Editorial 2 Mister Meaner 4 News 5 Pharmacotherapies
Transcription
Editorial 2 Mister Meaner 4 News 5 Pharmacotherapies
Editorial 2 and all people on pharmacotherapy Thailand's “War on Drugs” Mister Meaner 4 treatments. Why? reinstated! News 5 HEP C Testing 18 There are plenty of reasons for Pharmacotherapies it's your choice There's been a lot of talk about heroin making a comeback, but it never really went away, as even at the height of the “drought” in 2001, over 80,000 people (0.5% of the population) said they'd used some kind of opiate in the previous year. A heroin trial in Australia? 12 In the end, the parliamentary motion by Senator Lyn Allison did not pass through the Senate but hopefully it will revive the notion of an Australian Heroin Trial. Peace of mind by Colin 14 I never imagined that my peace of mind would come from being on ‘bupe, but that’s where I’ve found it. The Pain Paradox 16 Pain, it is a subject that strikes fear into the hearts of most opiate users For many this may seem to be a sensible policy position for a getting a hep C test, and there are 7 27 probably even more reasons why people choose not to get tested. country that has been known for its heroin and methamphetamine manufacturing and trafficking, but Fractured Fairy tales 20 For a long time being positive really meant nothing at all to me though some naïve folk believe everyone who has it turns yellow and that it’s contagious. Making a difference 23 the consequences are dire. Time for talk is over 29 Hepatitis C is spreading through Australia's correctional centres at an alarming rate and if allowed to continue unchecked will result in a Have you ever been made to totally unnecessary and extremely wait while picking up your costly health problem not just for methadone/'bupe, while the prison inmates but for everybody chemist serves another customer, even though you were there first? My story by Lee O. 25 In the mid 1990's I started working for a brothel in Canberra to support not only my own but also my partner's habit, and when one of living in Australian society. Reviews 31 Crossword 32 Member organisation the owners offered me a “business profile: WASUA 34 opportunity”, I couldn't refuse. Contacts 35 DISCLAIMER CREDITS The contents of this magazine do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users league inc. (AIVL). AIVL does not judge people who choose to use illicit drugs and welcomes contributions which express opinions and raise issues of concern to people who use or have used illicit drugs. The contents of Junkmail do not encourage anyone to break the law or use illicit drugs. While not intending to censor or change their meaning, Junkmail reserves the right to edit articles for length, grammar and clarity. Junkmail allows credited reprinting by drug user organisations and other community-based groups with prior approval, available by contacting AIVL. Information in this magazine cannot be guaranteed for accuracy by AIVL. AIVL takes no responsibility for any misfortunes which may result from any actions taken based on materials within Junkmail and does not indemnify readers against any harms incurred. The distributions of this publication is targeted – Junkmail is not intended for general distribution. ISSN: 1445-2707 Editor: Sam Liebelt Editorial Board: Sam Liebelt, Annie Madden, Dayle Stubbs, Fiona Poeder Thanks to: The rest of the AIVL staff Team: Leota Patterson, Faye Irwin, Jude Byrne, Tia Harrison, Wayne Capper, John Francis and John Van Den Dungen for their input. John Carey for his artistic input, Phil for his cover concept and original artwork. All of the individual drug users and others who have contributed articles and/or graphics to this issue. (Individual credits are provided with each article and graphic contributed) Design & Layout: direttissima Printing: Goanna Print, Canberra Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL) Level 2, Sydney Building, 112-116 Alinga St, Canberra ACT 2601 Postal: GPO Box 1552, Canberra, ACT 2601 Phone: (02) 6279 1600 Fax: (02) 6279 1610 Email: [email protected] Web: www.aivl.org.au 3 Dear Must be right, Dear Benzo the clown, This question keeps popping up so I'll do my best to give you the “right” info. As a general rule of thumb NO heat is the way to go. Heating doesn't evaporate morphine, but if you boil the hell out of it the morphine will start to break down. However, when you heat MS Contin, between 20% to 30% of the morphine gets bound into the melting wax — and if you use heat for something like Kapanol you will lose even more of the drug, as it bonds to the polymer beads that Kapanol is largely made up of. Injecting Benzo's is never a good idea. You risk major vein damage, abscesses, Hep C infection and if a particle from the pill lodges in a small vein and blocks it up there is a very real risk of the affected part “dying” from blood not being able to get through and that part (arm, leg, finger) having to be amputated. Having said that some people will still want to inject them so there is some facts that can't be ignored. What it comes down to is that to inject the drug it has to be soluble in water. Drugs like speed or coke dissolve fairly easily in water. Some drugs like brown heroin need a bit of citric acid or some vinegar to help them dissolve. NO BENZO'S WILL DISSOLVE IN WATER. None of them. Heating them won't help and neither will adding acidifiers like vinegar. So the answer is to take your time and do your mixing with the water at room temperature. It takes a little longer, but will get you 95%+ of the morphine in the solution. Heaps better result. Let your mix sit for a couple of minutes (the longer the better) before you use it and don't forget to filter your mix with a .22 micron wheel filter to remove any smaller particles. Always remember to swab your hands and the injection site before you inject. 4 This means that by crushing the pill and mixing them with water, you will just end up with a big gooey mess. Filtering this mix with a pill filter (0.2 micron or 0.8 micron) will help to remove larger particles that may block up your veins, but it will also remove some of the drug. Better this though than having an arm or a leg removed! So this leaves us where? Don't inject Benzo's unless you think that arms and legs are optional. You'll be lucky to get any effect from the drugs this way so it's just not worth it. Instead try sticking it under your tongue and letting it dissolve. You are guaranteed to get the full amount of the drug this way and it is extremely fast as it is absorbed into the bloodstream without having to go through the stomach and liver first. You could also try shafting (up ya bum!) but for this you need to go through a few steps before you can take the pill. Remember, Benzo's are not made for injecting - if you choose to inject them you run the very real risk of doing yourself real harm. ACT backs supervised drug use for addicts Canberrans are the strongest supporters of supervised injecting rooms, providing heroin on prescription and allowing the medicinal use of marijuana, a new report reveals. More than 23,000 Australians, aged 12 or older, were asked last year about their drugtaking behavior as well as their beliefs and attitudes. Almost 73 per cent of ACT residents supported the medicinal use of marijuana and about 56 per cent were in favor of supervised injecting rooms. More than 38 per cent would back a trial where drug users received heroin on prescription. (I like the sound of that! Ed.) Source: Canberra times 30/08/2008 Coked up advisor /young Australian of the Year DISGRACED Young Australian of the Year candidate, Iktimal Hage-Ali, has told a court she was depressed when she formed a 3 gram a week cocaine habit because her father and brother didn't approve of her speaking publically about Muslim issues. “My father and brother weren't too happy about me speaking about Muslim issues,” she said. Ms Hage-Ali is suing the NSW Government for unlawful arrest and wrongful detention after she was arrested on suspicion of supplying cocaine in November 2006 - eight days before she was named NSW Young Australian of the Year. In the media publicity that followed her arrest, Ms Hage-Ali relinquished her state title, ending her nomination for Young Australian of the Year. But in the District Court today, Ms Hage-Ali conceded that to an outsider listening to phone calls between her and Fahda, it would appear she wanted drugs “to give to other people.” However, even though she ran a line of credit with Fahda and told him she was ordering cocaine for friends, Ms Hage-Ali has maintained the drugs were always for herself. The hearing before Judge Michael Elkaim continues. Source: Daily Telegraph online (www.dailytelegraph.com.au) 11/12/2008 Over one million registered drug addicts reported in China in 2008 The number of registered Chinese drug addicts has risen by a third in the past three years, and has now reached 1.08 million as of October, said an official of the Ministry of Public Security on Friday. According to the ministry, the number of addicts was 785,000 in 2005. Nearly 80 percent of the drug abusers are heroin users, said Zhang Xinfeng, the ministry's deputy minister. More than 56,000 drug dealers had been arrested and 460,000 drug smuggle cases had been dealt in the first ten months in 2008, Zhang said. The ministry plan to build 45 non-compulsory rehabilitation centers across China, before which China only had compulsory ones. As some addicts found it hard to rejoin the society, the government plans to build up friendly environment in the new centers, Zhang said. Totally 220 million yuan ( about US$32 million ) from the central budget had been invested on the construction of rehabilitation centers since 2006, and 10 had been accomplished and received more than 1,600 drug users. Source: Media Awareness Project www.map. org on 9th December 2008 Swiss approve heroin scheme but vote down marijuana law A pioneering Swiss programme to give addicts government authorised heroin was overwhelmingly approved yesterday by voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalisation of marijuana. Sixtyeight per cent of voters approved making the heroin programme permanent. It has been credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts since it began 14 years ago. Only 36.8% of voters favoured the marijuana initiative. Parliament approved the heroin measure in a revision of Switzerland's narcotics law in March, but conservatives challenged the decision and forced a national referendum under Switzerland's system of direct democracy. The heroin programme has helped eliminate the scenes of large groups of drug users shooting up openly in parks that marred Swiss cities in the 1980s and 1990s, supporters say. The heroin program is offered in 23 discreet centres across Switzerland, which offer support to nearly 1,300 addicts who have not been helped by other therapies. Under supervision, they inject doses measured to satisfy a craving but not enough to cause a high. Source: Media Awareness Project www.map. org on 12th December 2008 5 Needle exchange and the new drug czar SNP rejects plan to cut benefits for drug addicts Australia target of Israeli Ecstasy President-elect Obama's staff recently floated the name of Republican Jim Ramstad, a Republican from Minnesota who is a recovering alcoholic, as the possible “drug czar.” While the nomination of someone with personal experience of addiction to this post is, in principle, something worthy of applause, Ramstad appears to see addiction and recovery through too personal a lens, putting ideology ahead of science. The Scottish government has rejected plans by Westminster to force unemployed drug addicts to seek medical help to keep their benefits. Fiona Hyslop, the SNP Education Secretary, said she did not believe that taking away benefits would do anything other than lead addicts back to a life of crime. Labour attacked the move as “despicable” and accused the SNP of abandoning drug addicts and condemning them to a life on benefits. Israeli police intelligence reveals that crime syndicates operating out of Israel view Australia as a booming market for the party drug. In March, 45-year-old Israeli man Benjamin Rosenfeld was sentenced to 21 years' jail for importing 112 kilograms of the drug MDMA, the main ingredient of ecstasy, with a street value estimated at $45m. Crucially, he opposes needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of HIV among addicts, which is one of the best-studied interventions in public health. He even voted against allowing Washington, DC to use its own money to fund these programs. Washington currently has the nation's highest HIV infection rate and IV drug use is the source of nearly one-fifth of AIDS cases. The stand-off between the Scottish government and Westminster comes despite meetings between Ms Hyslop and Tony McNulty, the Employment Minister, to discuss plans to reform Britain's benefits system. Ms Hyslop appears to have rejected parts of the package aimed at tackling addiction among the unemployed and improving addicts' literacy skills to raise their employment prospects. In a letter to Mr McNulty, Ms Hyslop wrote: “I remain unconvinced of the benefits of using the threat of sanctions to coerce people into attending skills assessments and training.” Two decades of empirical research on needle exchange should provide the foundation for the nation's drug policy, not a former addict's personal experience. Sympathy is not a substitute for rigorous, dispassionate analysis. If the Obama administration is determined to nominate Rep. Jim Ramstad to the position of “drug czar,” it needs to explain why his personal experience and opinion disqualifies the weight of scientific evidence. Source: www.stats.org on 3rd December 2008 6 Ms Hyslop's stance indicates that the SNP intends to build opposition to the plans in Scotland. A spokesman for Ms Hyslop said: “We don't believe that cutting drug users' benefits will do anything other than lead some of them back to a life of crime. “And we don't think that drug users currently on treatment waiting lists should make way for those referred by benefits offices. Those who had been waiting for a long time would suddenly find themselves at the back of the queue.” Source: Times online (www.timesonline.co.uk) 13th December 2008 According to Israel police, Israeli crime gangs are smuggling large quantities of ecstasy out of production houses in the Netherlands, then into Belgium and Spain. From there the smuggling route can be traced through the Middle East to Thailand or Singapore, and then on to Australia. “We are well aware that members of the organised families here have established connections in Australia and view it as a lucrative and growing market that they are looking to exploit,” a senior member of Israel's Coastal Police central unit reported. