Another year, another PaC Forum. Users News brings you a wrap up of the 2024 edition.

Users News publishes something different: a poem from a NUAA community member.

August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), the world’s largest annual campaign to end accidental overdose.  This year’s theme is ‘Together We Can’.  Against this sentiment of hope and togetherness, the title for ACON’s IAOD event ‘Stories from the Underworld’ seems rather mysterious.  

Users News wants to learn more about our readers and what you want to see us cover, so we’ve put together a short 5-minute survey. All questions are optional, but the more information we get about our readers, the better! The survey is anonymous and confidential. We are giving out 2 x $50 gift vouchers for completing the survey! It’ll only take a few minutes, and your input is super valuable to us. Ready to share your thoughts? Survey closes 5 August 2024 at midnight.

Hepatitis C peer worker Kiah Glasson shares her story with Users News and gives the low down on all things hep C.

Users News chats to peer worker Jodie Stevenson about her journey into the AOD sector and how you can get a job in the industry too.

This video was produced by Ukrainian drug user organisation VOLNa, for Support Don’t Punish Day 2023. They say: “Every year on June 26, on the day of the Support, Don’t Punish campaign, the All-Ukrainian Association of People with Drug Addiction “VOLNa” throughout Ukraine expresses its protest against the cruel and senseless state policy regarding drugs and people who use drugs. This year is no exception. The war is going on, all the people of Ukraine have united to fight back against the vicious and dangerous enemy - Russia. And when the unification of the people takes place, it is important to remember all the citizens of the country.”

A poem by one of our readers, Rhosa.

“LSD, MDMA, ketamine, ibogaine: for years I tried any potentially therapeutic substance I could get my hands on. I found my way to empty rooms in quiet places and would take these drugs while listening to music, hoping to find a path to peace.” Al talks about his own experiments with psychedelics, shares insights about how psychedelics have given him a tool, but not the answer, for dealing with mental health issues and speculates over whether psychedelics may be useful in increasing the well-being of society as a whole.

3 women from 3 different backgrounds put their family and their drug use together in 3 different ways

The responsibilities of motherhood changed Pandora’s relationship with drugs. Here she reflects on this and how it has also changed her relationship with herself. “I used to believe that stuff about myself, but I don’t anymore. I know the truth,” she explains. “I know that people who use drugs are people like anyone else and unlike anyone else. We are smart, interesting, creative and uniquely ourselves. We love our families and our friends. We work hard at our jobs. We clean the house and walk the dog. We try to be healthy. We make mistakes. We grow.”

Kira is, in her own words, “a young woman who has been through a lot” but, writing from jail, she tells how she’s re-taking control of her life and shares what she has learned. “For me, the secret to change is to focus all your energy not on looking back fighting the old, but on building the new you,” she says. “Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you like but take the step! It takes courage and resilience to be who you really are in a society that mostly denies your existence.”

Chantell’s Story — I was a sex worker in Darlinghurst for many years. The police, treating us all as criminals, pushed us further and further away from the new posh residential developments, but no matter where we worked we kept our identity as a community, supporting each other. We really had each other’s backs then

These are 2 of the letters to Users News has received from incarcerated peers. Miranda writes to us about getting cured of hep-C and overcoming past trauma. Bill says “Thank God for Buvidal!” because using in jail can be really stressful.

Dove’s boyfriend of nearly a decade passed from a heroin overdose. She talks about dealing with her feelings of grief and guilt, and his family’s regrettable reaction: “The family blames me as much as if I had put a gun to his head.”

People who use drugs, particularly people who use opioids, sometimes experience a great deal of trauma and loss. This trauma and loss is often not taken seriously. We often lack the support we need because the loved ones we lose are criminalised and “brought it on themselves”. The lack of support can be compounded by our own feelings of guilt and blame. We often believe we could have done more to prevent the death.

Steroids can take the form of tablets, capsules, oral liquids and injectable liquids. Common slang terms for steroids include ‘roids’, ‘gear’ and ‘juice’. Steroids are synthetic substances that promote the growth of skeletal muscle.

Parenting is tricky. Scott is a dad who uses drugs. He tells us about the ups and downs of fatherhood, including his experience giving harm reduction advice to his son.

Take the edge off with some calming yoga poses

“Gender had always felt like play for me, and using meth felt like my way to indulge in the drama of the performance. I got off on how binary my expressions were – in a way it was kind of like drag.”

“My gender was linked to the type of sex I was having. And the type of sex I was having always closely related to the types of drugs I was using.  When I started shooting opioids, it wasn’t long before needles became a central part of my sex life…”