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About Jacqui
Expertise
I am committed to Harm reduction (is it a dirty word in America??), a philosophy which acknowledges that people are going to continue to use drugs despite all of the effort put into stopping it (case in point - US government drug war ... trillions of dollars, people still using ... hello??) Anyway, I advocate to support people who use drugs by reducing the harms associated with their use through needle and syringe programs, advocating for drug law reform (alcohol legal, marijuana not ... go figure?). I currently manage a service that provides primary health care, health education and needle and syringe program to people who inject. I have also worked as an "on the ground" worker for many years and am currently studying a Masters in Clinical Psychology. Happy to answer questions about blood borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis C, questions about dependency on opiates and other substances. Questions about treatment (particulary methadone and buprenorphine). Questions about harm reduction and why we bother with it. I can try to answer questions about drug tests. As an alternative to my fellow experts, I won't be judging anyone. If anyone has taken a sip of a coffee, or drunk a beer, then ... well we are all drug users, and I don't think we are going to see an end to it! Deal with the real, I say.

Experience
Manage a primary health service for people who inject drugs, and have worked at that centre for 7 years

Organizations
Registered as a provisional psychologist with the Victorian Psychologists registration board (this is for psychologists working under supervision or currently studying a masters). Much of my experience is related to my work rather than to my studies

Publications
conference proceedings - IHRC 2004 & 2005, NSP Conference 2005, Stigma-Pleasure-Practice conference 2006

Education/Credentials
Bachelor of Arts (Humanities), Bachelor of Psychology with Honours, currently studying a masters of clinical psychology, completed one half of a graduate certificate in Addiction studies (transferred to psychology as it had better career prospects) - lots and lots of short training courses.

Awards and Honors
Presented at international conferences (Harm Reduction Conference in Thailand and Melbourne)

You are here: Experts > Teens > Health for Teens > Addiction to Drugs > Hey

Addiction to Drugs - Hey

Expert: Jacqui - 10/30/2009

Question
Its me Alex if you still remember.
I found my brothers stash and I took about a little less than the size of a dime of weed.

If i were to try it, how can I do it safely and not get cought?

Answer
Hi Alex,

I hope you are well. As I mentioned before, I absolutely can't tell you how to take drugs and not get caught. No matter what you do, I guess there is a chance that someone might see you, or your brother might noticed that some of his pot has gone!

I am also not going to say whether or not you should do this. If, however, you have already decided that you want to, then I would always recommend that you take adequate precautions - i.e.: be in a safe place, make sure you don't have to drive a car or operate any sort of machinery, and ideally, have a close and trusting friend with you. The potential negative effects of marijuana are much more likely to be related to high level long term use in people predisposed to mental illness (although this is still being debated), and there are only minimal risks associated with using a small amount once. However, smoking is linked to cancer, so worth considering (once isn't going to do it, but if you really love it and keep going and going and going, then ... well, I really believe that people should know the risks of things before they do them).

Marijuana is a pretty commonly used drug, but some people find it to be really full on and scary. That is why I suggest you have someone with you (just in case you freak out and someone needs to talk you down).

Anyway, as I said, I am not going to make a decision for you, but if you are going to do it, do it safely!

Take care,

Jacqui

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