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he did not have authorisation to brief the media, the police source said that Israeli police believe organised crime gangs were making increasing use of couriers who carried smaller parcels of drugs. “This has been the pattern, especially because South-East Asia and Australia are such popular destinations for Israeli backpackers when they finish military service,” he said. “Organised crime has been getting stronger in Israel … Until we get more resources here to fight the criminals, we believe their smuggling operations will continue to get stronger,” the police source said. Source: The Age 13th December 2008 Pharmacotherapies – it's your choice. There's been a lot of talk about heroin making a comeback, but it never really went away, as even at the height of the “drought” in 2001, over 80,000 people (0.5% of the population) said they'd used some kind of opiate in the previous year. If you have been a regular user of opioids and you want to pull up, you might be thinking about pharmacotherapy or “going on the program.” Previously this just meant methadone, as it was the only option around, but nowadays there's Biodone®, Subutex® or Suboxone®. This article will outline what the difference is between these, so you can decide which best suits what you want from treatment. Over the last 150 years several drugs seemed to be wonder cures for opiate addiction: morphine “cured” opium withdrawal, heroin appeared to do the same for morphine, but each caused dependence without solving the problem and health professionals came to realise there was no wonder cure. With the rise in drug use and the problems associated with drugs, or prohibition, it became obvious that a solution to the problem of dependency and withdrawal was needed as willpower alone wasn't going to work and so replacement pharmacotherapy came about. What is pharmacotherapy? In Pharmacotherapy a user takes a replacement drug with similar effects to what they have been using which covers the immediate withdrawal symptoms, but has other benefits too. As it's cheaper than scoring it gives financial relief and lessens the need for crime and as it isn't cut with other substances and is taken orally, treatment reduces the risks from hep C or overdose and helps improve overall health. Being on treatment also gives some space from people or places connected with scoring and using, and so helps users get a social life outside the dope scene, and it can lead to completely stopping using. While giving up drugs for life may be the ultimate goal for some people, for many users treatment is a chance to get their life together and have a break from the pressures that go with running a habit. Now, after nearly forty years, pharmacotherapy is seen as a practical and effective treatment and is a part of Australia's commitment to the philosophy of harm reduction. Currently the two drugs used for opiate pharmacotherapy in Australia are methadone (either as a syrup or as “Biodone®”) and buprenorphine (either as Subutex® or Suboxone®). Methadone True or False There are many different versions of the history of methadone, here are just two. Methadone was produced by Nazi scientists during WW2 on Hitler’s order because the opium growing areas were controlled by the allies and it was named dolophine after him. Methadone was first developed in Germany during WW2 but it wasn’t originally developed as a painkiller and its narcotic and analgesic qualities weren’t recognized at first as it doesn’t resemble other known compounds. It wasn’t until after the war that it was used as a pain killer. The failure to recognise its value as an analgesic was because initial doses were too high and side effects resulted. As for the name, it seems derived from the words ‘dolor’ meaning pain and ‘fin’, French for end. 7 Methadone Methadone was recognized as being suitable as an opiate treatment soon after it was developed as it both alleviates physical withdrawals and in larger doses blocks or lessens the effects of opiates, so it discourages continued using. It also has a longer half life than other opiates so most patients only need to be dosed once a day. Methadone was first used as a treatment in Australia in 1969 and until recently was the only option available. It comes as either the yellow methadone syrup or as Biodone®, which is a red liquid that has no other additives. Both contain 5mg of methadone per milliliter of liquid (this can cause confusion as people say they are on 50 mls but are dosed with 10mls of liquid containing 50mgs of methadone.) Methadone also comes as a tablet called physeptone but this is more usually prescribed for pain relief, or when travelling. Dosage varies depending on how much, how often and how long the person has been using, but starting doses range from 15-35 mg daily and are increased as needed until the person is stabilised. More recently, methadone has become available as Biodone®, which is the same strength as syrup but has no additives. The absence of alcohol and sugar make it a better choice for people who may have other medical conditions like hepatitis or diabetes. Some people report a different effect from Biodone®, but there's no medical reason why this should occur as both contain the same active ingredient in the same strength and this may be just personal preference. Methadone is an effective treatment as it stops withdrawals and lessens cravings once doses are stabilised, which frees people from the worst effects of having a habit. This lets people get themselves together and get on with their lives, but being on the program can be restrictive too. It takes time before you are allowed takeaways and they are limited so it can be difficult to adjust to the routine of picking up your daily dose. Going interstate or travelling for more than a day or two is pretty well out of the question without giving notice but running a full time habit isn't always fun either and so, for most users, going on the program is still a better alternative to a heroin habit. 8 Like all opiates long term, methadone will cause dependence. Withdrawals develop more slowly as it takes longer to clear it from your system, but they usually last longer while the severity will depend on your dose. The clinic will reduce you if you plan to come off so that the effects are lessened but it can be a long and tedious process to reduce from a high dose. It's advisable to stabilise during the process so you don't feel so bad that you start using again. Buprenorphine Buprenorphine (also known by its brand name Subutex® and, in combination with naloxone, Suboxone®) was developed in the 1970s and was approved as a pharmacotherapy in Australia in 2000. Buprenorphine works on the opiate receptors in the brain, so it relieves withdrawals but, unlike methadone or heroin, it is a partial agonist that blocks other opiates from these receptors (see box below). This makes it a good pharmacotherapy option and is why some people prefer it to methadone. Many people report that it removes their psychological cravings for gear and, once they stabilise on their dose, they find they don't even think about using (see Peace of Mind, pg. 14). You can use on top of buprenorphine but the effect is diminished. Buprenorphine binds tightly to opiate receptors and will stop other opiates binding, but over time the buprenorphine will leave the receptors and other opiates can take their place. Therefore, if you use on top, how stoned you get will depend on how much buprenorphine you've taken and how long ago you took it. Buprenorphine is taken sublingually. It bypasses the liver and therefore is processed by your body faster than if swallowed. If swallowed the majority of the dose is broken down before reaching the bloodstream and the effect is dramatically reduced. Precipitated withdrawal Because buprenorphine fits the receptors so well, it not only blocks any gear used on top but also replaces any opiates in your system straight away. There is a time lag before the buprenorphine is felt and this gap in effect, or the reduced effect from any opiates already in your system, can cause “precipitated withdrawal”. Dosing with buprenorphine too soon after using other opiates will cause this effect, which in extreme cases will be intense hanging out. This is why people starting on buprenorphine should wait for any gear or methadone to leave their system before dosing (6 hours after using heroin, 24+ hours after methadone). Transferring from a large dose of methadone can bring on intense withdrawals if the methadone is still in your system. For this reason, doses are usually reduced to 30 mg of methadone or less before changing over to buprenorphine, though new evidence suggests that people can be transferred to buprenorphine from higher methadone doses. Dosing Doses will vary according to each person's use, physical condition and tolerance, but 8-24 mg daily holds most people. Short term reduction doses of 8-12 mg or maintenance doses of 12 - 16 mg daily are generally effective. Once your dose stabilises, you can get alternate day dosing, where a larger dose is taken every second day or you can get an extra dose on Friday that lasts ‘til Monday. This means fewer trips to the clinic or chemist so many people prefer it, but as the maximum daily dose allowed is 32mg this may not suit people on higher doses as they won't get double their normal dose. This situation may change over time as buprenorphine has a much lower potential for misuse than methadone. Suboxone® In 2006 Suboxone® was listed on the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) for use as a treatment option. Suboxone® is a mix of Subutex® with Naloxone (also known as the brand Narcan®, which is given to people who OD on opiates, as it blocks their effect.) If injected, naloxone can cause sudden and severe withdrawals so the combination product deters people from injecting their dose. As Naloxone has no effect orally it doesn't change how the buprenorphine works if taken as intended and, as it is less likely to be injected, Suboxone® is often preferred by clinics for takeaways. Agonist/Antagonist, What’s the difference? Drugs like heroin or methadone are opiate agonists - they fit the opiate receptors in the brain and are absorbed into the bloodstream and give the full opiate effect or stone. Naloxone is an opiate antagonist that fills the receptors and blocks the uptake of opiates that get you stoned, and if you are already stoned this will put you into withdrawal. Naloxone is often known as Narcan®, which is a brand name (such as Panadol® is for paracetamol). This is what Paramedics will generally use to reverse an opiate overdose. How to get on the program If you decide to go on the program you have to go through a set process. There may be some variations from state to state but treatment is accessed through a dosing service - either a general practitioner (GP) or “the clinic”. Either way you will see a doctor, who will prescribe your dose. Be warned: even though the clinic may say there's no delay in getting treatment, they may mean there's no wait after you have seen the doctor, which may not happen straight away. So be prepared for some delay after you contact the clinic. In some areas this delay may be several weeks so don't expect to walk in and get a dose straight away, but don't be put off by the wait and remember to keep your appointment or you will have to start all over again. You may also get an appointment with a counsellor to talk about your situation and discuss your options. Even if it's not compulsory, research shows treatment is more likely to be successful if all the aspects of treatment are utilised, including counselling. By itself, pharmacotherapy isn't a magic cure and it's only one part of what should be a total treatment package which includes counselling and support “within a framework of medical, social and psychological treatment.” Remember, if you want treatment to work its best, be upfront about what and how much you have been using. Think about what you want to achieve before you go on treatment, discuss this with clinic staff and keep an open mind to their suggestions. It may take a while to stabilise your dose so give it time before you decide if it's working for you. If you are having trouble getting on the program or you want information on what's available in your area or on any other aspect of treatment, then contact your local user group (see Contacts page in the back of this mag). Some will have a worker that deals with treatments and they can all provide helpful information and support as you go through the rigmarole of getting on the program. Buprenorphine is a partial opiate agonist - it blocks other opiates from the receptors like an antagonist does, but it causes its own opiate effect like an agonist so you don't suffer withdrawal symptoms as you detox from opiates. 