Posts by Russell Brown
-
Hard News: People Take Drugs, in reply to BenWilson,
Yes, P is much more insidious, precisely because you can function well on it, and overdosing sounds almost impossible.
Right up until you haven't slept for a week and your friends don't want you coming around.
The very large majority of users, it should be noted, never get to that place. But P does seem to have a higher attrition rate than anything else I've seen.
-
Hard News: People Take Drugs, in reply to Leopold,
Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland ring a bell, anyone?
Not for me personally, but I love how you make us look good by bringing it into the conversation.
-
Hard News: People Take Drugs, in reply to BenWilson,
Do they actually appeal to the same people? They have practically opposite effects.
Oh yes. I saw a few long-term junkies jump ship to P -- and then proceed to lose their previous ability to manage their lifestyles.
-
Also worth reading: The New Zealand Alcohol and Drug Use Survey.
The interesting figure for me is the question about why subjects stopped using marijuana. The most common answer (36% in 2007-2008) was “didn’t like it”.
Even though people were free to give multiple reasons, only 8% of respondents cited fear of the police or the law. It’s basically the same every time they do the survey: the criminal law does not play a significant role in encouraging people not to desist from using cannabis.
But thinking about their personal heath does.
-
Meanwhile, tripme.co.nz (actual website) goes to town in Close up rants cluelessly about legal pot alternatives.
I don’t think it’s quite as innocuous as they say there – a tiny R18 sign on the packet is not the same thing as a formal age restriction that suppliers have to obey under penalty of law.
But Pat Buckley, Close Up’s expert, is one of a group of people who get a lot of attention – and charitable funding – in the drug harm field while they cheerlead some pretty ropey solutions. Basically, the guy who spent 18 years addicted to IV drugs might not actually be your best call here.
They use the discredited “shock and awe” Montana Meth material.
And this is one of the signs of marijuana use, according to their website:
Acting silly for no apparent reason.
I do that stone cold sober, and I’m not even a teenager.
-
Something else I couldn't fit in the post: Britain's Channel 4 will be getting people to take drugs live on TV so everyone can look at them.
It looks like being a non-useful exercise in stunt broadcasting.
-
Hard News: People Take Drugs, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,
Do, please, take the time to read Gerald Waters’ comprehensive overview of how it might work in NZ and offer some comment (pdf file). I was going to blog on it but haven’t had time and since Russell has opportunely raised the issue, I’ll blithely hijack his thread :-D
Au contraire. I am grateful for the knowledge you have shared :-)
-
Hard News: People Take Drugs, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
But the more I think about it, the more fatuous that statement becomes.
The statement doesn't really mean anything. Which was doubtless pretty much the aim in making it.
-
And, of course, John Pagani’s awesomely, staggeringly dumb blog post Why the Law Commission is basically a bunch of potheads.
He really has not grasp of the issues, the evidence or the experience of other countries that have reformed. And he doesn't seem to care. Some strategist that guy is.
-
Meanwhile, this awesome display of political courage and intellectual enterprise from Phil Goff:
Law needs to discourage drug taking - Goff
4/05/2011 17:12:01Any moves to soften up penalties for personal drug use will be watched closely by Labour.
The Law Commission's review of the Misuse of Drugs Act makes a number of recommendations about changes to drug laws.
Those include relaxing penalties for minor drug use and piloting specific drug courts.
Labour leader Phil Goff says there are some good ideas in the report but the moves have to be looked at closely and the law always needs to discourage people from taking harmful drugs.