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Spliff Styles- How do you roll? by Will Coldwell
If there’s one thing about smoking cannabis that is guaranteed not come with unwanted side effects, then it has to be rolling. Satisfying, engaging and much more creative than ordering a 50/50 pizza instead of a margherita or the inevitable all day cartoon-fest, the art of rolling has almost as much potential to get someone hooked as the drug itself.
Interestingly, smokers from around the world seem to adopt different styles of rolling. While spending time working for Time Out Amsterdam, engaging in the privileged task of writing Coffee shop reviews courtesy of the expense account, I had a chance to observe these various techniques, as demonstrated by pot-smoking tourists burning time in the ‘global-village’. I wouldn’t like to comment on what it says about the various cultural identities, but it’s interesting all the same.
The Dutch
Lets start with the Dutch style, well planned, serious, and big. Using the whole roach card to make a sturdy filter, notable for the folded Z-shape in the middle, these spliffs are chunky and coned. They are also filled with twice as much weed as you need, mixed with cigarette tobacco to help it burn longer.
Any pre-rolled joint you will find in a Dutch coffeeshop is rolled like this and if you do get lucky and spot a Dutch person actually in one, then you’ll find them rolling theirs the very same way. You could say it’s a design classic.
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Successful interventions with new psychoactive substances- by Katy McCleod
While conducting training on new psychoactive substances throughout Scotland, I often get asked which interventions are the most effective for users of these substances. I recently came across the paper by the fabulous Dr Adam Winstock: New recreational drugs and the primary care approach to patients who use them (Winstock and Mitcheson, 2012) which provides insightful guidance on working with users. The paper can be downloaded for free at- Global Drug Survey Academic Articles.
Dr Adam Winstock is involved in some rather exciting projects connected to new psychoactive substances, namely the Global Drugs Survey published in Mixmag in March of every year and the brand new drugs meter app, more info can be found at http://globaldrugsurvey.com/ You can even catch him speaking at Crew’s national event CREWSUS in Perth later this month! Read more
Ketamine & the bladder- by Dr. Angela Cottrell
It has only been apparent in recent years that the recreational use of ketamine can lead to problems with the urinary tract. Reports first emerged in 2007 from Canada and Hong Kong that the use of ketamine can lead to symptoms such as needing to pass urine frequently, passing blood, burning when passing urine, incontinence and bladder pain.
Up to a quarter of users may experience such problems and it appears that this is related to both the quantity used and the duration that it is taken for. Read more
Pow ! to Meow Meow ?
Mephedrone or ‘Meow Meow’ as the media labelled it, was banned in Britain in April 2010- lets look at the effects this had on use, quality and price.
According to last year’s Mixmag survey, 75% of people said they had taken mephedrone since the ban (April 15th 2010) with a third of them saying the ban had no effect. A mere 10% had said use had increased while others were using Cocaine and Ecstasy instead. Read more
MDMA Quality – Up or Down ?
Last years Mixmag’s result’s indicated that the perceived quality of MDMA has gone down. According to the infographic below the quality of pills and powder has improved.
According to Dr. John Ramsey, a UK toxicologist “MDMA is back in tablets. Analysis of drugs seized from this year’s music festivals has shown that “ecstasy” tablets are now much more likely to contain MDMA than the strange mixtures of piperazines (BZP, TFMPP, CPP) that have been common for the past couple of years. A sample of about twenty tablets of various designs were analysed and contained 52 – 115mg MDMA (as free base) with the majority around 100mg per tablet.
Quite pure crystal MDMA is still commonplace but for the first time we encountered sucrose (sugar) crystals in wraps in amnesty bins presumably to be passed off as MDMA. They are very convincing and require analysis to differentiate the two”.
The current state of MDMA- Assisted Psychotherapy- by Stephen Bright
Before 3,4 -methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) became popular as a recreational drug known as Ecstasy, it was used effectively in psychotherapy to enhance relationships and buffer fear reactions.
After emergency scheduling by the Drug Enforcement Agency in 1985, MDMA was made illegal in the USA on November 13, 1986. Other countries quickly followed the USA’s lead. This forced MDMA onto the black market, which negatively affected the quality and purity of Ecstasy. In addition, it meant research examining the effectiveness of MDMA as a psychotherapeutic tool was politically blocked. Read more
Ecstasy/PMMA Warning- Crew 2000
In July of this year our good friends at CREW 2000 warned about strong batches of Ecstasy and Ecstasy containing PMMA. We at Global Drug Survey thought their info and advice was excellent and so we have republished it for you to read.
Reportedly strong batches and varieties of ecstasy around on the scene, so any users determined to use ecstasy should take care with dosing so as to stay safe.
Not wishing to add to any media sensationalism, there have been various recent user reports of people taking multiple quantities of tablets and experiencing difficulties. In Crew’s experience this has been true where people have taken too much and/or have mixed with other substances such as alcohol. Read more
Dangerous, Manageable or Hardcore?- by Monica Barratt
The unfortunate death of a 20-year-old Sydeny woman in 2007 provided a catalyst for an analysis of how online drug-using communities defined PMA and ecstasy. PMA or para-methoxyamphetamine is structurally similar to the phenylethylamines (MDxx) and mescaline. It is a hallucinogenic stimulant with a low threshold for overdose, making it definitively more dangerous than pure MDMA. Most, but not all, use of PMA is inadvertent, as the users believe they are consuming an MD derivative when they buy pills sold as ‘ecstasy’, but the pill actually contains PMA.
Annabel Catt’s death in 2007 followed her ingestion of ‘ecstasy caps’ which were later found to contain PMA. Her friends did call an ambulance but Annabel died later in hospital due to overheating and respiratory failure. Read more