9 Maintenance or short term ? Another decision is whether you want to bring yourself down with a short term detox program or if you want to go on maintenance. Reduction programs cover withdrawals while you are coming down, with the dose reduced over a period of days or weeks. It suits people who want to pull up but don't want to go on the program long term and it might be the better option if you just want to get yourself together without substituting one dependance for another. Maintenance involves dosing for a longer period of months or years. As well as covering withdrawal, maintenance programs have better success in reducing drug use and other harms such as BBVs (blood borne viruses) or overdose. As you stabilise it will give you a chance to get yourself together - sort your finances, get back to work or study, or sort out legal and medical issues. It also provides an opportunity to access support from health workers or drug counsellors and, as dosing lessens the effects of opiates, it discourages ongoing using. Staying on the programme long term gives you the chance to set up new patterns of behaviour and break old ones and can give you some distance from users and using scenes so it provides a chance to change your lifestyle over time. It will suit people who have been using for a longer period or who have a big habit that will take time to come off, or people who have other issues that need time to be addressed as it gives you some space to sort things out. This will allow you time to deal with harms that go with using and then, if and when you feel you want to, you can deal with the dependance itself. The disadvantages are you become reliant on the clinic for your dose and you have to adhere to their rules or risk being cut off or reduced in dose. You'll most likely also have to give supervised urine samples for drug tests which can feel demeaning and you may cop discrimination if people know you are on treatment. 10 If you are on a maintenance program you may get the option of dosing at a pharmacy. This may be more local so you won't have to travel as often but you will have to pay for your dose. As well, you may get some takeaways but you will generally need to give clean urine tests and will lose the “privilege” if they think you have passed on or shot up your dose. Side Effects The side effects from Methadone and buprenorphine are mostly similar to other opiates. These include: drowsiness, constipation, nausea and vomiting, dry nose and mouth, sleep problems, loss of appetite, headaches, sweatiness, itchiness, and changes to sex drive or periods. They're rarely so bad that people stop treatment and they can usually be managed. More serious side effects may mean you need to reduce your dose or that you need to try another option. Always discuss any adverse reactions with your doctor. WARNINGS Mixing It's dangerous to mix your dose with other drugs including alcohol, tranquillizers, sleeping pills, or antidepressants. Using other opiates, while on Methadone can lead to risk of overdose. Injecting Methadone and buprenorphine are made to be taken orally so injecting can be dangerous and may cause damage to your veins, abscesses, or infections which can cause life threatening problems like strokes, pneumonia or endocarditis (an infection in the lining of the heart). So what's better ? There's no single answer to this question. It will depend on you, what you want from your treatment and if you really want to stop using for good or just need a break for a while or whether you want to be able to dabble on top. It's your choice and you will have to decide. As the info here is only basic, talk to someone at your local user group who can give you more detail and let you know what is available locally. You can also check out a new website which provides information on all aspects of treatment including maintenance, withdrawal, detox and rehabilitation, as well as personal stories of people who have been through treatment themselves. This might give you a better idea of what type of treatment is right for you at this time in your life. www.mytreatmentmychoice.com.au ! "# ## $%&'%(%% %%%))% %%*%% %#%%% %%%'%&% % # "+ ,+% %%%%*%% %%*-%&% . ,+#/ " #"# +0" +# + 1 #&% %%%%%%# %% '%(%% %% #1 #,+2 + # - 11 A Heroin trial in Australia ? Dare we ask again! Dare we hope again! In the end, the above Parliamentary motion by Senator Lyn Allison did not pass through the Senate but hopefully it will revive the notion of an Australian Heroin Trial. On the 31st of July 1997 The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy in a communiqué stated: “ If a number of preconditions can be met the ACT government will undertake a small trial of controlled availability of heroin involving 40 people. ” A mere nineteen days later, the Federal Cabinet (aka John Howard) stopped the proposal on the specious grounds that the Commonwealth would have to pass special legislation. The PM added another two cents worth, stating it (a heroin trial) would “send 1 the wrong message” . For the past eleven years the question of a heroin trial in Australia wasn't worth wasting your breath on... eleven wantonly wasted years. So many lives damaged or lost, so much money dissipated, so many destroyed families, so many BBVs contracted, so much jail time accumulated, so much heartache, so much lost hope and so much ICE... and we almost had it! 12 Six years of rigorous scientific and social research was effectively trashed. Other pharmacotherapies have been introduced to deal with heroin use, even those that have not passed the TGA (such as naltrexone implants) are given approval for certain trials to test on people who use drugs . It seems when it comes to drug related matters science and medicine are relegated into a parallel universe and we deal with morality, hysteria and hate. Science didn't matter John Howard's morals did and so 2 they did for eleven long years. 1 Dr. Alex Wodak. The Heroin Trial Ten Years on: How Politics Killed Hope. http://www.crikey.com.au/ Politics/20070822The-heroin-trial-ten-yearson-giving-science-nochance.html 2 When the Australian trial was first mooted only Switzerland and Britain were prescribing heroin. In the intervening eleven years four other countries have introduced heroin trials. Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and most recently Denmark have decided that heroin prescription is perhaps the most effective, humane response in terms of dealing with both the social impact and the individual costs of heroin addiction. Other countries, including France, have protocols developed and are waiting for Governmental approval. https:www.mja.com.au/ public/issues/06/ wodak.html 3 O'mara, Erin. An Aussie In London. www.blackpoppy.org.uk 4 http://q4q.nl/methwork/ methadone/Newsletter15/ dutch.htm 5 http://cihr-irsc. gc.ca/e/26516.html 6 http://www.encod.org/ info/DENMARKHEROIN_On 7 O'mara, Erin. An Aussie In London. www.blackpoppy.org.uk Where in the world? Britain (heroin on prescription since 1926, special licence required since 1968) Doctors have been able to prescribe heroin since 1926, although the popularity of the measure has waxed and waned over the years. It is quite difficult to get a prescription today. Switzerland (1994) The trail-blazing Swiss heroin trial commenced in 1994 and was extended following a referendum in 1997. The program continues to this day. Germany (2000) A multi site heroin assisted treatment trial targeting two populations of methadone non- responders and opiate dependent people not in any other form of treatment. The Netherlands (2002) The country has been trying to get this experi4 ment off the ground for twenty years. Commencing with 25 clients in Amsterdam and Rotterdam they hoped to have 750 clients over 7 cities. The trial was for one and a half years, it continues today. Spain (2003) The Spanish Scientific Society of Alcohol and Drug Dependence applauded the measure, stating that the therapeutic use of heroin “will allow a normalisation and improvement of quality of life for heroin addicts ...” Canada (2005) “Results from the European studies suggest that medically prescribed heroin could greatly help our most troubled heroin addicts for whom we have no effective treatments” said 5 Dr Schechter . Denmark (approved 2008) The proposed Danish trial will be of two years duration with 500 participants. As Joergen Kjaer of the Danish Drug Users Union says: “Naturally we are happy that our more than ten years of hard struggles finally seems to be fruitful – but now 6 the fight continues for human conditions.” “ It is so liberating for those who qualify, it almost defies description. I still feel like I'm clutching the winning lottery ticket in my hands. My numbers have finally come up. And yes, it has completely transformed my life. ” 3 One aspect all these countries have in common as a prerequisite for being admitted to the trial or program is that the participant is “ hardcore ”, a person who has tried and failed all other forms of treatment. A person whose life is so shattered that the Government and everyone else involved can in all good conscience provide them with heroin. Erin O'Mara explores this ethical conundrum: “ I can't help but wonder whether it's all been a bit too little, a bit too late. I question why it has taken 18 long years to get here? Why did I have to wait until I'd been chewed up and spat out of over ten different treatment programs and doctors surgeries, of at least four rehabs and an unaccountable number of detox attempts? Why did I have to wait until I finished selling my young body to men, till I got sick and deeply depressed, till I'd used every vein in my body from my neck to my feet, till I'd contracted both 7 HIV and Hep C ? ” It's immoral, its uncivilised, and most importantly it's inhuman to knowingly allow another human being to suffer the endless negative effects of long term heroin use. The HIV virus, the B, C and D hepatitis, other infections, the overdoses, the jail terms, the job loss, homelessness and don't say to me “they don't have to do it”. They clearly do! We are driven by something we don't yet understand. No one goes through all of that for some simple self-indulgent craving. We as a country need to have a good hard look at ourselves, we are all too ready to rush to other countries to aid the lost and dispossessed. We have them in our backyard, they are heroin users. They are your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and –God forbid – your next door neighbours ! Let's be kind, lets be human, let's say now ! 