Posts by Russell Brown
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hazel again, this time with Daniel, who's here from Myanmar on a union scholarship. He seems a very bright young man.
-
Shane Le Brun and Hep C generics advocate Hazel Heal.
-
Hard News: Know Your Stuff: getting real…, in reply to william blake,
Yes, under legalisation and regulation (not decriminalisation) drug quality would be somewhat guaranteed. We've actually seen that already with cannabis legalisation in US states, where consumer weed is now tested for pesticide residues and mould.
But I honestly can't see how that says that testing to make sure presumed recreational drugs aren't something completely different and much more dangerous is a bad idea.
If we're to abandon harm reduction until everything is legal, then we'd be ending needle exchange – and that would be a terrible idea.
-
Hard News: Know Your Stuff: getting real…, in reply to william blake,
On the spot drug analysis may head off acute poisoning from ingestion of an unexpected drug but what about longer term effects of a churning chemical smorgasbord? Is anybody testing the human lab rats for short, medium or long term cognitive imparement, liver or heart damage, cancer etc.?
Well, it would certainly let someone know whether what they had was a "churning chemical smorgasbord", rather than, say, the drug they thought they had. Are you proposing that nothing be done if it doesn't involve a long-term study?
Insisting it is sensible to minimise the immediate damage may give a green light and a false sense of security on the night that may make people think narcotics are a healthy, long term, gluten free alternative.
(1) Yes, it is sensible to minimise harm.
(2) No one's taking "narcotics". Words have meanings.
(3) The sends-the-wrong-message philosophy on drug policy has a grisly and ineffective history.
Does Know Your Stuff suggest a dose for each ‘patient’ based on their physiological and psychological medical records? ( including don’t do it dude) I’m not convinced that this is a health initiative rather than a happy party initiative
Yes, because a tent at a music festival with the sole purpose of telling people not to take any drugs ever is really going to be a success.
I've seen the Know Your Stuff process in action and it does actually involve talking to people about dose - the "start low, go slow" approach. The counselling part is quite key.
But perhaps you should talk to Dr Paul Quigley, or one of the other emergency medics who back drug-checking because it works.
-
The Drug Foundation's new model drug law has been published over at The Spinoff.
Removal of all criminal penalties for use and possession in favour of a Portugal-style system of health referrals.
Legalised, regulated supply of cannabis + home growing, Commitment to regions having a stake in any new cannabis growing industry,
Substantial increases in funding for drug treat resources and non-criminal responses.
-
Well, that was a thoroughly worthwhile morning.
Most of what Peter Dunne had to say wasn’t new, but his remarks on workplace drug testing were bracing: “Let us not lose sight of the health and safety reasons for it and start using it as a punitive measure.”
Then it was Prof Alison Ritter, who gave a fascinating (to geeks like me, anyway) presentation on the variety of approaches to drug law already in place and – more importantly – on the principles we should consider in creating effective drug law reform. She praised NZ’s National Drug Policy as a basis (which is a big tick for Dunne) and connected it directly to the practice of democracy.
Then, from theory to practice. Anne McLellan, chair of Canada’s cannabis legalisation taskforce, outlined the fairly conservative approach of her government to making weed legal: which at least initially will include a limit of 30 grams that can be carried in public. I guess that means that’s also the limit that can be sold. Serious penalties will remain for supply to minors.
And then Alison Holcomb talking about how they’ve done it in Washington state, plus quite a bit from her background in achieving reform with the ACLU. Notable:
“We specifically dedicated part of [Washington legal weed] tax revenues to evaluation. And not just one evaluation.”
She noted that Washington’s post-legalisation numbers are pretty good. No rise in youth use or drug driving, marijuana arrests down 98% – and 78% public support in polls.
The MPs’ panel was interesting, but lordy, Labour’s lack of clarity was showing. David Clark kept saying “we support the Law Commission review”, but that’s not a policy. The review is a list of things the commissioners thought were potentially good ideas, some at odds with each other, some looking pretty dated now. If you want to say it’s your policy, you have to say which parts. Clark didn’t cite a single specific thing in the review that labour would do.
Also: Dunne declared “I need a mandate” to enact change. Vote United Future for drug law reform, apparently. The Greens weren’t supper-impressed.
Anyway, the thing I’m enjoying most is all the local people being in the same room. It’s fun meeting people I’ve only talked to on the phone, and introducing them to each other.
-
Hard News: Genter's Bill: Starting at…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
report any adverse effects
A Facebook friend was encouraged last week to take CBD oil for the pain from fibromyalgia and spinal arthritis. (I confess, I didn't exactly discourage her either.)
She's in the UK so the oil was unregulated and fairly easy to to obtain. So she got some.
She's into day three of what sounds like a hideous allergic reaction and still feeling very sick. It's unclear what product she used, let alone what caused the reaction, but it was a bit of a reality check.
Was it a reaction to the CBD itself? (It can cause severe gastro symptoms.) The oil base? Remnant terpenes? Dose-related? This is the kind of thing doctors want to know before prescribing.
-
Henry Cooke checks the health of Genter's bill.
Situation: Labour, Act and the Maori Party on board for the first reading.
NZ First likely to forbid a conscience vote (you can't NZF MPs being seen to think for themselves) and Dunne undecided.
That leaves the votes of 12 National MPs required. Which won't be a stretch if National allows a conscience vote.
That's what it comes down to.
-
Hard News: Meth Perception, 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.
-
Hard News: Know Your Stuff: getting real…, in reply to Thomas Lumley,
Your "Todays Q+A Report" link is being treated as a relative URL not an absolute one.
Oops, thanks. Weird thing was, it worked inside the CMS but not on the page.
