Drugs chat with Stephen Parker
NHS nurse consultant, Steve Parker, dropped by for a chat about cannabis, cocaine and drug treatments.
Steve: Hi everyone.
LuckyStrike: Evening Steve.
Steve: Hi LuckyStrike, how are you doing?
LuckyStrike: Not too bad thank you. I have one question. As someone who suffers with blood pressure problems, are there extra risks to consider if using recreational drugs?
Steve: Absolutely, have you got any particular drugs in mind?
LuckyStrike: Coke or ecstasy mainly.
Steve: Those are the drugs that have risks attached to them in particular I'm afraid.
LuckyStrike: Is it something you'd definitely recommend avoiding then?
Steve: They all have an impact on the heart in that they make it beat faster and in the short term raise blood pressure which can be dangerous to someone with high blood pressure anyway.
LuckyStrike: I understand, thank you.
Steve: No problem.
morrocan_roll: I believe stimulants are the most destructive of the recreational drugs.
Steve: On a continuum of harm they rate pretty highly it's true!
morrocan_roll: What kind of treatment do you give - twelve step stuff?
Steve: No I mostly do motivational interviewing, CBT and relapse prevention.
morrocan_roll: You've got me there, is it total abstinence?
Steve: No, harm reduction - we take what we can get!
morrocan_roll: Harm reduction is good.
Steve: We look at reducing the harm that drugs and alcohol do and make it as safe as possible.
Randomgirl: Do you believe the rumours that Leah Betts died due to "drinking" lots of water through her vagina? It's a point that my friends often debate but I'm a bit sceptical.
Steve: I must admit I've never heard that rumour.
Randomgirl: I think it may have been in the Daily Mail.
morrocan_roll: That's the first time I've heard that one Randomgirl!
Randomgirl: My friends are quite a strange bunch though.
Randomgirl: In the past I've been given temazepam for sleep but they had like no effect on me at all.
Steve: Some people don't have a reaction to benzodiazepines.
Randomgirl: I thought the doctor was trying to trick me and they weren't even sleeping tablets but I looked online and it said they were.
"The thing with coke is that the end user can't tell what it is cut with, which is where problems can start."
Steve: Yes they are a kind of sleeping tablet.
Randomgirl: Is it true they banned the liquid capsules because people inject them and have to have their legs amputated?
Steve: Yes that's true.
morrocan_roll: Have you seen any cannabis linked psychosis?
Steve: I work with clients with mental health problems and drug use, so yes, a lot! Cannabis makes some people aggressive too.
morrocan_roll: The only people I ever met in forty years of smoking dope that lost their marbles were those who were very odd beforehand.
Steve: There's no doubt that cannabis psychosis causes more harm in those that already suffer with problems.
morrocan_roll: In forty years of using the stuff I have met thousands of smokers and known only a handful ended up needing mental health help. I believe others would probably have done so eventually through.
Steve: They are certainly out there!
ladyjade: I've spoken to quite a few people who wished they hadn't touched cannabis, not because of anything extreme, it just didn't add anything to their quality of life.
morrocan_roll: I know people like that as well...it's not for everyone.
Randomgirl: My step brother got really addicted to cannabis when he was young. It caused him loads of problems, more than the harder drugs he took. He's clean now though.
Randomgirl: I read in the Telegraph that chewing on a mouthful of coca leaves is the equivalent of snorting a line of coke. It sounded a bit unlikely to me as I chewed them a fair bit in South America, it just made my mouth numb but had no other effects. Are they talking nonsense?
Steve: Coca leaves have a small amount of coke in them but the way you get it out takes ages.
Randomgirl: Yeah, like a tiny trace. Do you think users can tell when cocaine has been isolated from coca leaves versus when it has been synthesised in a chemistry lab? Or do they feel the same?
Steve: You can't synthesise cocaine. The thing with coke is that the end user can't tell what it is cut with, which is where problems can start.
Randomgirl: You can't synthesis it?
Steve: No. All cocaine comes from South America. Well almost all of it.
Randomgirl: There are lots of methods online for synthesising cocaine, but they are really long, they must be just a load of shite?
Steve: As far as I'm aware you need the base ingredient.
morrocan_roll: The nearest synthesis is the anaesthetic drug novacaine and you can't get a high off it...I nearly died trying. I injected novacaine and my heart stopped, my body seized up and I fell over like a plank...never try it.
Steve: Good advice.
morrocan_roll: The reason I suppose I injected such a dangerous product was down to lack of education. There was no such thing as harm reduction back in the black and white days just a massive global ads campaign to tune in and drop out
Steve: And we all know how that turned out!
Randomgirl: It's hard to tell what's actually harmful though as doctors and public health campaigns and the media tell us that so many things are dangerous so it's hard to distinguish between different risks.
Steve: That's why we are doing chats like this - to try to give the facts rather than take a moral stance.