13 peace of mind by Colin I never imagined that my peace of mind would come from being on 'bupe, but that's where I've found it. I've been a long time drug user (getting on to thirty-eight years), having first smoked a joint at ten. By the time high school came along I had discovered the magical world of trips and other chemicals. By fifteen my mind needed a good long sleep. I found that sleep with heroin - the old cliché had me! I'd met my new mistress. From that first shot I was pretty full on – I could fill pages telling the story of my drug use over the thirty or so years that followed. My drug of choice has always been heroin or any opiate derivative or substitute I could get my hands on. For many years I managed to keep a level of control over my use until I married and my control began to slip. I was soon feeding two habits and also had to be a father and provider for my three children – things had to change. This was the first time my drug use was becoming unaffordable and it began to cause problems for my happily sedated peace of mind. After years of what I could only call seasonal using (growing dope in the summers and spending any profits on heroin), it was time to make a serious effort to give up using. I'd tried before, but my home detoxes had never worked as I liked my drugs too much. This time I had other reasons (a family) and my partner at the time discovered NA. I've never been able to make those twelve steps work, not even step one, that my drug use is my responsibility. Anyway, that was the beginning of the end for my marriage. Trying to save it, I started counselling which eventually lead to my first time on 'done after almost seventeen years of using. Twelve months went by, 'done seemed to be working, then from nowhere it all went belly up. My marriage was over, my wife kicked me out, wouldn't let me see my three girls, plus all else that goes with breaking up. I went back to my true love (heroin) and was happy to be back to the peace it offered. 14 I was back in my comfort zone, dealing, using and working when I could. I spent some time in gaol, even though I wasn't into crime to support my habit (other than dealing and growing pot). During this period in my life I became involved with the Needle & Syringe Program and the ACT users group and through this, more contact with counsellors. I spent the next ten to twelve years in and out of detox and on and off the methadone program. My now very ex wife was even allowing me to see my kids on a regular basis but once again drug use took control - I was back to the downward spiral of life falling apart. It was time for drastic measures. This time the path was rehab – after all the stories I'd heard I knew this was a big step for me to take. Off to rehab I went (could I make it work?). Surprisingly, I lasted nearly six months before I was booted out for breaking some petty rule. I tried to go and live with my parents on the south coast, but it wasn't that long before I was making trips back to Canberra for drugs and making excuses to my olds that I was going to see my kids. Eventually I Things had changed – that sweet oblivion had gone and I could no longer find peace of mind. returned for good and was back to old habits, but now along with the mental anguish that my drug use caused, I also had issues with pain from old sporting injuries and doctors were no great help. They didn't want to give me drugs that I might get addicted to. Over the years of working with user groups I knew all about the various treatments on offer, so after using and crashing again, I first tried 'bupe. It was one of the worst three weeks I'd ever gone through. Physically I felt awful, so I stopped taking it, but I found out later that I had a stomach ulcer and that was probably more responsible than the 'bupe for why I felt bad. A couple more years rolled by. During this time I slipped back into my old ways. But things had changed – that sweet oblivion had gone and I could no longer find peace of mind. After a couple of failed attempts at making money as I used to, I was all over the place. The scene had changed and a lot of my friends had left town or died. Some even managed to give up drugs. back on the gear again, but I couldn't cope, it was all driving me crazy. On top of the pain my ex had kicked out my youngest daughter and I had to deal with family services as well in order to get her living with me again. Then I sought help from a program run by the ACT Division of General Practice. They have advocate nurses to help people with home detox. Now, this was not an option for me but they helped me with doctors, so my options were 'done or prescribed medications. Both of these I knew I could use over the top of if I wanted to. I knew I had to stop using so neither of those options would work. Then it all really fell apart. First I fractured my back: this was more pain to deal with. Tests to find out why I had shattered a vertebra revealed that I now had oesteo-penea, or low bone density. Not surprising as most of my teeth had rotted away – apparently nothing to do with years on and off 'done. Then the knee that had given me grief since I had my cartilage removed twenty years ago had to be replaced, and in a style that only someone like me could pull off I managed to break my new knee. The orthopaedic surgeon had not seen this done in twenty years of surgery – what talents we users do have! More pain to cope with. Now I was really up the creek. The only option offered to me by pain management doctors was 'done, no thanks! So I was One of the nurses suggested 'bupe as it is used for post operative orthopaedic pain. You can imagine my scepticism but I gave it a go and once I worked out the dosage that I needed to dull my pain I began to realise that all that internal dialog that was driving me nuts was gone. I no longer had to think about all that goes with having a habit, it was all gone. Not having to worry about where money was coming from, where to score etc, etc. So that is how I found peace of mind and my life is so much better for it - it's not perfect but it's pretty good and I'm happy. Don't get me wrong, 'bupe is not for everyone but if you really want to give using away give it a go. Be sure you give it a chance to work and maybe you too can find some PEACE OF MIND! 15 The Pain Paradox by Dr. Tim Mitchell (reprinted from Black Poppy Magazine, Issue 11, United Kingdom) Pain, it is a subject that strikes fear into the hearts of most opiate users and all people on pharmacotherapy treatments such as methadone, buprenorphine and buprenorphine/ naloxone. Why? Because opioid dependent people have well documented difficulties in receiving adequate treatment for any pain they experience. One of the barriers to people entering hepatitis C treatment is the fear of being left to suffer through chronic pain associated with treatment side-effects. This lack of access to pain management also leads to people being reluctant to disclose a history of opioid use for fear of being under-treated or not receiving treatment at all and in turn, this is often used as further ‘evidence’ that opioid users will lie to get access to drugs. In reality, people simply don’t know what to do and live in constant fear of ever needing serious pain relief. Not surprisingly there is little research into this issue. One of the few studies conducted was done at the University of Adelaide and this article reproduced from our sister magazine in the UK, Black Poppy is one of the few summaries available of this ground-breaking and important research. Finally, with this evidence, opioid users might be able to get someone to listen to their concerns about pain… For thousands of years, opium and its derivatives have been used for their powerful pain killing effects. But now scientists believe that repetitive opioid use may actually lead to an increased sensitivity to pain. This paradoxical difference – between the short and long-term effects of opioids – could have important consequences for anyone who uses opioids regularly. In order to understand how people respond to pain, researchers need a way of inducing pain experiments that carries no serious threat of damage to the volunteer. A popular method for doing this is the cold pressor test, in which people are asked to submerge their forearm in a bucket of icy cold wa16 ter (~1°C) and keep it there for as long as possible. The amount of time the person can withstand the cold water is used as a measure of pain tolerance. When researchers at the University of Adelaide used the cold pressor test to explore how opioids affect pain tolerance, the results were astonishing. In one study they compared pain tolerance in a group of people maintained on methadone with a group of drug-free control subjects. You might expect that the methadone group – with an average daily dose of 62mg, sufficient to kill an opioid-naïve person – would have been able to tolerate pain better than the control group. The opposite pattern was found. The control group lasted an average of about 1 minute in the cold water; the methadone group averaged less than 20 seconds! Other studies have shown that a reduced tolerance to pain applies not only to people on methadone, but also to people receiving other opioids such as morphine and buprenorphine (Subutex®/Suboxone®). There are also indications that heightened pain sensitivity can persist even when a person stops using opioids. But do opioids actually cause an increased sensitivity to pain? Or are people with a greater sensitivity to pain more likely to use opioids in the first place? To establish whether opioids actually cause an increase in pain sensitivity, scientists would need to make a group of people become dependent on opioids and look at whether pain tolerance changes as a consequence. Since studies of this kind would be considered (rightly) unethical in humans, they have instead been conducted in animals. (no less unethical in our opinion but there you go! – Ed.) The results clearly show that opioids do cause an increased sensitivity to pain. Rats exposed to successive morphine injections show a gradual lowering of pain tolerance; rats exposed to injections of saline show no change. If opioids can cause an increased sensitivity to pain, then what are the implications for regular opioid users? One issue of particular concern is what happens when people who use opioids – especially those maintained on methadone or other substitute opioids – require opioids for the treatment of pain. The danger is that such people may receive inadequate pain relief if standard protocols for treating pain are applied. To explore this possibility, the University of Adelaide researchers used the cold pressor test to look at how much pain relief people on methadone get when they are given intravenous morphine. Whereas morphine was found to drastically increase pain tolerance in drug-free control subjects, it had minimal effect in methadone users – even at the morphine dose levels well in excess of those normally given post-operatively. These findings suggest that, in addition to being abnormally sensitive to pain, in the first place, opioid users are likely to receive very little pain relief from standard doses of morphine. To make matters worse, some clinicians may be reluctant to prescribe adequate opioid doses to people who use opioids. Reasons for such reluctance could include fears of side effects (e.g., respiratory depression, overdose), a belief that methadone and other maintenance medications may contribute to pain relief, or uncertainty about patient motivations (e.g. drug-seeking). Patients may be reluctant to disclose a history of opioid use for fear that this may impact on how they are treated. For these reasons, the management of pain in people who use opioids is complicated. Beyond the challenges of pain management, having an abnormal sensitivity to pain may have wider implications for the wellbeing of opioid users. Pain is not merely a physiological process – it’s an unpleasant subjective experience that can have a powerful negative effect on mood. A persistent sensitivity to pain could be associated with negative mood states (e.g. disphoria). If so, it’s possible to imagine a cycle whereby heroin use leads to greater pain sensitivity and more negative mood states, which in turn lead to further compensatory heroin use, and so on. In several experiments where people have taken opioids repeatedly over many days, a gradual shift towards dysphoria has been observed. However, the psychological consequences of an abnormal sensitivity to pain remain unclear, and more research is needed. Leaving aside such speculation, it is clear that the way we understand opioid tolerance may need to be revised in light of these findings. Tolerance is often thought of as a single process, whereby a drug’s potency declines with repeated use; in other words, a process of desensitization. But now it appears there may be a second process at work – at least in the case of how opioids affect our ability to perceive pain – involving a gradual increase in sensitivity to pain; a process of sensitization. This would help explain why opioid users are not only less responsive to the pain killing effects of morphine than opioid-naïve individuals, but also more sensitive to pain to begin with. ence at a cellular level – including those that give rise to changes in pain sensitivity. The hope is that such understanding may help to develop more effective pharmacological interventions for both the treatment of pain and opioid dependence. One strategy already being investigated involves co-administering opioids with a class of drugs known as NMDA antagonists. These drugs block activity at the NMDA receptor, which is involved in the development of opioid tolerance. Studies in animals suggest that NMDA antagonists can help to prevent the development of opioid tolerance and associated increases in pain sensitivity. But does this also work in humans? In the United States, a combination drug product called Morphidex® - a 1:1 mixture of morphine and the NMDA antagonist dextromethorphan intended for use as an analgesic – has been put into development by US drug company Endo Pharmaceuticals. To date, results from clinical trials of this drug have been mixed. Despite early findings that people on Morphidex® for pain may require lower doses than people getting morphine alone, a more recent and definitive study found no such advantage. One priority is to develop better treatment strategies for the management of pain in opioid users. Realising that the standard morphine dosing protocols are unlikely to be effective for such people, the University of Adelaide research group are now investigating whether other opioids such as remifentanil provided better pain relief. Beyond seeking improvements in how drugs are used clinically for pain relief, another priority is to achieve greater awareness of how opioids may alter pain sensitivity – among both opioid users and the medical community. In these endeavours it is crucial that the voices and experiences of opioid users are heard – especially those who have ever sought treatment for pain. With such cooperation it can be hoped that a solution to this painful paradox – short term gain, long term pain – may be uncovered. In recent years significant progress has been made in trying to understand the changes that cause opioid dependFurther reading: White, J.M. (2004). Pleasure into pain: the consequences of long term opioid use. Addiction Behaviours, 29(7), 1311-1324. 