Welcome to our community space where we share peer written blogs, reflections, lived experience stories and poems. This space is also used to post summaries on the latest drug research, laws and news.
You can also find details on our upcoming Hi-Events, this includes events we are attending or our ‘chatroom takeovers’. For these events we invite relevant healthcare professionals, AOD workers, researchers and passionate peers to lead focused discussions on different subjects and let you guys in the chatroom ask the questions!
Want to contribute to this space or have a story to share? Get in touch via our ‘become a Hi-Peer’ page and you can upload your Hi-Tale there. Alternatively if you’d like more information you can contact us via email at hi-ground@quihn.org and we will get back to you.
Original article published on Drug Data Decoded – July 14 2024 by Tyson Singh Kelsall Intervention and regulation of the drug supply is indeed the only way out of British Columbia’s forever toxic drug emergency. But last week, the BC NDP rejected another high-level recommendation to create frameworks for non-medicalized access to opioids and other … Continued
Pill testing gets the green light Published Saturday, 25 February, 2023 at 09:00 AM Minister for Health and Ambulance Services The Honourable Yvette D’Ath Pill testing services to be allowed in Queensland for first time Services can contribute to reducing risks and harms associated with illicit drug use The government is working to finalise details … Continued
Queensland to relax drug laws, implement three-strike rule for people carrying small amounts of drugs for personal use Drug laws in Queensland will be relaxed for anyone caught carrying small quantities of illicit substances like heroin, cocaine or ice, with users to be given three chances before facing a criminal charge. The offer to complete … Continued
Mark Morri and Clementine Cuneo February 13, 2023 Original Article: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/bank-worker-dead-and-12-hospitalised-after-suspected-festival-drug-overdoses/news-story/e3c79eec0c93edca72dc1ba1c6ae5810 A 26-year-old man died in hospital after attending the Transmission music festival on Saturday. He’s among more than 12 overdoses at the event determined high-risk under the Music Festivals Act. A young bank employee has died and twelve others were hospitalised from suspected drug … Continued
Festival pill testing in Australia has stalled because no one will insure it Canberra Times By Miriam Webber 23 January 2023 Original Article: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8023212/nothing-we-can-do-why-festival-pill-testing-ended/ It took a mammoth effort to convince the ACT government to allow festival pill testing, but four years on, the only service of its kind in Australia has stalled. “How did … Continued
2022 Support Don’t Punish Global Day of Action – with a focus on women and nonbinary people who use drugs “Support Don’t Punish” is a global, grassroots campaign supporting harm reduction and drug policies that prioritise human rights and public health. Hi-Ground, with the support of WHRIN (Women’s Harm Reduction International Network) will be offering … Continued
The ACT is set to become the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise small amounts of commonly used illicit drugs, such as ice, heroin, cocaine and speed. Under a proposed law that the government has now endorsed, police would continue to target dealers and try to disrupt Canberra’s drug trade. However, people found with amounts considered … Continued
Hi-Ground Launch On the 22nd of April Hi-Ground proudly launched the project in Brisbane with a bang. The evening was filled with many members of the community, harm reduction workers and peers from Hi-Ground, QuIHN, QuIVAA across the regions of the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Gold Coast. Many thanks to other organisations such as QNADA, … Continued
Stigma & Language Our survey shows that many people have experiences of discrimination or stigma because of their drug use, with majority coming from their own family or friends. This then followed from the wider community, the police and healthcare services. Some ways to tackle stigma with family and friends. It can be really hard … Continued
New data released today by the Global Drugs Survey has found that Australians reported getting drunk 27 times during 2020, compared with the global average of 14.6. Data gathered from over 32,000 people across 22 countries shows that Australian’s top the list in heavy drinking, with Denmark, Finland, and the US following behind. Aussies actually … Continued
World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year. It raises awareness across the world and in the community about the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. It is a day for people to show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. The AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was … Continued
