Pre-release blurb for Hammered

‘Because of the nature of the drug life involved, many people will find connections with the writing of people like William Burroughs, but I actually see an older linkage to the work of Malcolm Lowry, who wrote so poignantly of alcoholism, lost hope and hope regained.’

–Kris Saknussemm ~ Author of Zanesville, Private Midnight, Sinister Miniatures and Enigmatic Pilot

Great new review for Festive Fear: Global Edition!

A great review for Festive Fear: Global Edition, in which one of my stories features.

The reviewer really liked my short, Santa Akbar!

‘G. N Braun hits the juxtaposition jive with the excellent Santa Akbar! Aka The Taking of QF123. I for one simply love Braun’s Christmas carols, they are so insanely brilliant that you wonder if the dude wasn’t traumatised by something in his adolescent years, perhaps a rabid reindeer or something. One to read the Kiddies on Christmas eve, especially if said Kiddies belong to relatives you really don’t like. To be honest I want a whole collection of Braun Christmas goodness, over to Stephen Clark to get that happening’
http://www.scaryminds.com/reviews/2011/book105.php

Thanks, Scaryminds, for the high praise!

GNB

Druggies are people too…

Druggies Are People, Too…

Constantly demonized by the media, press and politicians, drug addicts are labelled as the dregs of humanity, unable to function within our society and personally to blame for some of society’s problems, such as the rising crime rate.

They are portrayed as a constant threat to the more vulnerable members of our society, such as the elderly, women and children. In this way, addicts are personified as a danger to our way of life, and are perceived thus by the majority of Australians. This view is inherent in society’s perception of drug addicts.

Drug-related crimes command much steeper sentences in the court system than other, comparable, criminal acts, and the offender is also punished for acts that have no impact on others, such as possession and self-administration of illicit substances.

The dysfunctional addict is punished for his crime, while the criminals and corrupt police who supply these substances, as well as functional addicts, largely go unpunished.

The system fails to differentiate between drug suppliers and drug addicts, treating both as criminals rather than treating addiction as a social or medical problem insofar as sanctions are applied. This perpetuates the belief that drug-addicts are criminals and should be punished rather than treated medically for their addicted state.

It is suggested ‘The study of social problems has traditionally taken a positivist line. It confined its subject matter to the dramatic forms of deviance, such as sexual perversion, gambling, drug addiction, crime and so on’ (Sargent 1997, 362). (emphasis added)

This focus on the criminal subculture and its portrayal as all that is wrong with our society has allowed our government to victimize the victim, in this case, the drug addict, and punish him/her for a perceived weakness of character, rather than look at the deeper sociological causes of the addict’s disease.

All the time I come across functionalist attitudes…
“Goddamn junkies.”
“Never trust a junkie.”
“They prey on society and young people.”
“I’d never want a junkie living near me or my kids.”

And then there’s the headlines… you know the ones I mean…

‘Junkies steal, society pays’
‘Junkie mugs old lady’
‘Junkies threaten our elderly’
‘Junkies: Society’s bane’

The popular media has added to the stigma of deviance imposed on addicts by our society, compounding the social impression of ‘dangerous drug addicts’ with sensationalistic stories of violence and drug pushing on our children and harm to vulnerable members of society.

The general public’s lack of education in drug-related matters, as evidenced in most ‘informed discussions’, ensures the current ideology regarding substance-abuse doesn’t change.

Addiction becomes a crime against society, although with no real victim apart from the addict themselves. The only crimes against others occur when the addict must gain enough money to buy a drug that is only sold on the black market by profiteers who drive the price beyond all realistic limits due to society’s prohibition of the drug, thereby perpetuating the reality of criminal addicts through the dominant policies of society itself.

The dominant hegemony defines criminality in a society at any given time, using the crime statistics as a way of keeping the rest of the population in a state of fear to reinforce control.

Drug addiction has been seen as a personal or moral weakness for too long in my opinion, and addicts have been a convenient scapegoat for deeper rooted problems and inequities within our society. Particular acts or states of being are defined as criminal, depending on the current popular views of crime and drug abuse within society, while others are ignored or considered non-criminal in nature.