17 There are plenty of reasons for getting a hep C test, and there are probably even more reasons why people choose not to get tested. These will vary depending on a person's individual circumstances, what's going on in their life, their attitude to the health care system, their support network/s, their social network/s, etc. The list is pretty much endless and everyone needs to weigh up the personal pros and cons of being tested and what that may mean for them. Telling others about your test result There's no legal obligation to disclose your hep C status to anyone including your employer, family, friends, health care workers or the police. While hep C is a notifiable disease, that just means the health authorities have to be told when someone first tests positive to hep C, and this is done without your personal details being disclosed. Some reasons why people get tested What does testing involve? Testing for hep C is done using blood tests and can be done for free through bulk-billing doctors or sexual health clinics if you have a health care card. The basic tests for hep C (and what they show) are – Antibody test: have you been exposed to hep C? – PCR hep C detection test: do you have the hep C virus? – PCR viral load test: how much virus is in your blood? – PCR genotype test: what type of hep C do you have? About a quarter (25%) of people who are exposed to hep C will clear it naturally, but unlike hep B and some other viruses, clearing hep C does not mean you have immunity. If you have had hep C but cleared it, you will test positive to hep C antibodies (which your immune system produces), but won't be positive to the hepatitis C virus test. So the test for the hepatitis C antibodies will show if you have been exposed to hep C, but you won't know if you have the active hep C virus or not. For that you will need a second blood test that actually looks for the virus. This is usually called a PCR test and a positive result indicates that you have an ongoing hep C infection. If you test positive to an antibody test but negative to a PCR test, it indicates you have been exposed to hepatitis C at some time but that your body has cleared the virus. 188 It's up to each person to decide what advantages there might be for them in being tested for hep C and whether to go ahead, but there are some definite benefits from knowing your status. Whether you get a negative or positive result it can be a relief to know what your status is. Many people report that they look after themselves a little (or a lot) better when they find out they have hep C and for some people it motivates life style changes like getting on a drug treatment program and then at some stage looking at treatment for hep C. Others are surprised to find that although they have anti bodies they are free of the hepatitis C virus and some people only realise this after years of thinking they've had active hep C. Being tested often makes people more aware of hepatitis C and this alone can have positive effects on people's injecting behaviour. Many people change their injecting behaviour when they find out whether they have hep C or not. For example, if you don't have it you may be more careful about only using new injecting equipment for every shot, so you avoid the risk of infection. If you do have hep C, you may make a point of always mixing up for yourself and keeping your equipment close when using with other people. Some people may think, incorrectly, that once they are positive safe injecting doesn't matter anymore. They may not be as careful about using other peoples' equipment, though they still risk reinfection or getting another strain (genotype) of hep C, which can make hep C treatment more difficult. Getting tested is also the first step in treatment as you will need to know what genotype (or strain) you have and how much of the virus is in your system (known as your viral load). The results from these tests will determine how long you will need to be on treatment and what your prospects of success are as some strains respond better than others. Some reasons why people don't get tested There are heaps of reasons why people don't get tested for hep C. They can be complex or simple, based on fact or perception, but all are legitimate if they are a genuine barrier to people getting tested. Reasons for not being tested include – Not thinking you are at risk this is common amongst new injectors, although research shows that new injectors are one of the groups most at risk of hep C infection, with up to 50% becoming hep C positive within one year of starting to inject – Fear of a positive result people don't want bad news and just knowing you have hep C can make some people feel sicker than before – Fears of discrimination and isolation if / when others find out you are hep C positive – Shame associated with injecting and therefore avoiding going to the doctor or other health services – Lack of knowledge of hep C or the availability of testing – Concern that a positive result will result in compulsory treatment – The attitude that “everyone's got it so why bother?”. A user recently related her post-test experience to me: I wish I didn't get tested as early on as I did. I was the only one in my group of friends who got tested. At the time, I didn't know a lot about hep C and was totally open and blasé about the whole thing. When my injecting friends knew, it made sense for me to always go last when sharing as those going before me had the attitude of “well, we don't know if we have it, but you definitely do'. I do not believe that I would have re-used as much of other peoples' equipment as I did if I hadn't known my status. Of course, the first issue this scene raises is that of sharing injecting equipment. But the scenario also raises the issue of being tested for hep C. The barrier is that, if you get tested and are positive, you will have to go last when sharing. The easiest way to remove this barrier is to avoid sharing in the first place. But also, if everyone knows their hep C status, people are more likely to practice safe injecting – positive people can look after their friends and negative people can look out for themselves. It's your choice whether to get tested or not but keep in mind that not knowing if you have hep C, but being at risk, places some responsibility on you to make sure that you aren't possibly exposing others to hep C. Be Informed If you don't know a lot about hep C testing and what it may mean for you, get in touch with your local drug user organisation (you'll find all their contacts on the inside back cover of this magazine). They can give you all the detailed information you need to make a good decision about whether hep C testing is something you might want to look at. A Hepatitis C Vaccine ... What’s the chance? There's been some buzz lately about the possibility of a vaccine being developed for hep C, but what is the likelihood of it becoming a reality? The hep C virus is a wily little thing, with a number of strategies to keep itself safe, which when combined makes the development of a vaccine difficult. Hepatitis C has a high replication and mutation rate and there are several different strains or genotypes. Any vaccine would probably not be able to cover all genotypes, so it seems a vaccine would have to be developed for each one and there are currently 6 or 7 genotypes, with many sub-types. In addition, there's the issue of what type of vaccine as there are two types - preventive vaccines which stop you from getting a virus and therapeutic vaccines which help your body to get rid of a virus after it gets into your system. It's a difficult problem to solve and, while there are a number of potential vaccines in development, you'd be advised not to hold your breath - a vaccine for hep C is still quite a few years away. Safe injecting is still the best way to prevent hep C infection and will be for the foreseeable future. 19 “For a long time being positive really meant nothing at all to me – it's not like you can see it – though some naïve folk that I know believe everyone who has it turns yellow and that it's contagious. It's been years. I hadn't used heroin at all since I found out. It really doesn't matter, it's not HIV – it's not like AIDS!!!!!!! Thank God. But Anyway, I was going to tell you…” Fractured Fairytales For A Modern Day Fallacy - I Mean Falsity “I've got a couple of kids, they've been tested and they don't have it. None of us is contagious, or contaminated….” ing Housing! Fuck, fuck, fuck…Everyone here has to know and then tell everyone, everyone else's business. “So what's the issue? I really don't know. I've read up on it… there are so many brochures around nowadays…” (think I've learnt my lesson – I won't stuff it up for you again – God forgive me, I just wanted a friend, an adult to talk to, talk about adult things – like S.E.X.). Made a mistake, a BIG MISTAKE! I should have known better. Been there, done that. “There's no life for us here anymore – sorry kids.” “Yes, I'd love to; it's been so very, very long….” Move along. Gotta go now. How I'd love a shot right now. “On the pill? No….” Immediate assumption – Alert! Alert! JUNKIE at 10 o'clock (even if you haven't used in… God, who knows how long. “Is it safe?...Yes, but…….” “Sick? No, don't feel anything….” “Happy, you ask? Who, me?” “Oh, me and the kids.” “Of course we're happy, were happy, we get by… Got by I should say.” “Get a little lonely myself sometimes, but otherwise… It doesn't really make any difference to me, but others, others see it a bit differently…” “No, I don't know why either.” “Anyway, back to the story, this is what happened”: Casually mention it to someone you'd like to be friends with – why not? They're smart, intelligent, got kids the same age – we could be friends – Dream a dream kiddo. A normal life for us all, ha, ha, ha. Joke's on me. “Come over for coffee.” Housing! Public Fuck- 20 Don't live in public housing – everyone knows everything/everyone's business…. Talk about being ostracised. At the very least DON'T TELL ANYONE NOTHING. “Explain – please explain Mummy? Why can't Alice play with me anymore? Why can't Meagan come over to our house? What about my birthday party – you promised, you said!!!!!!!! Mummmmmmyyyyyyy.” I just awoke from a nightmare – only it wasn't. Another move, another school, another life. Sorry kids, it'll be easier here – “Condoms?... Haven't got any.” Is that the door closing? I've had too much to drink. What did I say? Remember stupid, remember. Fuck. fuck fuck... Wasn't that the kids' soccer coach? Didn't he say training was on Tuesday? Don't panic, it'll be okay. “What do you mean there are no more spots on the team? Two days ago there were too many empty spots….” “This is my baby, she wants to play….” This is my life, I want to die. Can't do that, not allowed to do that. My babies need me – I've fucked it up again. God I could handle a shot – no! No! No – I don't want to use anymore. “The city will be better for all of us. I'll get another job, there'll be so many places to see. I'm sorry that... ” (I'm sorry for so many things). a very good idea…” “I know you'll miss your Aunty and grandmother,… yes! Yes! Yes! I KNOW… you'll miss your friends, you'll make new friends.” “No it's not that, it's just… even with condoms… I have this “issue”..” “Yes, the cat can come. No, you can't bring the dog – not enough room. I TOLD YOU ALREADY, IT'S AN APARTMENT………..” “No, I DO NOT HAVE AIDS…. It's just hep C, and I think it's only fair to let you know before we…. because of blood… Should I call back tomorrow then?” “Please don't, don't cry…” (where're the pain killers packed – my head). “No, okay. The day after?” “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. Please help your sister to pack the car. The dog will be fine, your Aunt Lucy will look after him….yes you'll see him again” “Ring him? Why not, at least once a week. Just stop crying now, please…” “Now dry your eyes and help your sister outside.” (God help me I need a shot). “Well yes, of course I want the girls and I to move in right away, but I don't think it's a good idea… I'm menstruating…” “No, not that, not herpes….” “Yes, I know what you said, it's just since we've been here we've had to stay in the car, I mean… a motel… and the girls need to be settled.” “References? Of course I have them – what sort?” “I can't sell the car! How will I find a job?” “Thanks Sis, just until next week. By the way, how is the dog? The girls are asking and they really miss him….” “Thanks Sis, I really appreciate it.” “Mum, Mum…I'm begging you. We've had to sleep in the car for the last two nights…I'm not using, Mum. Please…………” Number 172A to counter 6 please. “Here's my drivers licence, Medicare card and key card.” “Alright, I'll call on Wednesday.” (God I need a shot). “What do you mean not enough points? There's nothing else.” “It's just that after yesterday… when we…” “Where are we staying? Um…a friends house.” “OH, I see… I GET IT ALRIGHT!.”