Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: About that Rhythm and Vines "dangerous drugs" alert

Moz

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 13:49:36 +1300

The Conversation has an Australian perspective but there's nothing new as far as NZ is concerned. They're still at the "wouldn't testing be a good idea" stage.

https://theconversation.com/heres-why-doctors-are-backing-pill-testing-at-music-festivals-across-australia-109430

Craig Young

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 10:06:06 +1300

One of the things I noticed after covering him for many years for Gaynz.Com was that the man has risible strategic planning skills. Remember too, his tertiary qualifications are in tax policy and accountancy, so while I'm sure Family First is well managed when it comes to fiscal probity, he…

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 08:59:02 +1300

As a matter of interest, Russell, does anyone ever respond to McCoskrie’s facile antidrug populist grandstanding with some good evidence-based rebuttal?

I covered some of his cannabis claims last year after he appeared on Q+A with Chloe Swarbrick, but I need to make time to do a full accounting. It…

Moz

Tue, 08 Jan 2019 21:19:51 +1300

There was a wonderful moment on one of those awful cop-reality shows the other day. Some dude pulled over, says "I took coke over the weekend" and tested positive for P, negative for cocaine. He was disgruntled about the mis-selling, and doubly so when convicted of driving under the influence.…

Craig Young

Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:30:15 +1300

One thing I always wonder about in these cases is the polydrug angle. Was it a specific substance, or was it a mixture of specific substances?

Craig Young

Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:28:24 +1300

Hyponatremia is also a risk for me as a person with Type 2 diabetes and I don't even use recreational drugs, let it be noted.

Moz

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 12:56:54 +1300

Fred Nile is in the NSW Legislative Council

It's more about the christian reich control over the (NSW) Liberal Party, there's a consistent push to force everyone into prosperity gospel style behaviour, on everything from sex to driving to drug use (wine is ok, the bible mentions that). Prime Minister…

Craig Young

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 11:27:22 +1300

Does that have anything to do with the fact that Fred Nile is in the NSW Legislative Council? I've spotted some of his reefer madness silliness on the CDP website, which I spy on for LGBT friends.

Craig Young

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 11:25:42 +1300

As a matter of interest, Russell, does anyone ever respond to McCoskrie's facile antidrug populist grandstanding with some good evidence-based rebuttal? Yes, I know it's onerous and I know he's an utter tosser, but the problem is that he's gibbering in an evidence-free vacuum and in the absence of harm…

Mikaere Curtis

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 11:11:43 +1300

Holy shit, Drug Free Australia have an article called "Could medical cannabis be the new THALIDOMIDE?". And one entitled "Why test pills when it is the ecstasy that kills?"

You can't make this shit up. This group is very dangerous.

Russell Brown

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 10:05:19 +1300

Unusually, the Herald has bylined its editorial on the drug-checking issue – and the byline is that of John Roughan ...

I'll see if I can find time later to go through the many misapprehensions and strange claims therein.

Russell Brown

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 08:52:14 +1300

and thought drinking gallons of water would keep her safe.

This is also the story of the first two recorded MDMA deaths in New Zealand: Ngaire O'Neill in 1998 and Dai Bowden in 2001.

Moz

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 20:56:29 +1300

I'm so glad our politics is different here.

One of the few good aspects of NSW is consistency – we have stupid laws about alcohol, tobacco *and* illegal drugs. I'm really glad to see Aotearoa moving in a sensible direction (and FWIW, I'm not a user, I just think the…

tatjna

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 20:55:25 +1300

Also, just to set the record straight, Anna Wood died from hyponatremia because she’d been spun bullshit stories about drugs by people like Drug Free Australia, and thought drinking gallons of water would keep her safe.

If she’d been able to talk with an organisation like KnowYourStuffNZ beforehand, we could…

Russell Brown

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 16:01:10 +1300

"having drug-free festivals is not a hardline approach"... no, it's a religious approach.

Ironically, even Parachute was never drug-free :-)

But yeah, that Stuff comments thread is something. People demanding that festivals crack down on drugs. Dude, in New South Wales police put on drug dog teams outside the gates,…

Moz

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 13:51:16 +1300

It does suggest there's no reality-based opposition, and even the saner right wing pundits have decided that this isn't one that makes them look good. I think the discussion has largely turning into a "allow pill testing vs let them die" argument (per Stuff comments).

"having drug-free festivals is not…

Russell Brown

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 12:07:20 +1300

It’s actually pretty telling that they had to go as far as McCroskie to get an opposing viewpoint IMO.

