The High way code. the guide to safer, more enjoyable drug use [MDMA] Who developed it?

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1 The Hgh way code the gude to safer, more enjoyable drug use [MDMA] Who developed t? What s t? The frst gude to safer drug use voted for by people who take drugs. How was t was developed? GDS asked loads of people who take drugs, as well as other experts, what strateges they thought would reduce the rsk of harm when takng some commonly used drugs. As part of GDS24, we asked people from around the world who had used those drugs n the last year to vote on these strateges. For each strategy we asked: The guys and gals at Global Drug Survey a nce bunch of smart people who know a bt about drugs and, wth people s help everywhere, wll contnue to learn more and share what they fnd out. Anythng else? Yep follow us lke us on Facebook and check out our free apps the drnks meter: and the app stores, and the drugs meter: and google play store. For more nterestng nfo on drugs check out our drugs meter mnutes vdeos on the Global Drug Survey YouTube channel. For suggestons on how to mprove GDS, emal: adam@globaldrugsurvey.com 1. f they usually (.e. more than 5% of the tme) dd t 2. to rate how mportant t s n reducng the rsk of harm ( beng the reducton of rsk) 3. to tell us whether usng that strategy ncreased, decreased or had no effect on the they got from the drug. Know your drug effect, the dose, tme to onset, tme to peak and how long t lasts All drug effects are dose related. Usually the more drugs you take the stronger and longer lastng the effects (and the greater the rsk of harm). Because drug purty and potency vares so much you need to treat every new batch as a new drug. Ths means test dosng each new batch. Knowng how strong your drug s can help you ttrate (adjust/measure) how much you take so hopefully you get the effect you want and avod overdosng. By knowng how long t takes for a drug to come on and how long t lasts, you reduce your rsk of takng too much. People also vary wdely n how they respond to drugs and how much they need to take. Everyone has to fnd ther own rght dose. Not all drugs sut all people so f you get anxous or paranod on a drug don t use t. Remember beng greedy s not good for you. Less s more. Don t ever be worred about callng for an ambulance f you re worred about the state of a mate. desgned by: Off Whte GDS does not condone or promote the use of llegal drugs. GDS does promote the use of common sense when gong about one s daly actvtes. Drugs and alcohol can be very dangerous. They can kll you. Usng drugs when you are young can have a lastng negatve mpact on your cogntve and emotonal well-beng. The only way to avod to these harms s not to take drugs. Ths document represents the vews of those who responded to the GDS. Please note: no amount of plannng and care can ensure you wll have ether a safe or enjoyable experence when you take drugs. GDS s smply reportng the results of the survey whch may provde some gudance n reducng the rsk of harm only. The best way to avod drug related harm s to not use drugs.

2 ntroducng the GDS Hgh Way Code GDS knows drves drug use, not the avodance of harm. As far as we know no gude has ever outlned the mpact of harm reducton strateges on the users obtan from drugs... untl now global drug survey Ours s a smple premse: as wth drvng, there are thngs you need to know and rules you should observe n order to get you to your destnaton safely. Beng aware of these makes you much more lkely to get to your planned destnaton n one pece and much less lkely to cause harm to anyone around you. Please share these fndngs, they really are mportant. over 18, users Usual dose Tme to onset Tme to peak Duraton of acton MDMA comes as plls/tablets or crystal (powder). Accordng to GDS22 most people seem to prefer crystal MDMA to tablets because t s easer to ttrate the dose. The varatons and uncertanty about what s n your tablet or powder reman, however, regardless of preparaton. Crystal MDMA can vsually be almost dentcal to methylone or crystal methamphetamne. See our drugs meter mnute of MDMA plls and powders at: 8 mg 3 6 mn 2 3 hrs 6 8 hrs Ths number ndcates the percentage of people who told GDS they usually follow the strategy. Ths dal tells you how mportant users thought ths strategy was n reducng the rsk of harm. xx.x% How to read the Hgh way code x.x 6 drug name Reducng rsk from x.x% xx.x% xx.x% Pleasure mpact rated by users Here you can check how many users thought ths strategy ncreased, decreased or ddn t affect ther. mportance n reducng rsk mpact on Percentage of users who usually... 9% 91% 5% 85% 54% % 6% 44% 82% 15% 61% 37% Stay well hydrated Keep an eye on frends Test dose a new batch Use trusted dealer Set lmts on amount used Use home testng kt Avod usng when depressed/anxous Check forums before usng new pll Eat properly Wat 4 weeks before sessons Have regular sleep after sessons Have one person n group test some Rest from physcal actvty Drnk less than 6 alcoholc drnks 2

