Around 50% of all Australians have taken an illicit substance at some point in their life, while around 20% of Australians regularly use drugs.
The media likes to highlight people who use drugs in ‘problematic’ ways that are anti-social or life-threatening yet from the glitziest clubs in Sydney, to the smallest town in rural NSW, yet people use drugs for a range of reasons.
These reasons include using drugs for pleasure, to enhance the experiences of a festival, party or club, to have earth-shattering sex, to wind down and relax, or for a myriad of other life situations. We should think about how we can reduce the harm that drugs can sometimes cause.
People throughout time have always used drugs. Harm reduction is about acknowledging that people will continue to use drugs. Harm reduction includes strategies and services to ensure that people can use drugs safely. Needle and syringe programs and pill testing are great examples of harm reduction.
Harm Reduction is part of the Harm Minimisation Strategy – an Aussie invention that came about in the 1980’s as a compassionate response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Due to this strategy, the incidence of HIV amongst people who use drugs in Australia is the lowest in the world.
Managing the highs -and-lows of our drug use is just like having your own personal harm-reduction strategy, and maybe some of the following tips below might be helpful for you.
Consider your drug use in a non-judgmental way. It’s one of the very best things we can do and stops the ‘negative talk’ that can spiral our thoughts into despair and depression and anxiety.
Define your boundaries – what, when, why, and where are great questions to answer. Stick to your boundaries but don’t beat yourself up if you break them. If you break your personal boundaries frequently, chat to a health care professional, or get some peer support from the NUAA Peerline 1800 644 413 or Positive Life NSW 1800 245 677 (freecall in NSW).
Manage your comedown by being kind to yourself, eating healthy, drinking lots of fluids and get plenty of rest and relaxation.
If you think things have gotten a bit out of hand, reach out to a dedicated support service such as Lifeline 13 11 14, the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline 1800 250 015 or get some peer support from NUAA’s Peerline (above).
Stay up to date, and well informed, with the Drug Alerts issued by NUAA and the NSW Ministry of Health (https://nuaa.org.au/drug-alerts).
Stay safe, have fun, and put those harm reduction practices into place so you can party well in to the future!