. “The address? What does it matter? I've just come about the payment. It was due yesterday.” “No, thank you very much…” “Mum? Is that you?.” “Three weeks? You're saying three fucking weeks until we can move in? That's not what you said on the phone, you said it wouldn't be a problem to come up straight away….” “We have to wait to move in to the new place and I've had to hock everything to pay for the motel.” “Just a bit to tie us over…” “Yes, I'm looking for a job.” “The girls are fine. They sent their love and best wishes….” “They said we could move in next Wednesday, that's why we need it.” “I know we moved but we had to.” “What difference does it make? It was due and you haven't paid it…” “I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT ADDRESS! I'll call you with it later. “No, it's not for drugs Mum.” So how long until we get the payment?” “Mum? Mum? Mum, are you still there?” “WHAT DO YOU MEAN A WEEK? They're hungry now.” “Hey Sis!” “Family? I don't have any.” I mean died…had to leave…. broken relationship…” “I love you too.” “We can't wait a week……” “Yes I'm reliable, very reliable….” “You've spoken with Mum, Oh!....” “…Charity – I'd rather not..” (God I need a shot) “No, I don't think that is “Listen, I AM NOT USING!” “It's just for a little while girls...” “Why did I only stay at the last place 6 weeks, and the months before that? (think girl, think fast…….say sister was so very sick, my mother is dying) 21 “Yes I know you're hungry. I won't be too long. Just keep your heads down and have a nap. Jess, listen to your sister…” o'clock in the morning.” “Sure other stations are open 24/7, but this one isn't, they close at 10… See you have some Maccas – share it with you?” “Yes your honour, six months, fortnightly supervised access.” “Now snuggle up. Don't leave the car girls. Take care of your sister Jess.” “Thanks. Is that your cat?” “A methadone program? Why would I need to go on a program sir? I haven't used in years.” “What do you mean they're not here….” “I understand sir, a program…” (God I need a shot) “An hour, not longer I promise. Be good, I love you.” “I am calm. I just want my kids back. I only left them to go get some Maccas… not even ten minutes.” “What do you mean there's no room here? I gotta work. My girls need me…” “Because she's older” “No, don't take the cat out…” “I know it smells… JUST DO NOT LET IT OUT…” “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, it's just…..” “Move along? I've got as much right as you to stand here.” “It is not too crowded… look, please, have a heart, I need to make some money tonight. I've got responsibilities…” “I know, I know, we all have, it's just….” “Okay, but if you get a job can I come back here while you're gone?” (Fuck I need a shot) (What a night… I wonder if we've still got some aspirin) “Girls, Girls? Open the door. GIRLS! WHERE ARE YOU? ………….” “Miss? Miss? Are you alright? You seem to have passed out or something. You don't want to do that around here. Can I get you anything? Should I call an ambulance? Here, have a sip of this…” “Your kids? Sorry, haven't seen them. No kids around here….” “Yep, saw a police car about half an hour ago…came from up the road I think. But you can't go up there now, It's 2 22 “What is this about? Where are they?...” “No, I do not use drugs! I am not “out of it'…I haven't used in years. I just want them back…” “Court. Why? They're my kids.” “Abandoned! You're kidding. I love my babies, I haven't done anything to hurt them. They need their mother………” (I need a shot). “Yes your honour, I understand.” “I would have had a job and a flat if…but….” “Score? No, I don't use anymore, not since I found out I had hep C. I'm not from around here anyway. I just gotta make some money, I need to get my kids back.” “A shot? Yeah, why not.” “No, I don't have a fit. You don't have a spare fit?” “I'm hep C positive… you go first… thanks, I needed that.” by John Francis Have you ever been made to wait while picking up your 'done/'bupe, while the chemist serves another customer, even though you were there first? Did you ever feel that nurses and/or doctors ignored your requests for more pain medication while you were in detox just because you were a drug user? Have you ever wondered what happened to the complaint you dropped into the suggestion box? And do you feel you have the right to complain when you receive any drug treatment service inadequately? The following is one such experience I had just because, as a drug user, I decided to get on a methadone program to be more functional and productive. A few days back, I went to my chemist to pick up my methadone. Being a work day, I was short on time as I had to start work soon. The pharmacist however, in spite of acknowledging that he had seen me and hearing that I had to get to work soon, decided to go out for some personal reason saying he would be back in a couple of minutes. This “couple of minutes” ended up being twenty and was time I could ill afford. Now, needless to say I ended up late for work. This experience made me think. Would the pharmacist have behaved in the same manner with one of his “normal” and “regular” customers? I don't think so. This attitude of the pharmacist also stemmed from the belief society normally has of people who use drugs or who are on pharmacotherapy – “Oh, they're just junkies”; “They can wait, they don't have anything important to do”; “These people don't have normal lives like the rest of us, they don't work, they just live on handouts”. This stereotype has now prevented me from exercising my rights as a consumer. If this were the case with a non-drug user/“ordinary person”, they would have taken the service provider to task. They would have exercised their rights. Interestingly, consumers of most services do have a say in how the service is provided to them and also have the right to make a com- plaint if they feel they were treated unfairly. But this does not seem to exist when you speak of any kind of drug treatment service. Why? Is it because of the stigma that's associated with drug use and drug users? I think so. There is enough evidence and examples around to prove that involving consumers in the planning and delivery of services improves the overall quality of the service and benefits all involved. For example, the mental health and disability sectors have led the way in giving a voice to consumers of their services and all have benefited from consumer involvement. But why hasn't the government ensured that the drug treatment sector does the same? A key reason could be that no evidence exists which proves that involving consumers of drug treatment services actually improves the quality of the services. And the government rarely listens unless there is documented scientific evidence to back a claim. A good example of this is the (Needle and Syringe Program) NSP initiative – weight of evidence that NSP is effective against blood borne virus transmission (particularly for HIV) has meant the continuation of the program. We are aware that drug user organisations are funded to run training programs around HIV and hep C and the involvement of drug users in these initiatives has led to a lot of success. The same success can be gained in the drug treatment sector with drug users being involved in the planning and delivery of drug treatment services. 23 With this in mind, AIVL decided to address the issue with the Treatment Service Users (TSU) Project. With funding from the federal government and collaboration with a highly respected research body like the National Centre for HIV Social Research (NCHSR), the TSU project was set to be a very unique and important project. The goal was to discover what levels of consumer participation (i.e. involving people who receive a health service, like drug treatment, in the planning and delivery of the service) exists in the drug treatment sector? And what are the obstacles that prevent these levels being improved upon and how can they be improved? Phase 1 of the TSU project set out to answer these questions. After interviewing both drug treatment service providers, consumers of drug treatment services and analysing existing literature and policies, phase 1 came up with some very interesting findings: – People who access drug treatment services are engaged at a very tokenistic and low level. For example, many drug treatment services have suggestion boxes and complaints processes, but these are there only for face value. Nothing useful ever comes out of them. No suggestions are actively utilised and no complaints are acted upon. – Many drug treatment service providers said they did not have the resources (funds) for consumer involvement and felt that consumers of their services didn't care much about getting involved in their service. However, on the other hand, most consumers who were interviewed felt they really wanted to be engaged and consulted. A lot of these consumers also felt they needed training so that they could effectively participate in improving the services they access. 24 With phase 1 of this project providing some very interesting insights, AIVL decided on a phase 2. In this phase, AIVL will provide five drug treatment services with basic financial resources ($9,000) to actually involve their consumers in important aspects of the service, such as planning, delivery and the recruitment and training of staff. The five drug treatment services that have been chosen for phase 2 are: The Langton Centre in NSW; Inner Space, Oven's & Kings Community Health Centre and DASwest in VIC as well as Cyrenian House in WA. To stay abreast of the project, look out for updates on the AIVL e-list, articles in your local drug user organisation newsletters and also the AIVL website, www.aivl.org.au. Please feel free to contact me directly, the Project Officer, for any information or if you have any questions. My email is johnf@aivl. org.au and you can also call me on (03) 9329 1500. I am sure that not just me, but a lot of us know that the TSU Project will be a success. And people who access drug treatment services will have a greater say on how these services are provided to them and, therefore, have more control over their own health. My Story by Lee O In the mid 1990’s I started working for a brothel in Canberra to support not only my own but my partner’s habit, when one of the owners offered me a “business opportunity” I couldn’t refuse - an ounce of heroin on credit, enough for my partner and I to pay back the money we now owed and enough to reduce both our habits with. Well, that was the original idea but of course none of what we planned ended up happening. During the day my partner was to go into town to sell the gear while I was at home looking after our two young girls. It turned out that he was shouting more than what he was selling, so unfortunately I ended up having to go back to working for a brothel to try and pay back some of the money that was used. Early one morning I was coming home from working all night and I knew as soon as I put my key into the lock that something had changed. I opened the door and normally my partner was asleep on