Comments for The Australian Drug Blog

Comment on Is there a link between IQ and drug use? by Drew

Drew — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 05:07:48 +0000

‘Smart people agree: drugs are fun’

Comment on FASD: interesting video by Karen

Karen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:30:53 +0000

That video of Dr. May was really good. I’ve been interested in his research for the past couple of years. Thanks for sharing.

Comment on Comorbidity and Motivational Interviewing Training – Sydney by Comorbidity and Motivational Interviewing Training – Sydney | The … | Counselling

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:17:35 +0000

[...] Visit link: Comorbidity and Motivational Interviewing Training – Sydney | The … [...]

Comment on The biggest drug myths by JB

JB — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:51:34 +0000

When I was a kid a friend and I were chatting about drugs and discussed the whole banana peel and the other crazy myths, I mentioned about injecting vegemite and then the conversation drifted onto other things.
3 or 4 years later when he was about 19 or 20, he injected vegemite and immediately went into a complete system failure, I was not there but did see him in intensive care, but he was brain dead by then with a shaved head that was swollen, he looked like a completely different person. He was taken off life support about a week later.
I regret telling him that story years before. Please don’t try this, it destroyed my friends family and was my first experience of loss. I really hope this saves someones child.

Comment on A Family Sensitive Policy and Practice Toolkit by Dorothy

Dorothy — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:15:54 +0000

I would like to read and/or see the toolkit. It sounds like a great policy!

Comment on NSW Health Drug and Alcohol Research Grants Program 2011/12 by Denise Hatzis

Denise Hatzis — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:17:55 +0000

I am a PhD student under Professor Sharon Dawe who runs the Parents under Pressure (PuP) program. The PuP program aims to help parents who are experiencing high levels of stress when raising their children. One related stressor is substance abuse. At present the program is designed to assist children from 3-8 years. There is growing evidence to improve child outcomes in the long term, these families need assistance earlier. Funding is required to gain the data to develop an appropriate evidence based program for families with younger children. Please contact me regarding an expression of interest.

Comment on Kronic ban: an open letter by Sam Sweeney

Sam Sweeney — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:01:09 +0000

I don’t think the government should tell anyone how they treat their own body and It is very obvious that the ‘war on drugs’ has been a failure. Drug use has gone up with this approach.

How about the anti-drug campaigns? Mostly all of them have been blatant propaganda and rubbish from the government or other organisations. This is mis-education, how about some FACTUAL drug information for the safety of the general public, and those that do actually want to take drugs responsibly.

Surely it’s about time the government saw that drugs don’t require extermination (which is quite impossible), but rather that the people using them require proper education and healthcare; which is limited due to the ‘war on drugs’. We shouldn’t ban cars because people can and do crash in them.

And the saddest fact is some of the worst possible drugs out there are taxed, sold and used legally by many people who would never touch an illegal drug.

Comment on Kronic ban: an open letter by BEN KERZINGER

BEN KERZINGER — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:34:24 +0000

WE ARE ADULTS WE CAN SPEND “OUR MONEY” OUR WAY.

Comment on The link between cannabis and psychosis by Chris Simonite

Chris Simonite — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:14:48 +0000

As you say, it is of no surprise that there is a link between psychosis and cannabis. Another interesting study I recently read was in a book called ‘The Reality Game’. It references an independent study to monitor the diagnosis of mental health illnesses. Actors without any mental health issues approached psychiatrict units – it was concluded from the study that psychiatrists weren’t testing to see if the patient did actually have a mental ilness, but which one!

In most cases, a diagnosis of psychosis will be accompanied by anti psychotic medication, such as olanzepine, Haldol, Orap etc…. These change the serotonin levels in the brain and produce some psychotic behaviour themselves. Once on the medication it can be very different to come off.

Don’t get me wrong, all medications and diagnosis have their place, but I wonder how many lifes have been drastically and unnecessarily disturbed as a result of labelling.

Comment on Mental Health in Australia – NADA nail it by Giovanni Cordeiro

Giovanni Cordeiro — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 04:11:31 +0000

My partner lost his life as a direct result of the hospital (in Lismore, Northern NSW) choosing to release a known violent patient into the community. That together with the lack of proper support and supervision by the organisation (On Track Community Programs) he worked for, he had no chance. A number of persons in the community had near misses with this client, but my partner was not so lucky. I would like to direct readers to this article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 19 February 2011.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/left-to-go-it-alone-they-pay-with-their-lives-20110218-1azmq.html