Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Synthetics: Maybe this mess will do some good

Katharine Moody

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 20:25:23 +1200

Some astonishing stats from the US;

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11905418

Katharine Moody

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 17:53:12 +1200

Also: Katharine – ZeroHedge!? Argh!

I hear you :-)... lol.

Also, I hope Trump actually stuns us all and actually listens to the experts. He's the one that established the commission.

Russell Brown

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 17:34:20 +1200

The commission has actually made some sound recommendations: better data systems, opioid substitution (still controversial in the US, 30 years after methadone therapy in NZ), better access to naloxone.

Trump will go for border walls and heavy policing. His whole thing is doing the opposite of what's wise.

Also: Katharine…

Katharine Moody

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 17:23:29 +1200

And here at home;

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/95694742/passenger-frothing-at-the-mouth-as-bay-of-plenty-police-deal-with-spate-of-synthetic-drug-calls

Katharine Moody

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 17:02:08 +1200

From the States;

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-10/president-trump-declare-opioid-crisis-national-emergency-deaths-skyrocket

Katharine Moody

Sat, 29 Jul 2017 00:52:05 +1200

A dark view of things would be that we’ve moved from a situation of relative clarity – most illegal drugs aren’t that harmful and should be at least decriminalised – to a new world of chemical expertise run by the unscrupulous churning out harm faster than we can organise against.…

Neil

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 19:03:24 +1200

A dark view of things would be that we've moved from a situation of relative clarity – most illegal drugs aren't that harmful and should be at least decriminalised – to a new world of chemical expertise run by the unscrupulous churning out harm faster than we can organise against.

Geoff Lealand

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 15:52:19 +1200

Yes, it was good. Maybe they could rename it 'Poor man's cannabis'?

Russell Brown

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 14:09:44 +1200

Well, I recall a moral panic, fed by social and regular media, about how OTC synthetics were destroying communities, causing homelessness, turning people into zombies, etc.

This (like most things in the media) was at odds with the experiences of People I Met. The products resulted in a state anywhere…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 13:07:49 +1200

Press editorial:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/95169775/editorial-the-highs-and-lows-of-synthetic-cannabis

It was a brave stand by Jesse Mulligan on The Project to reject using 'synthetic cannabis' as a descriptor of this 'lucky dip of chemistry' – not sure that 'synthicide' will slip into the vernacular though.

Rich of Observationz

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 11:10:41 +1200

Well, I recall a moral panic, fed by social and regular media, about how OTC synthetics were destroying communities, causing homelessness, turning people into zombies, etc.

This (like most things in the media) was at odds with the experiences of People I Met. The products resulted in a state anywhere…

Russell Brown

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 08:29:58 +1200

in what now seem like the good old days

If I interpret that right, Russell, I think you’re suggesting the ‘good old days’ were when we had a functioning synthetic cannabis regulatory regime.

I meant more, would that we only had the problems we had when these drugs were regulated.…

Russell Brown

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 08:22:20 +1200

A good presentation from Professor Janie Sheridan of the University of Auckland's Centre for Addiction Research on how a Drug Early Warning System might look in New Zealand.

This is from last December. I gather the work is underway.

Neil

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 07:17:42 +1200

If the case, then I just don’t know that regulated distribution is the answer – it seems to me to be almost like introducing highly addictive tobacco products in this day and age.

There's two issues. One is price point. Synthetics are cheaper than weed which is why a lot…

Katharine Moody

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 20:15:09 +1200

in what now seem like the good old days

If I interpret that right, Russell, I think you’re suggesting the ‘good old days’ were when we had a functioning synthetic cannabis regulatory regime.

But if I read the literature right, any/all synthetic cannabinoids are more physically addictive than the natural…

william blake

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 19:23:53 +1200

I feel really uncomfortable with the lines being drawn around visibly homeless people and these poisonous drugs. Bill English has gone down the personal responsibility route, blaming the victims, and Heart of the City is using the issue to try to get more leverage to ‘remove’ street people from the…

Neil

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 18:20:03 +1200

I'm not quite sure why the police are being seen as unhelpful. They and the coroner made a public statement to alert people to the danger and clearly stated that some canabinods are extremely dangerous and can be mixed with other chemicals.

The emergency treatment of someone with a toxic…

Neil

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 14:00:21 +1200

It’s important for emergency medical staff to know these things, and unhelpful for them to have to deal with noise about fly spray and weedkiller.

I spoke with a number of people a month or more before this hit the headlines and they told me the recipe being used containing…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 13:18:47 +1200

They’re all just retail brands that have jumped the fence to become generic descriptors of a group of drugs.
Like HEROIN® huh?
We'll need more than a BAND-AID®
to stop people HOOVER®ing up these drugs...

Rob Stowell

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 12:50:10 +1200

Good to hear Dunne clearly name the two biggest problems to sensible drug law reform: National and Labour. Let's all keep saying it.

Russell Brown

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 12:40:40 +1200

Radio NZ has been doing well with this story. Susan Strongman talked to both users and ESR for The Wireless.

And John Campbell went out and talked to some users in the street:

https://youtu.be/ha6EPKwaOQo

Public Address

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 12:40:39 +1200

Discussion from blog post.