New South Wales Greens MP Cate Faehrmann is bringing two cannabis reform bills to the state’s Upper House in the next two weeks. On Wednesday November 17, Faehrmann introduced the Road Transport Amendment Bill (Medicinal Cannabis — Exemptions from Offences) Bill 2021 to the Legislative Council. The bill, due for debate in 2022, provides an … Continued
A Melbourne doctor who is fighting for permission to treat a severely unwell patient with the drug MDMA has taken his battle to court, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Australia. Consultant psychiatrist Eli Kotler launched legal action after the Victorian Department of Health knocked back an application … Continued
The New Zealand government will fund recreational drug checks at festivals and concerts, giving NZ$800,000 to a service that previously operated in a legal grey zone. While pill testing has operated to some extent for years, it did so in an uncertain area that stopped it getting into major music festivals. Even when the Government … Continued
It was 7pm, we’d just arrived to the party. I thought I’d have a quick ciggie before going inside. Covid hasn’t helped with that initial social anxiety, especially arriving to a big party. I thought I’d slowly integrate myself into the space. While chatting to a bunch of friends a bump of K was offered … Continued
NADA’s new amazing AOD Resource Finder! This is the ultimate AOD resource finder we’ve all been waiting for… The Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies (NADA) has just launched a new digital portal to make it easier for health professionals to find evidence-based practice resources online from trusted service providers nationally. The portal contains … Continued
Canadian drug users are sick of being forced to purchase their drugs from a poisoned drug supply run by the criminal underground. A non-profit organisation, consisting of drug policy reform advocates and people who use drugs (PWUD’s), calling themselves the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (CAPUD), are suing the Canadian Government for … Continued
Stigma of Overdose and Why Awareness is Important Stigma – There is a stigma around substance use and overdoses caused by substances. This can create a barrier to seeking treatment and in having support from family and friends because of a lack of understanding around how substances can affect a person. The notion that the … Continued
People released from prison are more likely to overdose & die in the weeks immediately following release For those who use opioids, overdose is common, both for those who use and those around then (family and friends) and is the lead causation of death for this population (Degenhardt et al., 2011). Worldwide opioid overdoses are … Continued
On a nice sunny day in summer a friend of mine brought over some GHB also known as liquid fantasy or frank. Me and two other friends who were there decided to have a dose of GHB. I have taken GHB quite a few times, so I knew what I was taking, what to expect, … Continued
My name is Jimmy. I’m a Grandad, a father, a taxi-driver and I owe my life to Narcan. Last year I was using 80mg of Methadone, takeaway, but I would never drink it. Using a butterfly, I would carefully, slowly inject that 80mg and feel the warm slow rush of opiate through my system. … Continued
Victoria. The Dark Ages in Drug Reform. Victoria is in lockdown. Not just due to Covid. Due to its Government refusing to look at the facts about drugs. As Science PUSHES to heard, by perpetually demonstrating the soundness of their studies that SHOW the value of many illegal drugs in treating depression and anxiety, that … Continued
The brutality that was old school Hep C treatment… So, I had Hep C. Strain 1.A. This was the early 2000’s. It was a shitty time for Hep C treatment, but FAR better than the outcome that people with the previously classed, non-A non-B Hepatitis had. Before they isolated Hepatitis C as … Continued
I remember the call.. Life was going great, not. I had just recently been discharged from hospital with a horrific abscess in my arm. I was a mutant, but I was lucky to have still have an arm this “unpretty”. I had also had septicaemia, (blood poisoning) so I had been found unconscious … Continued
Victoria ALMOST legalised the growing of a small number of cannabis plants at home for personal use. ALMOST! And almost removed small cannabis convictions from people’s criminal records and almost saved Young People from becoming involved in the criminal system for possession of small amounts of cannabis. After a two-year State Parliament enquiry, looking … Continued
WA to Introduces New Drug and Drink Driving Penalties from 1 July 2021 As of 1 July 2021, the WA State Government’s new Road Traffic Amendment (Impaired Driving and Penalties) Act 2019 has come into effect. The new “polydrug” offence separates the offence of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from the offence … Continued