Black
Poppy Publications
is a non profit
making voluntary organisation that creates and produces
the drug user's health and lifestyle magazine, Black
Poppy. It
began in 2000 with a small group of people, drug user's,
who wanted to produce a publication that would address
some of the health and lifestyle issues that affect
us on a daily basis. We wanted to delve into and tackle
some of the other more 'hidden' influences on our
lives such as drug treatment, discrimination in healthcare settings, social exclusion, stereotyping
and often, an unbelievable ignorance.
We were acutely aware of the shortage of drug user focussed
information that really related to us and ourllifestyle; the drugs we take, how we
take them, the health problems we encounter, the trials
of drug treatments and therapies, relationships, prison, harm reduction issues
- not to mention the long and often frustrating road
through drug & alcohol treatment clinics.
BP magazine wanted
to provide a platform for people to be able to talk
about their views and experiences - a narrative by us, for us on
our own community. We wanted to utilise the specialist knowledge and understanding we have of our communities and begin taking some control back -
Drug users must be seen as part of the solution, not the problem.
We believe it is crucial we step up to the challenge to work within our communities, regionally and nationally to create safer and wiser drug strategies and policies for the future
Today
We produce a quarterly, 40 page magazine that covers
a wide range of topics. Drugs - what we're using,
what's new, what we're substituting, drug policy,
history, experiences and treatments, therapies, health, overdose prevention and culture as well as news, views
and contacts.
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Black
Poppy WEB-ZINE
Our website will contain not only the best bits from
our magazine but will also include additional news, health and lifestyle information, stories
and artwork from you, the reader, drug user politics and user activism,
events coming up and many of the issues and concerns
that are relevant to us in the drug using community.
Email
the editor and crew at BP and let us know what you'd
like to see either online or in our magazine. If you'd
like to contribute with personal stories, articles,
artwork poem or prose - we'd love to hear from you
- we pay 20 pounds for every article we publish. Black
Poppy does not judge people who use drugs but believe
that those who do should not be denied the right to
up to date information on a range of drug,
health and lifestyle issues, in order to make more informed and hopefully safer, decisions. Black Poppy Magazine
reflects what is going on in the drug using community.
It keeps abreast of health issues rarely discussed
elsewhere and challenges the misinformation and myths about drugs
and drug users. We believe we can try to be more informed, support each other where we can, share safer information, challenge the media hype and bring innovative and brave new ideas on drugs and drug use, into future discussions, strategies and policies that surround the drugs and the drugs discourse.
You
can find out more about what our magazine has to offer
and details about how to subscribe to our hardcopy
magazine on our online subscription page or take a
look at our back issues - they'll be available soon
in PDF format - but we're currently sold out of most
of our hard
copies. Thanks for checking out BP and stay tuned
as our site develops.
Erin
O'Mara -Editor
blackpoppy@btconnect.com
Open days:
Tel: +44 0207 622 7770
Tue-Fri, from 1pm-6pm
FESTIVAL & ARTISTIC SUPPORT:
The BP Collective offer support, information and
advice for festivals and events. BP also provide accurate and insightful knowledge of drugs and drug issues for use in the art and media sectors, in an effort to challenge stereotypes, address the volumes of repeated misinformation, and challenge the notion of drug users as shameful, criminal, and numb.. Please get in
touch for further details. blackpoppy@btconnect.com
Black Poppy has started a group for drug user magazines from across the globe. Join this rmembers only list and share ideas, information and knowledge.
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BP attends a protest on drug testing and it's punitive uses in treatment.
