Today, a new organisation, Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa (HRCA) launched with the submission of an Open Letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, signed by a plethora of professors, academics, researchers, clinicians, health professionals, NGO workers, drug consumers, and members of the public calling for the legalisation and regulation of all drugs. […]
‘A complete 180’: how a trial treatment in Sydney for heroin addiction is changing lives
Hydromorphone is offered as a strong form of pain relief for some hospital patients. Someone with no tolerance might be administered 2 mg at a time. People using it as a pharmacotherapy to wean themselves off heroin could work their way up to taking 200 mg in a single dose. Sydney’s hydromorphone trial is overseen by Prof Nadine Ezard, the clinical director of St Vincent’s drug and alcohol service. […]
Pill testing ‘essential’ for saving lives
The first of those trials of drug checking in Australia was conducted at the Groovin’ the Moo music festival in 2018, by a group that came to be known as Pill Testing Australia (PTA). The story of how that happened is discussed elsewhere (here) but “how” we do it is a matter of record. […]
Heroin user says government putting politics above lives in scrapping second injecting room
A long-term heroin user says injecting rooms save lives and the Victorian government has put politics above the health and safety of citizens by scrapping a second injecting centre in Melbourne. […]