the couch but this particular morning he wasn’t. I checked on my daughters and they were still asleep in their beds. I checked my room where the gear and the money was supposed to be and it was all gone and my partner was nowhere to be found. Finding all this just shattered me because when I was given the gear on credit I was told that if anything happened and I couldn’t afford to pay for “the product” that I would have to work off the money I owed them at one of their brothels in Sydney. I really didn’t want to have to do this, I didn’t want to be separated from my girls but I also felt that it was impossible for my girls and I to just take off. So I waited for about 4-5 days before I called the dealers to explain what had gone down. About 3 days after my partner disappeared, my daughters (aged two and a half and three and a half) told me what daddy had been doing to them while I was working. Both my daughters where very explicit and detailed with what they told me and due to their age I had no choice but to believe them both. So after everything, to be told this by my girls just broke my heart - I was devastated for them. So I sought help from the Department of Community and Family Services (DoCS). I rocked up to their office in Queanbeyan and asked to speak with someone regarding my daughters and the fact that I wasn’t coping very well. I was invited to sit in a room with my daughters while we waited to be seen. After a short wait a woman walked in and sat behind a desk. She asked all sorts of questions regarding my name, age, my daughters’ names and ages, etc. Then I proceeded to tell the women why I was there, I told her the truth about everything, my having a habit, how I’d been supporting it, what my daughters had recently told me, the whole lot. 25 I explained what I thought my family needed, for my girls to be put into temporary care while I went to detox. Then my girls could join me when I got into rehab. The DoCS woman basically told me that they couldn’t do anything to help my girls and I because there had been no notifications made about me neglecting my daughters. I tried to argue my case but I was quickly becoming disillusioned. Anyway, over the next week everything came to a grinding halt. After I had been to DoCS for help I had gotten a script from a Doctor for Rohypnol. I had arranged for a friend to babysit my girls and I went home. Later on that evening I woke up in a panic not knowing where my daughters were. I had forgotten that they were with a friend. So in my mind I’m coming up with all these devastating scenarios that I think may have happened so I called the police. While I was waiting for the police to arrive I remembered where my girls were. But most embarrassing was that I had to explain all this to the police. So DoCS got their first notification. It was only a few days before they got their second because I had left my baby girls on their own when I went to score. I had only just put them to bed when I got the call to meet up with him. What was supposed to only take 15 minutes turned into an hour. When I got home there was a note stating that the police now had my children and that they were at the police station. So DoCS got their second notification. The next few days passed in a blur - I was getting everything ready to go to Sydney to work off my debt. I had arranged with a friend to look after my girls for the next two weeks and left her with my key card so she could access any money she would need to do this properly. I wasn’t happy with having to be away from my girls, especially after all they had been through, but I felt I didn’t have much of a choice. I had to pay back my debt. I had been working in Sydney for about 10 days when I was told I could go home, so I phoned my friend to let her know that I was on my way home when she informed me that 26 DoCS had come and removed my daughters from her care. The DoCS officers said that there had been a report stating that the girls were being neglected and this was like the 3rd notification. When I got to Canberra I went straight to the DoCS office in Queanbeyan and told them the story. I was basically told that my girls had been removed from my care due to neglect and that there was going to be a court case. I was also told that one of their officers would arrange to meet me at my place to collect some of my daughters’ things and to sign some paper work. Thankfully I was allowed to see my girls and say goodbye to them one last time before they were completely removed from my care. It then took me the next 5 years of jumping through hoops and doing what the Department thought I should do to be a better parent. But when it was all said and done the restoration process was rushed and the Department couldn’t wait to be rid of my girls and me. At the time I was just happy to have my daughters back, I didn’t stop to think if I got the Ward of the State title removed in court from my daughters, who were going to help pay for all the counselling etc that they will now need. While my daughters were in foster care they were made to feel like where they came from was dirty and that I didn’t care enough for them and that I cared for drugs more. The foster parents told blatant lies - I don’t know how these two evil people were able to register and become foster parents. I can’t believe that the Department allows foster parents to decide whether they want anything to do with the maternal parents or not. I find this criminal. I know why it took me so long to get my girls back and that was because the foster parents had this idea of me being this crazy criminal that can’t control her urges and that they have to protect my girls from me. It was completely ignorant and bloody wrong. It still pisses me off and it’s been many years since I’ve had my beautiful girls back at home. As you could imagine, especially when a foster parent is told why the children are in care, they have a preconceived idea of what people who use this drug look and act like. It’s wrong. People shouldn’t be fostering children if they aren’t open to helping to do the best for the family unit, not just the child. Thailand's “War on Drugs” reinstated! by Sam Liebelt On the 2nd of April 2008, Thailand's new Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej reinstated Thailand's “War on Drugs”. For many this may seem to be a sensible policy position for a country that has been known for its Heroin and Methamphetamine manufacturing and trafficking. But the true consequence of such a “War on Drugs (and Drug Users)” is one that potentially has a huge loss of life, liberty and further reduces drug users' access to health and social services because of fear of being identified, imprisoned, forced into treatment or even murdered. 1 “Thailand’s ‘war on drugs’, International Harm Reduction Association and Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper Many may remember back in February 2003 the Thai Government, under then Prime Min- ister Thaksin Shinawatra, launched a “War on Drugs”, purportedly aimed at the suppression of drug trafficking and the prevention of drug use. In fact, a major outcome of this policy was arbitrary killings, and further marginalising current illicit drug users. In the first three months of the campaign in 2003 there were some 2,819 people killed in 2,559 separate 1 murder cases. The Thai government, even with significant evidence to the contrary, maintains the majority of these were killings undertaken by rival drug gangs. If this was the case I would think this homicide rate would continue without the government-declared “War on Drugs”. (In Thailand the average homicide rate is approx 400 per month). 27 During this “War on Drugs”, Thai government officials at the highest levels were encouraging violence and discrimination against anyone suspected of using or trafficking drugs, without due process or concern for how this will affect access to health services for users who most need it. The fear that the government instilled in the entire Thai population, not only in drug users, is something that can obviously only reduce people from seeking appropriate help and support for a drug use issue, whether it be for themselves, a family member or even friends. One of the scariest aspects of this policy and its reinstatement is the sheer lack of any compassion for people who use drugs, or acknowledgment of their human rights, by the very people who should be upholding them. The Prime Minister stated on the 20th of February 2008: “ It is impossible to avoid killings when implementing drug suppression. When the crackdown is underway, killings will 2 take place. ” and Interior Minister Charlem Yubamrung stated in Parliament: “ For drug dealers if they do not want to die, they had better quit staying on that road… drug suppression in my time as Interior Minister will follow the approach of Thaksin. If that will lead to 3,000 to 4,000 deaths of those who break the law, then so be it. That has to be done… For those of you from the opposition party, I will say you care more about human rights than 3 drug problems in Thailand .” (as they all should be – Ed) With approximately 50% of drug users being HIV positive in Thailand the reinstatement of this policy could have disastrous effects on HIV levels among the drug using population and in turn the entire Thai population. What many (who are watching the roll-out of this policy) are expecting to happen again is not a reduction in drug use in the country, but forcing people who do use drugs to take more risks, contract more diseases and seek less help. Evidence from 2003 shows that it did nothing to stop the amount of people who were using; It only made it more dangerous for them, their families and the general population. 28 The foundation of the “War on Drugs” in 2003 and 2008 is government compiled “blacklists” and “watchlists” of suspected drug users and traffickers. Insiders noted the processes for preparing the lists were rushed, without any real process and widely open for abuse by officials wanting to settle old disputes. Combine this with rewards (in the form of cash) and penalties (such as job loss) set for local and provincial officials to reduce the numbers on these lists with-in a deadline, is a recipe for absolute disaster. With nearly 3000 deaths during the 2003 campaign, disaster is an understatement. Thailand's “War on Drugs” has been under constant scrutiny from worldwide bodies, such as the United Nations Special Rapportuer on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee to name just a few. Peak organisations from around the world have been sending many requests to the Thai government regarding the “War on Drugs” such as The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), Thai Aids Treatment Action Group (TTAG) and the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL). The majority of these have either been ignored or their recommendations taken with a pinch of salt. What still amazes so many opposed to another “War on Drugs” is that no real effort has been made to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the actions and outcomes of the 2003 campaign, and that no real measures have been taken to “ensure oversight, professionalism and accountability 4 in drug suppression efforts” in this new war. It seems even with the pressure from worldwide bodies and clear lack of concern for Thai users' human rights, this new war could end with even more death, destruction, astonishing Hep C/B and HIV rates, and no real dent in the drugs trade except making it even more dangerous for everyone. Hopefully, the events of 2003 will not be repeated, but that's something we can only wait and see. For a detailed report on the 2003 “War on Drugs” check out the Human Rights Watch report entitled “Not Enough Graves”. This can be found at www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/thailand0704.pdf 2 “Bloodbath feared in fresh anti-narcotics drive,” Inter Press Service News Agency, February 27, 2008 online at http://www.ipsnews.net/ news.asp?1dnews=41370 3 “Thailand’s ‘war on drugs’, International Harm Reduction Association and Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper 4 Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG) press Release – February 14th 2008 Ujnf!gps!Ubml!jt!Pwfs! Needle Exchange Programs in Australian Prisons by Wayne Capper Hepatitis C is spreading through Australia's correctional centres at an alarming rate and if allowed to continue unchecked will result in a totally unnecessary and extremely costly health problem not just for prison inmates but for everybody living in Australian society. As the average custodial sentence is under 6 months, infected people are returning to their families and communities on a daily basis. Blood Bourne Viruses (BBV's) such as hep C, hep B & HIV are infecting prison populations due to the large number of injecting drug users being incarcerated and the lack of sterile injecting equipment being available to users in prison. While legislation prohibits access to sterile equipment in prison at this time, potentially up to 100 people will have used unsanctioned equipment that has been jealously guarded, often repaired and roughly resharpened using match box flint and even sometimes the concrete walls of prison cells. According to the wishes of the ACT Government, the new prison known as the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC), which is expected to commence operation in August 2008, is to be built and operated with compliance to the ACT Human Rights act (2004). The Chief Minister, John Stanhope, is quoted as stating “We want to make sure that prisoners can serve their sentence close to family and friends, that they have every access to programs to help them rebuild their lives; that their human rights are protected” (author's italics). This includes access to health care programs available to the broader community, including needle and syringe programs (NSPs). 