3 9% 1 stay well hydrated Make sure that you stay well hydrated by drnkng lots of water and other non-alcoholc 1 Stay well hydrated by drnkng non-alcoholc drnks through the course of drnks an MDMA sesson mn 8.8 mportance n reducng rsk 5% 42% 53% mpact on Stay well watered. f you dehydrate, your body loses the ablty to sweat. f you can t sweat, then you lose one of the major ways to reduce your body s temperature. Together wth takng a break from physcal exerton and coolng off, drnkng non-alcoholc/non energy drnks s one of the most mportant ways of reducng the predctable and avodable serous rsk of dehydratng and collapsng. Alcohol s a bad rehydraton flud because t s a duretc (.e. makes you pee), so t actually makes you lose water. Drnk lots of non-alcoholc fluds and stay cool. Lsten to your body and drnk when you feel thrsty (about.5ltre/hr). 2 keep an eye on frends 2 keep an eye on frends Keep an eye on frends who have also taken MDMA through the course of a sesson 91% mn 8.7 mportance n reducng rsk 11% 42% 47% mpact on Common sense and beng a mate don t need an explanaton. Mates wll spot somethng gong wrong almost before anyone else does so f you are worred, do as most of you do and look out for your mates. Cheap, smple and so very mportant. f they get unwell get help. 3 test dose a new batch 3 test dose a new batch Test dose a new batch by takng a small amount frst (half a pll or less/quarter of your usual dose of MDMA powder) and watng for at least 9 mnutes before re-dosng 5% mn 8.4 mportance n reducng rsk 17% 43% 4% mpact on How to deal wth no qualty control. You don t know what s n your pll or powder, and even f t s MDMA (as t often s these days) you don t know the amount or purty. So test dosng (usng a fracton of your usual dose or ¼ pll) and watng for at least 9 mnutes (even longer to avod the rsks of drugs lke PMA and really strong MDMA plls) before re-dosng, can protect you aganst takng too much of somethng nasty and/or gve you some sort of clue to potency/dose n your pll/powder. Knowng how strong your drug s can help you ttrate (adjust/measure) your dose so hopefully you get the effect you want. Some people thnk takng ½ doses leads to a ncer, longer-lastng effect. 4 use a trusted dealer 4 Use a trusted dealer Buy your MDMA plls /powder from a trusted frend or dealer 85% mn mportance n reducng rsk 3% 38% 59% mpact on t s no guarantee but a bt of common sense someone you know s probably less lkely to rp you off and may be more nterested n your welfare than a random dude you meet n club. t s no guarantee but people seem to thnk t s very mportant and we guess they have based that on some extensve experence. 3

4 5 set lmts on amount used 5 set lmts on amount used Set a lmt for how much you wll use on a day that you use MDMA 54% mn mportance n reducng rsk 12% 52% 36% mpact on Common sense. Not usng too much too often wll avod the development of tolerance and wll gve your bran a chance to recover between sessons so that you can enjoy your drugs to the full when you use them. Hgher doses tend to cause more unwanted effects and the comedown s worse. t also costs more. Less s more as they say. 6 use home testng kt Use a home testng kt to try use home and fnd out a bt more about testng kt your MDMA pll/powder 6 % mn mportance n reducng rsk 5% 42% 53% mpact on Not much evdence out there. They don t seem that popular. See our drug meter mnute vdeos on testng kts and ther lmtatons: avod usng when depressed/anxous 7 avod usng when depressed/anxous Avod usng MDMA when you are feelng depressed/anxous /paranod or physcally worn out 6% mn mportance n reducng rsk 8% 38% 54% mpact on Set and settng old school drug law. Some people fnd that f they are already feelng down, usng ecstasy or cocane can make them more depressed. Accordng to one theory of depresson (the monoamne hypothess) low mood s due to low levels of certan chemcal transmtters lke serotonn and dopamne. These chemcals let bran cells talk to each other. A happy bran s one where there s good communcaton between cells. After takng a drug (lke MDMA or cocane) whch emptes your bran cells of what lttle transmtter they had left, people often fnd themselves even more depressed. And f you are on antdepressants, best avod any stmulant drugs at all. Not only wll the stmulant drugs work aganst the effects of the medcaton, but your comedowns wll be far worse. 8 check user forums before usng new pll 8 check user forums before usng new pll Check user forums / pll test stes before takng a new pll 44% mn 8 mportance n reducng rsk 4% 46% 5% mpact on Forums vary. Revews and revewers vary. The content of plls (even f they look the same) vares wdely even over bref perods of tme. n some cases, pll reports can alert users to dodgy plls. But GDS s unsure of just how much they can reduce the rsk. We guess that as long as you mplement everythng else to keep yourself safe, then checkng reports onlne could be a useful bolt-on. 4

