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I didn't watch it, but it was on Australian Story.

Breaking Good

Peter Lyndon-James is a former ice addict and criminal who now runs ‘the nation’s strictest’ drug rehabilitation centre.

At Shalom House in Perth, addicts agree to go ‘cold turkey’ off all drugs including cigarettes, get their heads shaved and go to Christian church services three times a week.

The program, which gets no government funding, is proving successful, turning seemingly intractable criminals and addicts into ‘geeks’ – upstanding, productive members of society.

Step inside Australia’s ‘strictest’ drug rehabilitation centre Shalom House Perth WA.
http://ab.co/2nRIX38
http://bit.ly/2pl4Yso
 
This "legal/illegal" drugs discussion has become very grey. We have the conversation about cigs and alcohol (legal) vs cocaine, heroin, ice (illegal)

So what do we make of the spectacular rise in legal painkiller addiction - just opiates in a pharmaceutical package? Enslaving and killing 10's of thousands of people in US and making a big start here. Not a simple and easy conversation to have I suggest.

Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America’s Opioid Crisis
The opioid epidemic killed more than 33,000 people in 2015. What follows are stories of a national affliction that has swept the country, from cities on the West Coast to bedroom communities in the Northeast.


JAN. 6, 2017


Continue reading the main story Share This Page

Opioid addiction is America’s 50-state epidemic. It courses along Interstate highways in the form of cheap smuggled heroin, and flows out of “pill mill” clinics where pain medicine is handed out like candy. It has ripped through New England towns, where people overdose in the aisles of dollar stores, and it has ravaged coal country, where addicts speed-dial the sole doctor in town licensed to prescribe a medication.

Public health officials have called the current opioid epidemic the worst drug crisis in American history, killing more than 33,000 people in 2015. Overdose deaths were nearly equal to the number of deaths from car crashes. In 2015, for the first time, deaths from heroin alone surpassed gun homicides.

And there’s no sign it’s letting up, a team of New York Times reporters found as they examined the epidemic on the ground in states across the country. From New England to “safe injection” areas in the Pacific Northwest, communities are searching for a way out of a problem that can feel inescapable.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/us/opioid-crisis-epidemic.html
 
Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine,
LSD and psilocybin
​
What is the level of consciousness of the psychedelic state? Empirically, measures of neural signal diversity such as entropy and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity score higher for wakeful rest than for states with lower conscious level like propofol-induced anesthesia. Here we compute these measures for spontaneous magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals from humans during altered states of consciousness induced by three psychedelic substances: psilocybin, ketamine and LSD. For all three, we find reliably higher spontaneous signal diversity, even when controlling for spectral changes. This increase is most pronounced for the single-channel LZ complexity measure, and hence for temporal, as opposed to spatial, signal diversity. We also uncover selective correlations between changes in signal diversity and phenomenological reports of the intensity of psychedelic experience. This is the first time that these measures have been applied to the psychedelic state and, crucially, that they have yielded values exceeding those of normal waking consciousness. These findings suggest that the sustained occurrence of psychedelic phenomenology constitutes an elevated level of consciousness - as measured by neural signal diversity.

 
I do not agree with pill testing, just as I did not agree with injecting rooms.

My view.
 
Is it just me or is pill testing a new thing? At first glance it sounds better than the alternative.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-is-pill-testing-20190103-p50pg5.html

How does pill testing work?

Based on the Canberra’s Groovin’ the Moo festival, the process works like this:

  • Attendees queue outside a tent in the medical precinct of a festival.
  • Once inside, they sign a waiver releasing the testers from liability.
  • They also speak to a peer educator to ensure they understand that the test does not guarantee the safety of the drugs. “We’re quite explicit in telling people that this test doesn't tell you if your drug is safe,” says Dr David Caldicott, an emergency medicine consultant at Calvary Hospital in Canberra and a leader at the Groovin’ the Moo trial. “It just tells you what we’re able to find in your sample.”
  • Each attendee provides a sample of their drug to a licensed chemist who photographs and weighs it before putting it under an infrared spectrometer where it is mounted on a piece of diamond and shot with laser light. Through the light reflected, the chemist can tell what is in the sample.
  • The attendee then has a consultation with another peer educator to discuss their options now they know what’s in their drug.
 
PZ99 said:
Is it just me or is pill testing a new thing? At first glance it sounds better than the alternative.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-is-pill-testing-20190103-p50pg5.html

How does pill testing work?

Based on the Canberra’s Groovin’ the Moo festival, the process works like this:

  • Attendees queue outside a tent in the medical precinct of a festival.
  • Once inside, they sign a waiver releasing the testers from liability.
  • They also speak to a peer educator to ensure they understand that the test does not guarantee the safety of the drugs. “We’re quite explicit in telling people that this test doesn't tell you if your drug is safe,” says Dr David Caldicott, an emergency medicine consultant at Calvary Hospital in Canberra and a leader at the Groovin’ the Moo trial. “It just tells you what we’re able to find in your sample.”
  • Each attendee provides a sample of their drug to a licensed chemist who photographs and weighs it before putting it under an infrared spectrometer where it is mounted on a piece of diamond and shot with laser light. Through the light reflected, the chemist can tell what is in the sample.
  • The attendee then has a consultation with another peer educator to discuss their options now they know what’s in their drug.
Click to expand...

