whole pill, o didn't they get there ears chewed off for 20 min just about pill testing

thanx guys

 

[middle finger]

Good work! I watched the show (I even taped the new simpsons). It was a really good discussion, but there were definately a few idiots there. Props to all involved. Thanks for representing us.

 

[receptorless]

I thought the moderator could have done a better job in focussing the discussion, in all honesty.

I think the main problems arose when she would ask the audience generally for input regarding their experiences with "illegal drugs" and you had people who were responding in relation to ecstacy and others in respect of heroin. People were constantly talking at crosspurposes as a result. I found it very frustrating viewing actually.

In fairness to SBS though, I think the topic of 'drugs in society' is just too broad to adequatley deal with in a one hour panel/forum discussion....
I mean look at the number of threads on BL!

 

[aBitOfAWorry]

Thankyou very much Cowboy Mac for making the DivX version available. I watched it last night and found it very entertaining. It was great to see an unbiased drug forum in the main stream media. Good work to all those who attended the forum especially Johnboy who kept his cool in what looked like some very frustrating situations.

Just a few of my thoughts on the forum. As receptorless said, I think the topic was a bit too broad and could have had a bit more focus (eg just party drugs). It annoyed me when Phil O’Grady talked about the ‘failure’ of harm minimization. What harm minimization is he talking about! A few injecting rooms can’t be considered full harm minimization and can certainly not be used to judge the success or failure of this approach.

It was great to hear very sensible comments from some of the older people in the forum. I thought that Prof. Chris Tennant, Prof David Fergusson and Dr Alex Wodak all spoke well and without bullshit. I think overall drug users were portrayed very well (for a change) and I look forward to seeing more programs like this in the future.

Ohh, I got really pissed off at 'suit man' as well. I felt like kicking his narrow minded, ignorant skull in. In a friendly way

 

[silvia saint]

saw the repeat today and was very impressed with the program, quite unbiased as always but there was way too much off topic discussion. insight is a great program, however covering the issue of drugs was long overdue and 1 hour just isn't enough time to cover the all important ground. jb you are an excellent representative of the hm community, handled it very well. i noticed you too nick, especially your closing credits comment, as did my mum. she thought you were very cool

You know... I wish someone had've said to Mr Wood... your daughter died from water hyponatraemia and if there had been enough education out there, perhaps her situation wouldn't have arisen. Also the fact that her friends were too scared to call for help because they thought they might get in trouble.

As for anna wood's father.... Some of his comments on the program and after reading JB's post about talking to him after the show it made me wonder if anna turned to drugs because she couldn't stand dealing with her fathers narrow mindedness???

^^^my thoughts too.


you can understand to an extent his attitude, however on the other hand surely he has researched enough on ecstasy to come to the logical conclusion that hm, legalization, and controlled supply is the only solution/option left trying in this un-winnable war?

i really wish i was there to just say something along the lines of... "i am sincerely sorry for your loss, but don't you realize that your attitude, your standing strong on a zero tolerance approach, is only if anything going to see more families suffering the same fate as yours?"

i too could understand the wood's attitude before this show, but now i just think they're mad, well mr wood anyway. i guess his post show comments illustrate quite clearly that he is a lost cause.

well actually it was mentioned that her death could have been prevented but that ended up on the cutting room floor

i expected more from sbs

 

[Faustus]

Was awesome to watch a show with excellent drug discussion. Thank you Johnboy for the input you had.

Been around reading for years but had to say well done

 

[satricion]

Top work to all concerned.

And just quickly, who the hell was that guy in the suit? I can't figure out why he was there at all...he had never taken any drugs, hadn't had any contact with any organisations who had anything to do with drugs...he seemed to play the part of "Random With No Knowledge".

 

[fcuking_in_heaven]

Yeah i managed to catch the last 20 minutes which i thought were very good. Unfortunately Mr Wood seems to think that by keeping drug use 'underground' then everyone will stop using them. It is sad that the general public do not know how mainstream recreational drug use is these days. We need to contro and regulate the industry, not pretend it doesnt exist.

Just a side note, does anyone know the exact cause of death for Anna Wood, eg: was is from too much water?

 

[satricion]

^^
Yep it was. The coroner's report is on Erowid I think.

 

[Houston]

It is now available for download as a DivX file from here. It is 141MB and if you can provide a mirror for it please post one in the thread. You will need the DivX codec to view it and that can be found via this website.

Dont suppose anyone with some DIVX knowledge or computer knowledge in general could explain to me how to download and get that video to work? What exactly do i need to download to make it work ? :-S

 

[Mr Giggles]

Kudos to all involved, i don't think anyone could have done any better given the circumstances and pressure to perform.
On a completely diffferent note, has anyone come across this letter in any of the major newspapers from one Michael D Robinson, Executive Director, Drug Free Australia Ltd?

