harmreductionAotearoa

this is a pro drug regulation blog. prohibition and punitive justice systems have never worked and never will work. follow for harm reduction tips from a professional drug checker and taker. trans rights 🏳️‍⚧️ toitū te tiriti

[harmreductionaotearoa]

Drug use has been a part of human existence forever, and it always will be. The worst harms from drug use stem from criminalisation, stigma, lack of education, and an unregulated drug market.

Fortunately in Aotearoa, we are lucky enough to have free, legal, and confidential drug checking services. Drug checking is a service where you can take your drugs for them to be checked by a professional using an FTIR spectrometer, reagents, and fentanyl, nitazene and benzodiazepine test strips. These tools can help you find out what's in your drugs. You can also have a conversation with the drug checker about how you can be safer with your drug use.

Drug checking is unfortunately, just a band-aid solution, drug harm will always be high as long as drugs are illegal and unregulated. I'm proud to be a part of this much needed band-aid.

You can find the times, dates, and locations of all drug checking clinics in Aotearoa/New Zealand at thelevel.org.nz/drug-checking-clinics

Stay safe, have fun, and remember

NICE PEOPLE USE DRUGS!

[spacemancharisma]

drugs are not evil & eliminating addiction isn't the endpoint of the universe

[dragon-in-a-fez]

the ashtrays in airplane bathrooms are a fascinating harm reduction metaphor. yes it's illegal as hell to smoke in there. yes there's a smoke detector that will snitch on you the second you light up. so why is there an ashtray? because if there weren't, your single momentary dumbass crime could kill 300 people. it is fucking vital that if someone does have a lit cigarette on a plane, they have a place to safely put it out.

[harmreductionaotearoa]

Snorting MDMA is really bad for your nose. It's super corrosive to your nasal membranes and it's not even more effective than just swallowing it.

The only semi advantageous part of snorting MDMA has over swallowing is that it hits you faster and doesn't last as long. This can be advantageous sometimes if you wanna go to bed in 4-5 hours instead of 6-7 hours but you should really consider your nasal health when making that decision.

Some ways you can make swallowing MDMA hit you faster are:

- Dissolving it in warm water and taking it like a shot

- Wrapping it in a cigarette paper and swallowing that instead of using a capsule

- Waiting an hour after eating before swallowing it

- Using gelatin capsules instead of the vegetarian ones

Be kind to your nose and swallow your MDMA instead of snorting it next time :3

Harm reduction saves lives, but it also saves your nose.

[strongintherealgay]

You don't have to like weed but I find people who are vehemently anti-weed but claim to be left leaning infuriating. If you go into a rage because you smelled someone smoking pot, how the fuck do you expect to form community with people addicted to meth? It's easier to say you hate smokers than to say you hate all drug users in leftist spaces because one makes you sound a bit like a square while the other is the writing on the wall. You aren't anti-weed, you're anti-drug user and anyone who uses substances is not safe around you.

[strongintherealgay]

I know dozens of people who use meth, coke, and fentanyl. While heroin is harder to get I do know some folks who use it when they can. Some of these drug users are my neighbors, some are my clients, and some are my friends & family. One does not cease to be human just because they use a substance you find scary.

Community doesn't mean you need to invite them to your home and look away if they smoke there. It means you don't call your property manager because you suspect your neighbor uses. It means you don't require drug tests for homeless shelters and housing services. It means the very idea of someone who smokes meth in your community doesn't make you go, "what the hell."

Genuinely kind of a wild thing to see in the replies as someone who has been professionally practicing harm reduction for years.

[strongintherealgay]

Considering recent events over here in the States, this seemed like a good time to bring this back. Over the next four years, expect an increase in discourse around "undesirables." This will include but not be limited to drug addicts.

[cowboymalewife]

Also, from someone who works at a smoke/head shop: WAY MORE PEOPLE ARE DRUG USERS THAN YOU THINK. Way more people are addicted to opiates, meth, whippets, cocaine, you name it, than you have been lead to believe, and on top of that, they are often the "normal" or "functional" people you see every day, not just the person tweaking out at the gas stations. Judges, bank tellers, grandmas, teachers, the nice lady who runs your bakery— all of them. You are ALREADY IN COMMUNITY WITH THESE PEOPLE. Start fucking acting like it.

[harmreductionaotearoa]

Certified de-stigmatisation post!!

[dragongirlbunny]

wild how we have a medication that is super effective at treating a debilitating disability but its controlled to hell and back because What If Someone Takes It For Fun like i have an idea who gives a shit

[thefirsthogokage]

If you are talking about stimulants, that's not really why it's a controlled substance. It's because they pose a serious risk of harm and addiction, especially if you don't actually have ADHD.

[dragongirlbunny]

damn its a good thing we keep adhd meds on lock can you imagine if people had easy access to harmful or addictive substances anyways time to go to the gas station to grab a monster energy, some bud light, and a vape cart

[harmreductionaotearoa]

ADHD medication is also significantly less harmful than other stimulants people use for fun. The harm from using methamphetamine, or cocaine, or synthetic cathinones(which are all very easy to get), is so much more than that of using amphetamine (Adderall, dexamphetamine) or methylphenidate (ritalin).

So it's actually preferable for people to be able to get these drugs for fun rather than the other more harmful ones. (I also believe people should be legally allowed to do those more harmful stimulants too but that's another conversation)

People with ADHD deserve easier access to life changing medication. Moral outrage over ADHD medication causer MORE HARM to both drug users and people with ADHD.