Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Meth Perception

15 Responses

  • Russell Brown,

    If you're wondering about what I've said about the standard and health risks, I wrote it up in more detail last October when the 1.5mcg standard was proposed.

    Key paragraph from an ESR analysis commissioned by MoH as part of the standards process:

    The highest calculated exposures to MA are those experienced by children under 2 years of age, due to their frequent contact with household surfaces, their low body weight, and their hand-to-mouth behaviour. However, even these exposures, using conservative exposure assumptions, fall several orders of magnitude below prescribed therapeutic daily MA doses for children as young as 3 years of age.

    In other words, the possible dose to the most vulnerable infant from touching the walls of a house “contaminated” with meth is vastly lower than the daily therapeutic dose of methamphetamine (sold as Desoxyn) given to a three year-old to treat ADHD.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    A Standards-setting committee stacked with rogue testing companies - what could possibly go wrong?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    It's obviously not in the interests of a landlord to perform a test - I certainly wouldn't. Property owners should always be wary of creating a paper trail that impacts their LIM or creates something you are bound to disclose - for instance, if you have an issue with neighbours, don't put in writing if at all avoidable.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • andin,

    zero-tolerance policy

    I have one of those too. For money grubbing fuckwittery.
    Eat shit ray white.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report

  • william blake,

    For a couple of hundred bucks this would be a perfect way for a dissatisfied tenant to get back at a landlord. But if landlords aren't going to test and a tenant is concerned about real contamination, it's an option. It would seem to be in everybody's interest to have a meaningful standard of contamination.

    Since Mar 2010 • 380 posts Report

  • Tim Darlington, in reply to william blake,

    The problem is that isn't in everyone's interest to have a meaningful standard. It's not in the interests of the testing companies, or the clean-up companies, or the companies taking a cut of the proceedings (Ray White Real Estate, for example).

    Since Nov 2006 • 56 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to william blake,

    It would seem to be in everybody's interest to have a meaningful standard of contamination.

    Yes. Sadly this is not it.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Tim Darlington,

    Attachment

    The Drug Foundation Twitter posted this shot of the standards committee today.

    I guess you could argue Hill Laboratories, who make money from the industry, but – unlike the others – actually have some expertise. Well, okay, maybe also Forensic and Industrial. But MethSolutions, who've played a major role in this whole debacle? FFS.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Moz, in reply to Russell Brown,

    MethSolutions

    Great name, I presume they make a vape-able form of the drug?

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report

  • Glenn Pearce,

    Isn’t the testing between tenancies being driven as much by the Insurance Companies as anything esle?

    I think they require that you prove the contamination occurred during the period of cover in order to claim against your policy

    Auckland • Since Feb 2007 • 504 posts Report

  • tussock,

    1.5 µg, per 100cm^2, of wall, that didn't come off with a quick wipe.

    Therapeutic doses are 10-25 mg per day, or 10000 to 25000 µg per day. Illicit use is higher still up over 60 mg per day for heavy users, or 60000 µg.

    So to get any affect, off that, you'd want to lick 66 m^2 of wall, and to really bug out you'd be up over 500 m^2 of wall. In some way that magically attracted meth and also replaced it so you could do it again tomorrow.

    It really seems like numbers under 10 µg per 100 cm^2 are just being, uh, greedy might be a word. If meth doesn't actually stick to skin much better than wall, any numbers under 100 µg don't even make sense, but of course you'd never be able to find that much meth anywhere, so meth cleaning companies wouldn't need to exist.

    Try a cloth.

    Since Nov 2006 • 611 posts Report

  • linger, in reply to tussock,

    Ah, but the minimum level is decided by the Won't somebody think of the children? factor … hence the effective dose is much smaller — let's say divided by 100 to scale for order-of-magnitude mass ratio, so 100µg/ 100cm^2 = 1 mg/ m^2. And everything sticks to infants, apparently…

    Try a cloth.

    Smoked, snorted or injected :?)

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • FletcherB, in reply to linger,

    And everything sticks to infants, apparently…

    Have you had one? It's essentially true... :D

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to tussock,

    It really seems like numbers under 10 µg per 100 cm^2 are just being, uh, greedy might be a word. If meth doesn’t actually stick to skin much better than wall, any numbers under 100 µg don’t even make sense, but of course you’d never be able to find that much meth anywhere, so meth cleaning companies wouldn’t need to exist.

    At which point, let us recall that until recently, the Tenancy Tribunal was ordering that that if any part of a dwelling tested over 0.5, the place could only be entered by people in hazmat suits. And could not be persuaded otherwise, even by scientists. That’s how screamingly stupid this got.

    Try a cloth.

    A much underrated solution. Ditto: a coat of paint.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

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