And oddly comforting that in this country it's really only fringe-dwellers like him trotting out this stuff.

tatjna

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 09:19:26 +1300

It's actually pretty telling that they had to go as far as McCroskie to get an opposing viewpoint IMO.

Russell Brown

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:51:30 +1300

And this is just straight-up fucking bullshit.

Russell Brown

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:50:50 +1300

Meanwhile, speaking of hateful ignorance, here's the expected fact-free take from Bob McCoskrie.

Russell Brown

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:49:48 +1300

The lumpen proletariat weigh in, in the comments at Stuff… sigh

It's some bleak shit. The howling lack of empathy in the "if you take drugs you deserve what you get" crowd.

But it's also indicative of the level of ignorance abroad. People literally don't know what they're talking about.

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:26:45 +1300

The lumpen proletariat weigh in, in the comments at Stuff... sigh
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/109695491/its-a-drugs-lolly-scramble-out-there-and-its-time-for-the-law-to-change

Kumara Republic

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 23:58:17 +1300

Australian politics suffers from a disproportionate numbers of loony idiots, and while most come from the right the occassional one – such as Latham – comes from the left. He's been a total fringe character for years, reknown for saying increasinly dumb things in a futile effort for relevancy & some…

Hugh Wilson

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 22:43:11 +1300

JC Carter

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 21:29:34 +1300

How to slow down consumption of drugs at an event?

Release vague news and never provide any clear context.

Russell Brown

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 16:16:17 +1300

More from Stuart Nash, this time on Stuff:

Independent testing tents that let you know what's in recreational drugs could become a regular feature at New Zealand festivals, Police Minister Stuart Nash says.

"I think they're a fantastic idea and should be installed at all our festivals," he said. "But…

Russell Brown

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 15:29:15 +1300

There's an interesting Reddit thread here, with contributions from someone who seems to have been working security at R&V.

It’s pretty clear that the first line in “intox assessment” and drug searches is event security, rather than police. He talks about busting a carload of young men on entry to…

Moz

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 15:18:34 +1300

It's hard to keep track!

I believe the current title is "Prime Minister at time of writing", or at least that's the way the media refer to it.

Moz

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 15:12:42 +1300

They (intentionally?) left "illegal" out of that. "I drank a lot of alcohol yesterday and now I have a headache and am extremely photosensitive" qualifies. Curse those people putting ethanol in paint thinners!

"I took a paracetamol and my headache went away... I fear the tablet may have contained paracetamol!"…

tatjna

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 14:41:02 +1300

*thumbs up*

Yes, we communicate with Chloe and other politicians fairly regularly. We appear to have cross-party support from individual MPs but are keen to see that develop into cohesive action.

Dennis Frank

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 14:33:22 +1300

Excellent, Wendy. https://knowyourstuff.nz/about/
So good to know that you folks have organised to do this. My relevant experience is with psychedelic drugs long ago, but even in the early seventies products laced with dangerous additives were on the market. That's due to prohibition preventing quality control in manufacturing from being…

tatjna

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:52:54 +1300

Hi, I am the Director of KnowYourStuffNZ. We are actively working with authorities and event organisers to develop consistent best practice for harm reduction at events. This includes developing an appropriate format for issuing alerts about dangerous substances. There are already successful models being used overseas and it will be…

Dennis Frank

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:43:32 +1300

"It was also unclear who had actually issued the warning in the first place. The DHB? Festival organisers? The police? The One News report offers a bit more context there. It appears that Gisborne police had borrowed a spectrometer from Customs to analyse contraband drugs seized by festival security. Some…

Russell Brown

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:30:16 +1300

Mark Latham was never PM, only opposition leader.

Oops – yes, thanks. It's hard to keep track!

Russell Brown

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:29:09 +1300

Know Your Stuff have also responded to my request for comment, saying that some harm reduction is better than none, but:

the people doing it need to have experience in forensic testing with a harm reduction focus. The alert that was issued contained no information that would help people identify…

Russell Brown

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:25:50 +1300

Here's Know Your Stuff with a model drug warning – and a significant one. A pill with a high level of n-ethylpentylone is a dangerous one.

Grant McDougall

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:24:47 +1300

Mark Latham was never PM, only opposition leader.

Paul Campbell

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:14:21 +1300

As someone with a son at a summer music festival I did feel the urge to text him an equivalent of the rather famous Woodstock message :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzFongNGuQM

(did they announce "stay away from the purple X" over the PA at R&V?)

Public Address

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:14:21 +1300

Discussion from blog post.