So this summer’s festival season’s gotten off to a rather tempestuous start. It’s easy to have a good time on drugs when you’re safe and dry. But when you’re soaked through, cold and miserable, what you’ve taken can amplify any anxiety and general Nope that you’re experiencing and send you down an unpleasant mental rabbitContinue reading “Set, Setting, and the Suck: How to avoid negative experiences at festivals”
Category Archives: Harm Reduction info
Summer mythbusting
New Years’ Eve absolutely smashed it in terms of drug checking. Over 1,700 samples from four festivals* is an excellent turnout and we were completely bloody stoked to see how many people are being responsible with their drugs. We got to meet a HEAP of folk and have some great yarns, but some of theContinue reading “Summer mythbusting”
What’s out there? The drug landscape coming into summer
2022 has seen more drug checking clinics than any other year. This is due in part to the increase of organisations getting their drug checking licence. We now have three organisations doing drug checking up and down the country: There’s us (obvs), the NZ Drug Foundation, and the NZ Needle Exchange Programme (NEST). We’ve allContinue reading “What’s out there? The drug landscape coming into summer”
High Alert Warning: Unwashed Poppy Seeds
Poppy seed tea sounds relatively harmless, right? Except it’s really not if you get the wrong kind of poppy seed. Unwashed poppy seeds found in regular poppy seed supply have caused acute opioid toxicity hospitalisations in Victoria The poppy seeds in question are being recalled in Aotearoa and Australia, but we’re throwing up a redContinue reading “High Alert Warning: Unwashed Poppy Seeds”
Pandemic partying
With the possibility of a real summer ahead complete with actual fun, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that COVID, monkeypox, and other things are active in the community. At the time this post was written (23 November 2022), Aotearoa’s stats were: Total deaths attributed to COVID: 2,182 New COVID infection rate thisContinue reading “Pandemic partying”