The dysfunctional drug-addicted individual is always an easy target to blame for the negatives occurring within any society.

Remember… the ‘junkie’ you’re looking down your nose at is someone’s son or daughter, someone’s sister or brother, someone’s father or mother.
Someone loves them dearly, and prays every day for their recovery.

Druggies are people, too…

References:
Sargent, M, Nilan, P, Winter, G (1997) The new sociology for Australians, Addison Wesley Longman Australia, South Melbourne Victoria

Druggies are people, too…

Another new post on the Hammered blog…

http://beenhammered.blogspot.com/2011/06/druggies-are-people-too.html

Safe Injecting Rooms

Safe Injecting Rooms – The arguments for and against

 

Recently in Melbourne, Australia, the State Parliament overturned plans by Yarra City Council to set up a safe-injecting facility in Richmond, one of the most drug-ridden suburbs in the city.

 

Richmond has a real drug problem. The Housing Commission flats are riddled with heroin addicts and heroin dealers. Residents have to put up with these addicts and dealers flooding the streets on a daily basis. Used syringes lay discarded everywhere throughout the back alleys and stairwells of buildings, forming a real and serious health-risk. Drugs and money are exchanged in public places, usually on the main shopping strip, as well as all throughout the back alleys around Victoria Street.

I know all of this because I was a heroin addict for over twelve years, visiting Richmond on a daily basis to score and use the drug. I even lived in the commission flats for a period of six months. The sub-culture of drug-use is ingrained in the area, and will likely never go away. Enforcement by police will only move it around, it will never eradicate it. Jail one dealer, and two more spring up from the countless users that inhabit the suburb and other parts of Melbourne.

Just as police action won’t eradicate the drug issue, denial of services won’t drive it away either. The question should always come back to harm-minimisation for both users and the immediate environment.

What is a Safe-Injecting Facility (SIF)?

A SIF provides a safe and supportive monitored environment for users of IV drugs to have their hit. It commonly includes an intake area, a waiting area, injecting spaces, availability of medical equipment for overdose, a contact café, primary healthcare space, toilets, an alarm, a telephone, and, in some cases, a smoking/inhalation room (Broadhead et al., 2002; Kimber et al., 2005). In the intake area, clients register before being admitted to the waiting area (ideally a large area).

SIFs typically provide multiple services to Intravenous Drug Users. Their main purpose is to offer a place where drug injecting can occur, which is staffed at all times by health professionals (Broadhead et al., 2002). The primary role of SIF staff is to provide safer using education to clients without directly assisting the clients with injecting their pre-obtained drugs (Fast et al., 2008; Schneider & Stover, 2000; Kimber et al., 2005). In particular, safer using education is provided to clients identified as being at greatest risk for blood-born virus transmission or injecting-related injuries or diseases due to factors such as homelessness or engagement in sex work (Wood et al., 2005). This approach is reported as being valued by clients as it allows clients to raise health and welfare concerns during the injecting process (Fast et al., 2008).

Other services commonly provided by the staff at SIFs include overdose response, counselling, outreach, safe disposal of used injecting equipment, Needle & Syringe Exchange Program, opportunistic brief intervention, access to primary health care, and referral to other health and social services (Broadhead et al., 2002; Kerr and Palepu, 2001; Kimber et al., 2005; Wood et al., 2004).

Typically there are 10-12 injecting spaces in a SIF. A hand-washing area is also provided. Clients are generally allowed a time period of around 30-45 minutes to inject. A space may be available for clients who wish to stay at the facility after injecting (Broadhead et al., 2002).

(Yarra Drug & Health Forum 2009, pp11-12)

THE ARGUMENTS:

There are many arguments both for and against installing safe injecting rooms in drug-riddled suburbs. The main ones are as outlined below:

·The Case For Safe Injecting Facilities:

-Prohibition has been proven over and over to be ineffectual in controlling what is termed ‘anti-social’ behaviour. Since we can’t seem to stem the demand for illicit drugs by criminalising the act of taking them, we, as a society, need to review the entire concept criminalising addicts and users. It would be more effective in regard to community health to try and lessen the impact of drug-use on both the users themselves and the immediate environment and society that the users inhabit.