I think it's a brilliant idea. Anything that gives you a high is going to involve considerable risk. People forget that. If you go skydiving, the high afterwards is massive, but you get warned about some very real risks beforehand. You know where you stand and you decide whether you want to take the leap. If you want to dump your life savings into a 1c speccy... same thing. Some people will do just that after considerable weighing of risks and potential rewards. It's no different.

Some recreational drugs [probably] don't have long term consequences if they are 1- pure and 2- taken at the appropriate dose and with an understanding of risk, 3- taken infrequently. Much the same as pharmacy medicines.

I'd like to know the number of kids who after being educated on the risks decide to dump their stash. That would be a relevant stat.
 
Tink said:
I do not agree with pill testing, just as I did not agree with injecting rooms.

My view.
Click to expand...

Why not?

When you have drink of alcohol (beer/wine/spirits), you are expecting to drink ethanol alcohol, not methanol alcohol (which you go blind from). Luckily, producers/manufacturers make the right alcohol, you are safe, they are regulated and can be held liable.

Drugs on the other hand is the wild west with fentanyl and opiates almost at national disaster levels in the USA. People have consumed them for years and years and will continue to do so. Having a head in the sand approach is just stupid. IMO - having a stance of 'no' - we will no do drug testing is very dangerous. You are putting more people at risk.

In any case - just buy a test kit yourself. Not too expensive.


This one here for $8 AUD is probably the best one to get as it covers a broad range of drugs


EZ Test for Ketamine (formerly known as EZ Test Mandelin) is a test that reacts to Ketamine. Besides this, it will show different colors for, Ecstasy (MDMA), (meth)amphetamines, 2-AminoIndane (a research chemical), Ritalin and PMA / PMMA.


What you should know about pill-testing​

Although novel in Australia, pill-testing has been used as a preventative strategy in the Netherlands since 1992. In 1997 the Austrian government-sanctioned this service. Pill-testing is also prevalent in Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, France, and Spain. Since 1999, not-for-profit organisations in the US and Canada have provided pill-testing, with the same service offered in the UK since 2013. In New Zealand an independent volunteer group KnowYourStuffNZ operates pill testing at festivals, supported by the New Zealand Drug Foundation.

Last year marked the first time professionally administered pill-testing was conducted in Australia during the Groovin’ the Moo festival in Canberra. The mobile laboratory at the festival conducted 83 sample tests. 70 people thought they had purchased ecstasy pills, yet 42 contained MDMA (active ingredient in ecstasy) and for 17 samples the main ingredient were fillers or cutting agents. Along with these fillers, caffeine, antihistamine, toothpaste, dietary supplements and oil were also found in the drug samples. One sample’s main ingredient was N-Ethylpentylone, which is a stimulant that has hospitalized 13 people in New Zealand.​



I just can't believe that our politicians are so against it.

If 1 more person dies when the death could have been prevents by pill testing, it's on the NSW premiers head.
 
Tink said:
I do not agree with pill testing, just as I did not agree with injecting rooms.

My view.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with you mate. I did many illicit drugs as a teenager living in the USA and I didn't crawl home to Mummy i.e. The State when bad **** happened to my mates.

Kids nowadays are mollycoddled and pill testing is an extension of this.

Do the crime, do the time.

Do the high, you may die.

Get real people.

We have more urgent public health issues than protecting the Instagram lip and tit augmented populace from falling in to Hades.

gg
 
Police commissioners reject pill testing

The police commissioners of Australia’s two biggest states have rejected pill testing, with Mick Fuller from NSW saying its advocates “want to legalise drugs by stealth’’ and Victoria’s Graham Ashton saying it would be unlikely to save lives.

In what appeared to be a swipe at Greens MP Cate Faehrmann’s revelations she used ecstasy into her 40s, Mr Fuller said “leaders in our community need to lead by example’’.

“That goes for politicians, police commissioners, sports stars … these individuals who want to legalise drugs by stealth through pill testing need to be seen for what they are,’’ he said.

Ms Faehrmann, a former adviser to Greens leader Richard Di Natale, entered the pill-testing debate this week by becoming the first Australian politician to admit she used ecstasy.

Mr Fuller said: “There is ample evidence that drugs are not safe. Even those with absolute purity. All drugs can kill. This is the message we need out there.”

Mr Ashton said most drug overdoses at music concerts were the results of “poly’’ use: one person taking multiple pills. “Pill testing does not stop this,’’ he said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/na...g/news-story/c018694266dd8cfa1d0c87c55875a6ad
 
Tink said:
The police commissioners of Australia’s two biggest states have rejected pill testing, with Mick Fuller from NSW saying its advocates “want to legalise drugs by stealth’’ and Victoria’s Graham Ashton saying it would be unlikely to save lives.
Click to expand...

Of course he is going to say that - he has to tow the party line. Look at South Australia - they are tightening laws regarding cannabis - total idiots, while the rest of the world is going the opposite direction South Oz is going back to the stone age.

