ISSUE: DNA #278 – With Pride | BUY
When it comes to drugs, alcohol and harm minimisation, education is the best approach.
Recently, a young friend of mine told me had spent the night in hospital. He seemed fine, if a little sheepish, so I suspected he may have had a G drop. He had.
When people take too much of the party drug G or GHB, or they mix it with alcohol, they “drop” – which is a sudden and complete loss of consciousness.
“GHB is a central nervous system depressant, meaning it slows down messages travelling between the brain and the body, and can slow down someone’s breathing and heart rate,” says Jack Freestone, AIDS Council Of NSW’s Alcohol And Drugs Manager, in our story this issue, My Friend Has Dropped On G. What Should I Do? It was very important to me to commission this feature and have it out during World Pride celebrations in Sydney. Many people make the mistake of thinking that when people drop on G they are just having a lovely sleep. This is wrong! They are unconscious and that means they can easily suffocate if they are left in the wrong position or, if they vomit, they can choke on it.
I have seen people abandon friends who have dropped because they think they’ll be okay after they sleep it off and, perhaps, they think they’ll get into trouble if they admit to taking the drug themselves. Both of these strategies fail the person who has dropped. Firstly, their friend is not asleep and their airway may be constricted or blocked. Secondly, if you call an ambulance or ask for help from venue staff, they do not want to arrest you! They want that unconscious person in a safe place as soon as possible.
So why do people take G if it’s potentially so dangerous? Many people enjoy a sense of euphoria and liberation on G. It can make people horny or just feel loved-up. And when it wears off there are none of the bad side effects that you might expect from drinking too much alcohol or the sense of gloom that can follow taking ecstasy. My young friend left hospital and was back to normal that morning.
I’m not endorsing GHB, but many in our community use it, so it’s important that people are aware of the potential problems. I have always believed that when it comes to drugs, alcohol and harm minimisation, education is the best approach.
Prohibition has a very poor track record. It increases risky behaviour, it makes open, honest discussion meaningless, and ultimately fails to stop drug use. So, our feature story this month discusses G, alcohol, ketamine, double dropping and consent when under the influence.
There’s also plenty of fun stuff: interviews with Rhys Nicholson, Hugh Sheridan, Eric Turner, sexy Mr Bradford our cover model, Korean gay boy band Lionesses, and fabulous drag star Art Simone gets the last word! And lots of eye candy, as usual. Enjoy!
Andrew Creagh
Founding Editor
