Updated monthly.
Events, News, Meetings, Announcements.
Messages are grouped by subject (event/news/meetings etc) and the most recent appearing first. Please email BP if you have news our readers would find useful, relevant or interesting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS for the months of:
September / October 2007
BP travels to Sofia in Bulgaria in September 27-29th. A European Conference entitled 'Social Inclusion and Health - Crossing the Borders'. Satellite meetings will be held with the European drug user movement and European sex workers. Stay tuned for more info and check our blogg site for reports on the event. www.correlation-net.org
Phatbull hosts the first in a series of events designed to raise awareness of harm reduction amongst the dance and festival community. Kicking off at the Comedy Cafe in Shoreditch at the end of Sep 07, funds raised will go towards Black Poppy and Phatbull's own HR roadshow, taking its music, decks and an innovative harm reduction message to festivals and events across the UK. See below for more details, dates and line up and stay updated with their own website www.phatbull.org Again we will fill you in about the night on our blogg site. Phatbull will be holding these nights monthly as a warm up to their 2008 bank holiday weekend festival. Black Poppy will be there - should be fantastic fun! Support BP and get the harm reduction message out there.
OCTOBER 5TH 2007
Attention!!!! What are you doing this Friday night???
PhatBull www.phatbull.org will be holding the first of regular monthly events at the Comedy Club in Shoreditch . This event is a donations event with proceeds going toward Black Poppy Magazine www.blackpoppy.org.uk and promoting our drug safety message.
Be there or be square.
See 3 Live bands and wicked DJing
Free EP Launch
The Veez
The Fool
Sol Devious
And DJ's
Starts 9.30pm – 3am
Friday October 5 th at the Comedy Club, Shoreditch , London . 66 Rivington Street EC2A-3AY
A PhatBull Event – donations to support drug awareness and harm reduction; Proceeds to Black Poppy Magazine and PhatBull
www.blackpoppy.org.uk and www.phatbull.org (see phatbull for more info)
Know more about the drugs your taking - it'll keep you better informed and more able to make safer, sounder decisions around your own drug use. Don't use drugs blind. Reduce the risks, reduce the harms.
NTA Announcement:
The National Treatment Agency's Third Annual User Satisfaction Survey is one of the best opportunities for service users to give feedback on what's good and bad about the drug treatment they are receiving. Survey responses are then used in the process of improving treatment services to meet users' needs.
Throughout England this September, the NTA's User Satisfaction questionnaires will be available from the majority of adult drug treatment services so if you are in treatment, please take this valuable opportunity to let us know what is working and what needs to be improved. And, if you know people who are in treatment – please encourage them to take part.
For further information about the survey, including a summary of what England's service users thought about their treatment in the last two years, please follow the link here or contact the NTA research team on
Tel: 020 7261 8959.
For more info click here onto our User Activism page to read more about the survey or go straight to the NTA site. BP recommends having a quick look at the confidentiality issues here first before heading to the NTA site for further information.
You can also go direct to our blogg here: Our Bloggspot address is:
http://blackpoppymagazine.blogspot.com/
May 2007
BP travels to POLAND - to the world's largest International Harm Reduction Conference! Updates are live with bloggs and YOUTUBE video. Check out BP's new blogg and video site. A series of interesting reports were posted and 11 drug user reps attended, bringing back the latest, innovative and relevant info on harm reduction for the UK. A brilliant trip. A Big Thanks to the NTA who funded 11 posts for UK user reps to travel to this important global conference, bringing back news for the UK's User Groups.
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News
News Archive for the Year 2007 (to be added soon)
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News Archive for the Year 2006
May 2006
Mexico lifts its ban on pot, heroin and cocaine, allowing users to carry small amounts for personal use. Click here for full article.
October 2006
Dutch Conservatives Crack Down on Coffee Shops
Is the Dutch government wrecking Amsterdam's reputation as Europe's most liberal, "anything goes" destination?
see link: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/42891/
December 2006:
The idea that marijuana is a "gateway" drug has been once again squelched by two new scientific studies.
Two recent studies should be the final nails in the coffin of the lie that has propelled some of this nation's most misguided policies: the claim that smoking marijuana somehow causes people to use hard drugs, often called the "gateway theory."
see link; http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/45535/
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Ongoing Announcements:
Pain and Pain Perception in Opiate Users : An online survey held by the Insitiute for Psychiatry, following on from an article on Pain and Pain relief for opiate users in this issues BP. The purpose of this survey is to investigate experiences of pain and pain treatment in people who have used heroin and other opioids.Pain relief is an area that is fraught with problems for opiate users, and it's essential that more in the medical profession are made aware of how to treat opiate users when it comes to relievng pain. Please fill in the survey and help Dr Tim Mitchell collate information, confidentially of course. http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/painsurvey Currently offline. BP will find out if it the research has been finished. It should be very interesting. Thanks for taking part.
Are you interested in women's issues? Would you like the opportunity to raise awareness, voice your ideas and play a role in making services for women more responsive? We are looking for women with life experience - women like you. In order to support the involvement of women in health & welfare issues,GLADA, with support from Black Poppy, LDAN and the Stella Project has set up a women's advisory body; to influence, advise and inform on the various issues important to women affected by drugs and alcohol in London. Click here or look on BP's womens issues web page.
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MEETINGS:
NUN (National User Network) The UK's national drug user network is holding its next meeting soon. All interested users welcome. Next Meeting Coming Soon:For more info contact: M.O.R.P.H. - or John@ Reading User Forum: www.ruf.org.uk
