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NADA Misses the Mark

A spokesperson for DACA said today: "The evidence clearly shows that the most effective way to reduce harm from illicit drug use is to reduce the number of people using and injecting them. The most pressing concern is the very high incidence of HCV among IDUs and the transmission of HIV due to risk-taking, often fuelled by drug use. An effective strategy involves supply and demand reduction and prevention including education on drug harm and recovery focussed treatment".

NADA suggests that AOD services provide important harm reduction messages to clients including to use sterile equipment, every time, access rapid HIV testing, and have regular liver health checks. DACA added: "While important, NADA's advocacy of 'safe' injecting, testing and new drug treatments to combat BBVs really misses the mark (1). With roughly 90% of new transmissions of HCV continuing to involve the sharing of injecting equipment and with around 80% of HIV positive men reporting drug use the rising incidence of ICE use means that the drug treatment needs of NSW communities demands a much more rigorous approach than that advocated by NADA"(1) .

The DACA spokesperson said: "Suggesting that injecting can be done safely or that testing or treatment after contraction of HIV or HCV can be the preferred or an effective strategy is misleading and has the potential to cause more harm. These strategies may mitigate some harm but has the overall effect of increasing harm if people do not stop drug use after being tested and while having treatment. Quite apart from the high risk of initially contracting a BBV, the major harm arises from continued re-infection with more virulent strains of the viruses and increasing viral loads thus leading to higher risk of serious liver disease and AIDS while drug users continue to inject or engage in other risky behaviour."

DACARecommendations:

DACA recommends that any extra funding by the State Government should directed toward agencies that focus on prevention, treatment and recovery.

(1) Advocate, The newsletter of the Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies Issue 1: March 2015

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DRUG ADVISORY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION ON PUBLIC FUNDING OF ILLEGAL DRUGS.

A spokesperson for DACA today questioned the legality of using the internet to raise funds to manufacture and supply dangerous and illegal drugs. According the new reports a Norwegian advocacy group EmmaSofia is planning to use 'crowdfunding' to raise $1 million to synthesize psychedelics and MDMA purportedly for medical use with the aim that researchers worldwide would have easier access to them (1). DACA said doubts about the legitimacy of the raising of funds for research were apparent from the statements of those associated with EmmaSofia.

DACA said "Far from being used for research it appears that the aim of this group is to supply an illegal drug to end-users relying on the gullibility of people for donations who are a part of the drug culture by suggesting these drugs are safe and could be made available for recreational use for free." EmmaSofia are quoted as saying: "Eventually, we should be able to make kilos of MDMA and psilocybin" And yet in the same article it was reported by another research group that "We are still working with the first kilo of MDMA that was first synthesized in 1985,"  It begs the question as to who and where "kilos" of the drug would be used for 'research'.

Further clues as to the illegitimacy of the project came from the claim that "A licensed doctor anywhere in the world can then go to his or her pharmacy, and order it from us,". This implies that doctors would be able to prescribe it for medical problems, rather than for research.  

Even more disturbing is their statement on the basis of some social research that: "there is no scientific reason for psychedelics to be illegal." and that "EmmaSofia is working to expand access to quality-controlled MDMA and psychedelics world-wide, for medical, personal development, spiritual practice, fun and play." (1).  These claims are directly contrary to the main body of research knowledge.  Mayer in a review of the safety and efficacy of MDMA as a treatment for various disorders emphasised that "MDMA was not a safe medical treatment due to lasting neurotoxic and cognition impairing effects in humans" (2), while Parrott concluded that: "because of MDMA's demonstrated potential to cause lasting harm in humans (e.g., serotonergic neurotoxicity and persistent memory impairment), "considerably more research must be performed" on its efficacy as a treatment" (3). In the case of psilocybin medical researchers have emphasised that very small 'sub-hallucinogenic' and strictly controlled does were ever used.
 
Crowdfunding legitimately reaches out to those with a shared interest  to gain needed funding for a worthwhile product or cause. In the case of university crowdfunding, most donations go to a specific research fund or cause with donations from supporters of the cause or the university. Typically the Terms and Conditions of Crowdfunding websites state that "Users may not use the Service to process Payment Transactions in connection with an illegal transaction or the sale or exchange of any illegal or prohibited goods or services ".

DACA Recommendations:

DACA concluded: "In the case of EmmaSofia and other such groups there is clear evidence that the use of the web to raise public funds is not only illegitimate and is a distortion of its intended purpose, but is probably illegal". DACA called on Governments and the owners of public NGO fund-raising websites to outlaw these sorts of campaigns as a matter of some urgency.

1. Roes, T . "Norwegian Researchers Are Crowdfunding to Make Psychedelics and MDMA Free for Global Medical Use", Vice News. March, 12, 2015
2. Meyer JS (2013). "3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): current perspectives". Subst Abuse Rehabil 4: 83–99. doi:10.2147/SAR.S37258.
3. Parrott AC (2014). "The potential dangers of using MDMA for psychotherapy". J Psychoactive Drugs 46 (1): 37–43. doi:10.1080/02791072.2014.873690.

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"Australia's resolution on ice gathers support at UN drugs conference". Senator the Hon Fiona Nash Assistant Minister for Health Senator for New South Wales, Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate

DRUG ADVISORY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA COMMENTS: 

Minister Nash is the first Australian MP since 2009 to attend the UN Conference on Narcotics in Vienna with the specific aim of gathering support for the fight against the drug ICE.

Australia's resolution to the 58th UN Conference on Narcotics - global cooperation on fighting the drug ice - is gathering support.

Assistant Minister for Health's resolution calls for UN member states to cooperate and share research, data, experiences and treatments relating to the international fight against ice.

DACA has very real concerns about the spread of this drug across Australia and particularly into regional communities as ICE use results in unprotected and risky sexual conduct. threatening a serious outbreak of HIV and other SDIs

Just as alcohol results in 70% increased risk of HIV infection so the use of ICE increases this risk. With ICE, the increased risk is not about sharing needles, as most ICE is smoked. HIV and STD transmission is caused by risky sexual behaviour: it is about multiple sex partners and unprotected as ICE is known to for its hyper-enhancement of sex drive, energy and stamina, whilst effecting judgement. People on ICE engage in behaviour that would normally be unacceptable, both in terms of their own standards of behaviour and the risks they are prepared to take. To contain this epidemic, the full effects are yet to be realised, we need to act now to deter those who sell it, educate young people about the danger of the this highly addictive substance, intervene very early as ICE addicts on average seek treatment some 5 years after the first signs of trouble.
 

DACARecommendations
DACA recommends severe penalties for manufacture and selling of the drug; early and mandated treatment, as well as robust and uncompromising demand reduction messages emphasising the danger this drug poses.

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From Abstract:

“Whilst opiates have been shown to trigger numerous molecular pathways, the most interesting is the demonstration that the opiate morphinan’s nucleus binds to the endotoxin groove of the TLR4-MD2 heterodimer. This has the effect of triggering a low grade endotoxaemic-like state, which over time may account for these protean clinical findings, an effect which is reversed by opiate antagonists. This emerging evidence suggests an exciting new treatment paradigm for OD and a corresponding increase in the role of NI in treatment.”