20 years ago, NSPs were introduced into Australian communities as a major component of a concerted and holistic approach to arresting the spread of the HIV (AIDS) virus within the community. Research has shown this intervention to be a resounding success for very little cost at containing the outbreak of HIV and other BBV's. Now with hep C infection rampant in inmate populations in Australia, the time has come for prison needle exchange programs (NEPs) to be initiated into Australian correctional settings. A total of 11 countries including Germany, Spain and Scotland are operating prison NEP's with all evaluations being overwhelmingly positive and the data from these findings being freely available to all who wish to enquire. Australia, who has a rich history of taking the lead on the world stage for implementation of positive and sometimes unpopular health and welfare programs, has fallen behind on this issue and only the immediate introduction of prison NEPs nationwide will rectify this. To do otherwise suggests to our fathers, brothers, sisters and mothers who are incarcerated that as a society we don't care and this borders on criminal neglect of our duty of care towards these human beings. With this in mind, on Tuesday the 20th May 2008, AIVL held a National Public Forum on NEPs in Prison. Guest speakers included: ¦!Bmfy!Xpebl!.!Ejsfdups-!Bmdpipm!'!Esvh! Services, St Vincent's Hospital Sydney ¦!Ns!Njdibfm!Nppsf!.!DFP!Qvcmjd!Ifbmui! Association of Australia ¦!Es!Ifmfo!Xbudijst!.!BDU!Ivnbo!Sjhiut!boe! Discrimination Commissioner ¦!Hjop!Wbncvddb!.!Fyfdvujwf!Ejsfdups-! Australian National Council on Drugs ¦!Xbzof!Dbqqfs!.!Qsjtpofs!Bewpdbuf!boe! !!BJWM!Qspkfdu!Pgßdfs ¦!Kpio!Wbo!Efo!Evohfo!.!Dppsejobups!pg! The Connection ¦!Efccjf!Xzcpso!.!Xpnfo(t!Qsjtpofs!Bewp. cate, Corrections Coalition Committee The venue for the forum was the ACT Legislative Assembly and all available seating was taken prior to commencement. There was a good mix of people from government boe!opo.hpwfsonfou!BPE!bhfodjft-!dpnmunity health & welfare groups, prisoner advocates and the general public. 29 The time for talk is over and to quote Alex Wodak, “No more is it a matter of IF we need them (NEP’s), now it’s just a matter of when”. Listed below are the topics the guest speakers delivered their talks on with a very deliberate underlying theme that the time for talk is over and the time for action has arrived. Alex Wodak spoke of the evidence for effectiveness and safety of needle exchange programs in prisons overseas and how best to implement them in Australian prisons with the recommendation that NEPs should be introduced urgently to Australian prisons not just as a pilot program but as a full expansion program across the entire prison system. “Prisons, Politics and Health” was the title of Michael Moore's talk and it dealt with the courage and leadership that must be shown by the women and men in positions of authority to get prison NEPs off the ground and working within the corrections system to halt the spread of blood borne viruses (BBVs) in correctional communities. ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Helen Watchirs, discussed the Government's response to an audit on Human Rights compliance, in particular for Infection control and harm minimisation within the new ACT prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre. The ACT Government's response was (predictably) “ACT Government policy does not support a needle and syringe exchange program at this time. It is an ongoing policy consideration for the future” . An interesting fact raised by Dr Watchirs was that, from next year, people will be able to directly litigate Government Departments that have violated their human rights under the act. 1 “How To” was the major theme from speaker Gino Vambuca as well as different prison NEP models. Gino also exemplified the practical steps of how bleach was made 30 1 available within NSW prison and how this mechanism could be used as a model for the implementation of NEPs in prison. Understanding that this isn't just a problem for inmates of correctional centres, but also for custodial staff who believe that having NEPs operating equates with an unsafe workplace, as well as the negative health impacts on the community at large as newly-infected inmates are released back to the community. The three next steps identified are: Increase public awareness of risks. Apply pressure to governments so they are aware of the potential legal, economic and health risks they face by not acting on this issue. Work closer with all prison staff and their unions on the risks they face by not having a needle exchange program and collaborating to determine the best NEP model for introduction to the prison system. Wayne Capper finished off the round of talks with a personal insight of the plight of injecting drug users currently within the prison system; the very real story of violence and standover tactics that proliferates from the banning of sterile injecting equipment in prison allowing a black market to thrive within its walls. The speakers then made themselves available to answer any questions from the gathered public. They were joined on this panel by John Van Den Dungen, Coordinator of The Connection and Debbie Wyborn, Womens Prisoner Advocate and a member of the Corrections Coalition Committee. The general feeling of the speakers and the public was that this is a serious health issue that needs to be addressed immediately. There needs to be acknowledgement that by advocating the need for prison NEPs, we are not condoning drug use. Rather, we recognise that people will continue to inject drugs whilst in prison and it is our opinion that inmates should have similar access to preventative health measures and sterile injecting equipment comparative to the rest of Australian society. PDF copies of all the speakers' presentations are now on the AIVL website for all those who were unable to attend the forum and for any other interested parties. Go to www.aivl.org.au and follow the links. http://www.hrc.act.gov.au/assets/docs/humanity(final).pdf . JUNKIE/USER CULTURE – AND ALL THAT OTHER STUFF There's honesty, hard-gripping reality, the stuff you can relate to - and then there's something that's not. Our resident expert reviewer takes you through the world of junkie culture. Sit back, relax and get some cultcha. Spun Christiane F (2002) (Constantin Films, 1981) Not ever having been an amphetamine user, the movie Spun, spun me out. It's one of the most engaging drug user movies I've ever seen. Based on a series of articles published in “Stern” magazine in (1978) then ghost written into a book “Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo” (We Children From The Bahnhof Zoo), “Christiane F” chronicles the life of a 13 year old Berliner in the mid 1970s. Her burgeoning affair with drugs develops nicely alongside her blossoming love affair for fellow user Detliev. For anyone who has any experience of drug use at its most problematic, this is a film that will speak to you. Watching this film, I rarely said “ah arh that's BULL SHIT” as I have so often done in filmic portrayals of junkie life and culture - think Candy. Another plus if you like Bowie, is his brief appearance and the films soundtrack of his music. The girl who plays Christiane is incandescently beautiful; at the beginning she portrays youth's confusion and the need to belong with great sensitivity, she then goes on to portray one of the best hanging out scenes I've had the discomfort to witness. All the other characters are adequate but you can barely take your eyes of the principal character. I couldn't decide if it made me want to run off to rehab (No! No! No!) or run out and score! It's always hard to review a drug movie depicting a drug you don't know, of course there are some cross over experiences, but the minutiae, the allure of the drug can escape you. Not with this movie, this movie is a treasure! The actors are spot on - Mickey Rourke is the meth cooker with cowboy boots (say no more). The cameo by Eric Robbers is sublime - he plays a gay financer for Mickey's cooking ingredients. Britney Murphy, Mickey's “girlfriend”(I put it in inverted commas for a reason) and Mena Suvari, the dealer's partner, are just too good. Their portrayals of their individual fucked up personas are extraordinarily engaging. Excellent Very good Good Watchable Is this a joke? However, the most riveting aspect to this movie is the directing and photography. The way they take you into that speed buzz is so intense you can almost feel it... everything goes dizzyingly, nauseatingly, spininngly fast. A quirky aspect of the movie is the question of “normal”. The guy who's not dealing or cooking and thinks he is “normal” (just snorts sometimes) is a central character. But he is the most fucked-up out of this merry band of misfits. Brittany Murphy sums it up when she says “But you're not normal”. Got to see the movie to see what I mean and it's worth it. 31 Crossword 45 32 across down 1. Device used to clean the mix before shooting up.(5/6) 5. Legendary Jazz sax player and junkie Charlie..... (6) 9. Internal body organ that cleans the blood. (5) 12. New York junkie rock legend who wrote the song “Heroin”. (3/4) 13. A blood born virus that affects the liver. (3/1) 14. Part of a Bong that you pack the mull into. (4) 16. A group of like minded people who relate to each other.(5) 18. Lead singer’s first name from the Eurythmics. (6) 19. Scratch it. (4) 21. You will be stuck in this when you are unhappy about your lifestyle.(3) 23. You ask your dealer for this when you have no money. (6) 25. Another name for a shot. (3) 26. #47 down says he has none of this but we don’t believe him. (3) 27. In the UK injectable drugs are also called Class…..Drugs. (1) 32. When my baby, when my baby smiles at me, I go to … (3) 33. Legendary late, rocker/junkie, once a New York Doll, then a Heartbreaker. (6/8) 36. NSW gaol at … Plains. (3) 37. You could use this if #4 down is not available. (3) 39. Judges, Cops, Politicians, Screws and straights in general are this. (6) 41. A puff on a joint. (4) 42. ……………… the dragon. (7) 44. Smack, Hammer, Horse, H,……. (4) 46. Last name of #28 down. (8) 48. Jack back to find this.(5) 51. Go to the clinic to do this. (4) 52. Length of time spent in gaol. (3) 54. Class of drugs made from opium. (6) 55. Indigenous Australian band Yothu ....... (5) 1. First name of junkie Author who wrote “Naked Lunch”, “Junkie”. (7) 2. ……….. of the needle. (3) 3. Illegal, unlawful. (7) 4. Device used to bring veins to the surface when injecting. (10) 6. ……….. is for quitters.(5) 7. The type of user who only uses on the weekend. (12) 8. & #35 down Name of legendary London, rock god, the epitome of junkie cool. (5/7) 10. Shoot in this not in your artery. (4) 11. First name of young actor who died of a drug overdose outside the Viper Room in LA. Immortalised in the TISM song ! ÓIfÖmm!Ofwfs!Cf!Bo!Pme!Nbo!/////Ô!)6* 15. The Extraterrestrial who likes to phone home. (1/1) 17. Wise, older members of #16 across. (6) 20. These replaced vinyl records. (1/1) 22. ……. and them. (2) 24. Dance party. (4) 28. First name of famous Australian painter and user who died of a methadone o.d. in a motel room on the south coast of NSW. (5) 29. I ......... the Sheriff (4) 30. They …………… their dope. (8) 31. Name given to an injecting drug user. (6) 33. Smack, Hammer, H, Harry, …………. (4) 34. Collective name for mind altering substances. (5) 35. Last name of junkie rock god from #8 down. (7) 38. A rodent. (3) 40. What could happen if you take too much or mix your drugs. (1/1) 43. Valium is one of this type of drug. (5) 45. Goey, ice, base, crystal, meth, …………. (5) 46. You have to .… before you can run (4) 47. First name of the chief Stooge, notorious Detroit junkie. (4) 49. The original psychedelic, mind expanding drug. (1/1/1) 50. Short name for a popular prescription drug brought on the street as a Heroin substitute. (3) 53. 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