Like l said in one of my previous posts - if 1 person dies that could have been prevented due to pill testing, these muppets are to blame. People will take drugs regardless of laws - even in countries where there are death penalties, people do drugs. Some of the best times I've had at festivals (15+ years ago) have been with a group of mates and a few caps of MDMA. Please stop with the hysteria. I should also add that I don't do drugs (older and wiser), but what l did in my youth l had a ball and would do it again. Even though l don't do drugs as l'm older, why should l be telling people not to do drugs - its your life, you do what you want.

Look at drink driving...it has gotten so bad that there are alcohol ignition locks installed in some cases. Does it stop people from drink driving? No. People will continue to drink and drive, and do drugs. Totalitarianism and nanny state 101 doesn't work.

Tink and GG - please read this article - https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/...esting-at-australian-music-festivals/10638732

Having a head in the sand approach does not work...


I don't really post Huff post (credit where credit due) - this article from 2015 needs to be read by the people against hard minimisation. It looks like older generation or people with religious views are against it for some reason...

Music Festivals And Drugs: How Would Pill Testing Work?
​
Emergency physician and drug expert Dr David Caldicott is leading the charge. He wants permission to conduct a pill testing trial at an Australian music festival this season, telling The Huffington Post Australia of his frustrations such a program is not already in place.

"This is not novel or scary or dangerous. The only people portraying it as such are fringe members of the prohibition movement and politicians terrified of engaging with anything on illicit drugs," he said.

"This is so mainstream in Europe now, the European Union has had their peak drug body produce best practice guidelines to do pill testing. Dozens of countries in Europe do this already. As with marriage equality or climate change, we are leading the way in being backwards on this. I'm flabbergasted and my overseas colleagues are scratching their heads."

 
DB008 said:
People will take drugs regardless of laws - even in countries where there are death penalties, people do drugs. Some of the best times I've had at festivals (15+ years ago) have been with a group of mates and a few caps of MDMA. Please stop with the hysteria. I should also add that I don't do drugs (older and wiser), but what l did in my youth l had a ball and would do it again. Even though l don't do drugs as l'm older, why should l be telling people not to do drugs - its your life, you do what you want.

Look at drink driving...it has gotten so bad that there are alcohol ignition locks installed in some cases. Does it stop people from drink driving? No. People will continue to drink and drive, and do drugs. Totalitarianism and nanny state 101 doesn't work.

Tink and GG - please read this article - https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/...esting-at-australian-music-festivals/10638732

Having a head in the sand approach does not work...
Click to expand...

Almost everyone I know in my social circles dabbled in drugs (coke, E, speed, MDMA, weed) through their 20s, and many still do from time to time (mid-30s). It's a lot of fun if you don't overdo it, and for the overwhelming majority of people who engage in it, they have no issues.

As you say, trying to delude yourself that it doesn't happen, or that tougher laws/penalties will stop it from happening is insane. There are simply mountains of evidence from all around the world proving that this approach is counter-productive and will simply fill prisons and drive it further underground.
 
DB008 said:
I don't really post Huff post (credit where credit due) - this article from 2015 needs to be read by the people against hard minimisation. It looks like older generation or people with religious views are against it for some reason...
​
Click to expand...


Typo - harm minimisation it was meant to be​
 
A music festival near Ballarat has again been marred by drug overdoses and arrests.

About six people were taken to hospital following suspected drug overdoses at the four-night Rainbow Serpent Festival at Lexton.

Two of the people are in critical conditions.

More than 20 people have been arrested for drug related offences at the festival.

Among them, an alleged drug trafficker who is aged only 17.

As the festival draws to a close today, police are vowing to have a highly visible presence on the roads in the region, conducting drug tests.

https://www.3aw.com.au/rainbow-serpent-festival-marred-by-overdoses-and-arrests/

https://www.3aw.com.au/sydney-newspaper-names-and-shames-drug-users-on-front-page/
 
Tink said:
A music festival near Ballarat has again been marred by drug overdoses and arrests.

About six people were taken to hospital following suspected drug overdoses at the four-night Rainbow Serpent Festival at Lexton.
Click to expand...

Shame they didn't try to do any preventative measures, ie, drug testing. The government is only interested in trying to fix a problem after the fact. Australia is so far behind.
 
Biggest ever US drug bust, and it was headed for Australia

Authorities have seized a record haul of 1.7 tonnes of the drug ice, which was bound for Australia.

It’s not only the largest ever seizure of methylamphetamine bound for Australia, it’s also a record domestic seizure of the drug in the USA.

The consignment has an estimated street value in Australia of $1.29 billion.

Police say it could have resulted in more than 17 million drug deals.

Officers from the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police yesterday arrested six people in Victoria and NSW.

They were allegedly involved with the US-based organised crime syndicate at the centre of the investigation.

https://www.3aw.com.au/astonishing-...us-drug-bust-and-it-was-headed-for-australia/
 
No way the USA would have caught it without Australian help. Record domestic seizure for the USA? And we did the work? What does that suggest?
 

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