5 9 eat properly 9 eat properly Make sure that you eat properly after a perod of MDMA use, even f you don t feel hungry mn 7.7 mportance n reducng rsk 6% 56% 38% mpact on Your bran on/after drugs needs food. Food reflls your body wth the buldng blocks t needs to make the chemcal transmtters whch your MDMA sesson has just empted. Bananas, chocolate, kw frut, nuts, honey, marmte, turkey, multvtamns, mlk or juce are all good recovery foods. wat 4 weeks between sessons wat 4 weeks between sessons Leave a gap of at least 4 weeks between MDMA sessons mn mportance n reducng rsk 6% 34% 6% mpact on Don t drve on empty. MDMA causes a massve release of chemcal transmtters n your bran (that s why you get a buzz). After a sesson, your bran can be pretty much empted of them (the comedown). MDMA also slows down the refllng of bran cells wth these chemcals (by blockng an enzyme that converts tryptophan nto serotonn). t takes at least a week or two to get back to normal. Not usng too often means that you also avod developng tolerance to the desrable effects of MDMA. Many people thnk that a four week break s a good mnmum dstance between use perods. Lots of clubbers seem to agree as well. 11 have regular sleep after sessons 11 have regular sleep after sessons Make sure that you get regular sleep after a perod of MDMA use 82% mn mportance n reducng rsk 5% 53% 42% mpact on Sleep rests your bran. Sleep s good. Sleep lets your bran catch up and process all the stuff that has been gong on. Sleep gves your bran and body tme to recover. Several days of not sleepng worsens your concentraton and comedown, ncreases the rsk of accdents and delays your recovery to feelng back to a normal you agan. Try to avod sleeper drugs lke benzodazepnes or Z drugs because they don t gve you normal sleep. Avod any caffene drnks after 2pm and have a pee before bed. 12 have one person n group test small amount 12 have one person n group test small amount Get one person n your group to test a new batch by takng a very small amount frst and watng for at least a couple of hours (even longer deally snce PMA can take 3 hours to kck n) before takng another dose 15% mn 7.5 mportance n reducng rsk 9% 51% 4% mpact on Who s the gunea pg today? Although people vary n ther response to plls (even dodgy dangerous ones), havng, at least, a tester who takes a tny dose whle beng watched over by hs/her mates somewhere safe before everyone else takes t seems lke a good dea (you just have to decde who s gong frst). f t looks lke an E, but doesn t make you come up lke an E and t doesn t feel lke an E then t s probably not an E. So bn t! 5

6 13 rest from physcal actvty 13 rest from physcal actvty Make sure that you take regular rest/breaks from physcal actvty when you are out clubbng and usng MDMA 61% mn 7.4 mportance n reducng rsk 8% 42% 5% mpact on Be cool. One of the bggest but most avodable rsks assocated wth E s overheatng and dehydraton. Part of the rsk s due to MDMA messng wth your body s thermostat and another part of t s that physcal exerton (lke dancng) can ncrease your temperature. Nght clubs can be hot places and dance floors often have the worst ventlaton. Takng a break from dancng and gettng off the dance floor for mnutes every hour or two can help you avod overheatng. 14 drnk less than 6 alcoholc drnks 14 drnk less than 6 alcoholc drnks Drnk less than 6 standard alcoholc drnks (equvalent to about half a bottle of wne or 3 x 33 mls bottles of 5% beers or 6 sngle measures of sprts) when you use MDMA 37% mn 7.2 mportance n reducng rsk 6% 41% 53% mpact on Alcohol dehydrates you, mpars your body s ablty to regulate body temperature and tends to work aganst the stmulant effects of E. Stmulant drugs tend to offset some of the desrable effects of alcohol, so you re knd of wastng your money f you drnk loads. f you are really thrsty try a non-alcoholc drnk frst and then see f you stll need that beer! Lots of people seem to do E wthout any alcohol they stll seem to enjoy themselves (a lot). 6