NO place for misinformation over illicit drugs

Tueday night's SBS Insight program was a warning to all Australians about the signifcant level of misinformation and confusion that exists about illicit drugs.
This misinformation is pushed by radical activists for their agenda of promoting drug use. There is no place for complacency , navivety, ignorance, deception or misinformation on the issue of illicit drugs. Australia's international treaties, national laaws and national drug policies are clear that it is illegal to possess or use illicit drugs. The adverse consequences of illicit drug use are not trivial, nor are they limited only to overdoses.
For example, cannabis use adversely affects the immune system, heart, lungs, throat, and mental well being.
It deteriorates genetic information that may one day be passed onto the children one may have. There is an urgent need to upscale all efforts to prevent any and all use of illicit drugs and to help recovery from drug dependency.
Australia must learn from the mistakes of other countries that have already experimented with the so–called 'harm reduction'. Harm reduction must be exposed as insider's jargon for ignoring reputable evidence and promoting hazardous and illegal drug . See www.sbs.com.au/insight

Michael D Robinson, Executive Director, Drug Free Australia Ltd

Source: The Canberra Times, Sunday Times - Letters to the editor, page 28, 22/05/2005

Misinformation? 8(

 

[ANDO420]

I must say, Tony wood's opinion represents that of my parents when it comes to drugs, but i reckon, give him a break. He did lose his daughter.

Fair call, but he said (with all confidence ) that the pill his daughter had was pure Mdma, ok I don't know about anyone else, but I would pay a shitload for a pure pill, It was not pure

 

[nickthecheese]

^ The most disappointing thing about anna was that if proper HR information and practices were in place she'd probably still be here today.

plus she was 15, I'm probably old fashioned, but I'm not letting my 15 year old kids go out all night to somewhere I have no idea about...cut their fucking heads off!

 

[hoptis]

Dont suppose anyone with some DIVX knowledge or computer knowledge in general could explain to me how to download and get that video to work? What exactly do i need to download to make it work ? :-S

Have you already downloaded the video and have tried to play it? The second link goes to a website where you can download a video codec that will let you play the Divx video. The codec is a very simple download and install.

Here's the link straight to the page for the free Divx codec download page:
http://www.divx.com/divx/download/

Once it's installed you can watch the video in Windows Media Player, most likely by just double clicking on it.

Hope that helps

 

[surrealthoughts]

Kudos to all involved, i don't think anyone could have done any better given the circumstances and pressure to perform.
On a completely diffferent note, has anyone come across this letter in any of the major newspapers from one Michael D Robinson, Executive Director, Drug Free Australia Ltd?


NO place for misinformation over illicit drugs

Tueday night's SBS Insight program was a warning to all Australians about the signifcant level of misinformation and confusion that exists about illicit drugs.
This misinformation is pushed by radical activists for their agenda of promoting drug use. There is no place for complacency , navivety, ignorance, deception or misinformation on the issue of illicit drugs. Australia's international treaties, national laaws and national drug policies are clear that it is illegal to possess or use illicit drugs. The adverse consequences of illicit drug use are not trivial, nor are they limited only to overdoses.
For example, cannabis use adversely affects the immune system, heart, lungs, throat, and mental well being.
It deteriorates genetic information that may one day be passed onto the children one may have. There is an urgent need to upscale all efforts to prevent any and all use of illicit drugs and to help recovery from drug dependency.
Australia must learn from the mistakes of other countries that have already experimented with the so–called 'harm reduction'. Harm reduction must be exposed as insider's jargon for ignoring reputable evidence and promoting hazardous and illegal drug . See www.sbs.com.au/insight

Michael D Robinson, Executive Director, Drug Free Australia Ltd

Source: The Canberra Times, Sunday Times - Letters to the editor, page 28, 22/05/2005

Misinformation? 8(

this seems to be a recurring theme more and more. the evidence of harm reduction failing overseas. does any know of the particular evidence or countries which they refer to, as being proof that harm reduction and harm minimisation failing?

if presented with this argument, where is the evidence that harm reduction has indeed been successful? can anyone point me in the right direction.

another way i see of approaching this argument, is referring to the overwhelming evidence prohibition has failed.

 

[phase_dancer]

The reason why Harm Reduction/ Minimisation is considered to be failing is that it isn't regarded as being effective in reducing drug use. However, as most proponents of HR will testify, the intention of harm reduction/ minimisation is not so much to discourage absolutely, it's to reduce harm, and more to the point, to inform, so an informed choice can be made.

The bottom line is, even if you do the research, learn the facts and check the stats, you are not so likely to think drugs are as bad as anti-use proponents are screaming for you to believe.

I await the time when some of us can debate the degree of danger associated with responsible drug use, using science and only science facts to present the argument. Michael Robinson and his followers are keen to support others who have "the ability to put the scientific information into language ordinary people can understand" but I'm talking about a televised debate concerning science facts presented as such by science people. Not watering down or emphasizing incorrectly so as to suit Mr and Mrs Joe Bloggs.

Let's make some comparisons to pharmaceutical drugs; permitted and prescribed equivalents, and some foods responsible for societies woos. Seen in that light, responsible and educated drug use is far from the demon it's claimed to be, and "radical activists" are fighting for much more than some mandate based upon promoting drug use, as Robinson puts it.

For every scientifically based paper on the dangers and health problems associated with cannabis, there's at least one on the possible health benefits from natural cannabinoids and related compounds. Let's see these facts presented with the study results from opposing conclusions. I'm not talking demographics, I mean science baby; stuff from labs and clinical trials.

And as has been mentioned in regards to the SBS program, let's also see the classes of drugs broken up so that the discussion doesn't use facts regarding opium and heroin to demonstrate the dangers of MDMA.

I think the proponents of a "drug free Australia" would have to shift their emphasis once again and find some other evil association with drugs to focus on.

We've just seen a users perspective portrayed on SBS. It's obviously rattled a few bones in the other camp; Users coming across as unaffected, and even intelligent. Scary stuff for those attempting to convince the worlds that all users are doomed to be desperate addicts, poor of health and doomed to have deformed children!