**helen**: Cheers Steve, we're gonna wrap things up now, so catch you later.
Drugs chat with Stephen Parker
NHS nurse consultant, Steve Parker, dropped by for a chat about cannabis, cocaine and drug treatments.
Steve: Hi everyone.
LuckyStrike: Evening Steve.
Steve: Hi LuckyStrike, how are you doing?
LuckyStrike: Not too bad thank you. I have one question. As someone who suffers with blood pressure problems, are there extra risks to consider if using recreational drugs?
Steve: Absolutely, have you got any particular drugs in mind?
LuckyStrike: Coke or ecstasy mainly.
Steve: Those are the drugs that have risks attached to them in particular I'm afraid.
LuckyStrike: Is it something you'd definitely recommend avoiding then?
Steve: They all have an impact on the heart in that they make it beat faster and in the short term raise blood pressure which can be dangerous to someone with high blood pressure anyway.
LuckyStrike: I understand, thank you.
Steve: No problem.
morrocan_roll: I believe stimulants are the most destructive of the recreational drugs.
Steve: On a continuum of harm they rate pretty highly it's true!
morrocan_roll: What kind of treatment do you give - twelve step stuff?
Steve: No I mostly do motivational interviewing, CBT and relapse prevention.
morrocan_roll: You've got me there, is it total abstinence?
Steve: No, harm reduction - we take what we can get!
morrocan_roll: Harm reduction is good.
Steve: We look at reducing the harm that drugs and alcohol do and make it as safe as possible.
Randomgirl: Do you believe the rumours that Leah Betts died due to "drinking" lots of water through her vagina? It's a point that my friends often debate but I'm a bit sceptical.
Steve: I must admit I've never heard that rumour.
Randomgirl: I think it may have been in the Daily Mail.
morrocan_roll: That's the first time I've heard that one Randomgirl!
Randomgirl: My friends are quite a strange bunch though.
Randomgirl: In the past I've been given temazepam for sleep but they had like no effect on me at all.
Steve: Some people don't have a reaction to benzodiazepines.
Randomgirl: I thought the doctor was trying to trick me and they weren't even sleeping tablets but I looked online and it said they were.
Steve: Yes they are a kind of sleeping tablet.
Randomgirl: Is it true they banned the liquid capsules because people inject them and have to have their legs amputated?
Steve: Yes that's true.
morrocan_roll: Have you seen any cannabis linked psychosis?
Steve: I work with clients with mental health problems and drug use, so yes, a lot! Cannabis makes some people aggressive too.
morrocan_roll: The only people I ever met in forty years of smoking dope that lost their marbles were those who were very odd beforehand.
Steve: There's no doubt that cannabis psychosis causes more harm in those that already suffer with problems.
morrocan_roll: In forty years of using the stuff I have met thousands of smokers and known only a handful ended up needing mental health help. I believe others would probably have done so eventually through.
Steve: They are certainly out there!
ladyjade: I've spoken to quite a few people who wished they hadn't touched cannabis, not because of anything extreme, it just didn't add anything to their quality of life.
morrocan_roll: I know people like that as well...it's not for everyone.
Randomgirl: My step brother got really addicted to cannabis when he was young. It caused him loads of problems, more than the harder drugs he took. He's clean now though.
Randomgirl: I read in the Telegraph that chewing on a mouthful of coca leaves is the equivalent of snorting a line of coke. It sounded a bit unlikely to me as I chewed them a fair bit in South America, it just made my mouth numb but had no other effects. Are they talking nonsense?
Steve: Coca leaves have a small amount of coke in them but the way you get it out takes ages.
Randomgirl: Yeah, like a tiny trace. Do you think users can tell when cocaine has been isolated from coca leaves versus when it has been synthesised in a chemistry lab? Or do they feel the same?
Steve: You can't synthesise cocaine. The thing with coke is that the end user can't tell what it is cut with, which is where problems can start.
Randomgirl: You can't synthesis it?
Steve: No. All cocaine comes from South America. Well almost all of it.
Randomgirl: There are lots of methods online for synthesising cocaine, but they are really long, they must be just a load of shite?
Steve: As far as I'm aware you need the base ingredient.
morrocan_roll: The nearest synthesis is the anaesthetic drug novacaine and you can't get a high off it...I nearly died trying. I injected novacaine and my heart stopped, my body seized up and I fell over like a plank...never try it.
Steve: Good advice.
morrocan_roll: The reason I suppose I injected such a dangerous product was down to lack of education. There was no such thing as harm reduction back in the black and white days just a massive global ads campaign to tune in and drop out
Steve: And we all know how that turned out!
Randomgirl: It's hard to tell what's actually harmful though as doctors and public health campaigns and the media tell us that so many things are dangerous so it's hard to distinguish between different risks.
Steve: That's why we are doing chats like this - to try to give the facts rather than take a moral stance.
**helen**: Cheers Steve, we're gonna wrap things up now, so catch you later.