-Safe rooms would allow for more careful monitoring of users, and for proper disposal of discarded equipment, like syringes, which can be a massive health risk to others if discarded improperly. Safer injecting practices reduce the incidence of blood-borne viruses in users and hence the wider community. By reducing public injecting, the public is less at risk from discarded needles and paraphernalia.

-Users would be less likely to share needles and to use contaminated equipment; there would be less incidents of overdose, lessening the demand on emergency services; by referring users to medical treatment, incidence of addiction is reduced, resulting in a decrease in demand for illicit drugs. In Sydney, where there exists Australia’s only Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, users are able to be referred to appropriate services to seek help for their issues with drugs of dependence.

·The Case Against Safe Injecting Facilities

-The term ‘Safe Injecting Facility’ is an oxymoron. It would send the message that an inherently dangerous act is, in fact, safe.

-Heroin is a prohibited substance, and by establishing injecting rooms authorities are sanctioning illegal activity. Allowing drug use even in a controlled environment sends the message to drug users – and potential future users, including children – that sometimes drugs are OK. The existence of a safe injecting facility encourages ongoing drug use rather than reduction or cessation. If users have a safe environment to use drugs, they have no incentive to stop doing so.

-The “honeypot” effect: Once users have a sanctioned place to congregate, opponents say drug-related crime will increase in the area. According to this theory, dealing, violence and drug-acquisition crimes (eg stealing to pay for drugs) will intensify due to the ready supply of clients.

THE REALITY:

The arguments as outlined above have been circulating for years.The difference is that now there’s a decade’s worth of research to either back up or refute each claim. Sydney first opened the King’s Cross safe room ten years ago. Since then, the Kings Cross SIF has been operating successfully, without becoming the ‘heroin-mecca’ many naysayers proclaimed it would become. The arguments against seem to be grounded in the ‘people shouldn’t be using drugs anyway’ mindset, but we all know that what people shouldn’t be doing rarely interferes with what people DO do. The ‘ostrich’ method of pretending not to see the real issue won’t help us here. The fact is that illicit drug use does occur within our society, and we need to look at effective ways of dealing with it and with the people who do it. Clogging up our jail system with addicts and street-level dealers who are addicts themselves doesn’t seem to be working, so it’s time to adopt a more effective approach. In my opinion, the harm-minimisation ideology that has been incorporated in Australian drug-treatment circles is the best way to overcome the threat posed by drug addiction. We can close our eyes and pretend it doesn’t affect us; we can say it’s a legal problem; we can say that by providing services to reduce the risks involved we are enabling drug-users. When all is said and done, this problem is here to stay, and it’s best treated as a social problem rather than a legal one. Drug-addiction is an illness, like alcoholism, and can only be cured through intervention and access to services rather than prison terms for already marginalised addicts.

Related Articles:

http://theaustralianheroindiaries.blogspot.com/2011/05/safe-injecting-room-hysteria-hits.html

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/street-divided-on-how-to-stem-flow-of-illegal-drugs-20110518-1et6a.html

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2011/05/23/259461_opinion.html

http://enews.vaada.org.au/news/2011/04/11/media-release-vaada-saving-lives

http://enews.vaada.org.au/news/2011/06/01/media-release-buoyancy-foundation-safe-injecting-rooms-contribution-public-discussion

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/18/3219682.htm

 

References:

Broadhead, R.S, Kerr, T.H., Grund, J-P.C., Altice, F.L. (2002) “Safer injection facilities in North America: Their place in public policy and health initiatives” Journal of Drug Issues, Winter, pp 329-356.

Fast, D., Small, W., Wood, E., Kerr, T. (2008) “The perspectives of injection drug users regarding safer injection education delivered through a supervised injection facility” Harm Reduction Journal, 5 (32).

Kerr, T., & Palepu, A. (2001) “Safe injection facilities in Canada: Is it time?” Canadian Medical Association Journal, 165 (4), pp 436-437.

Kimber, J., Dolan, K., Wodak, A. (2005) “Survey of drug consumption rooms: service delivery and perceived public health and amenity impact” Drug and Alcohol Review, 24, pp 21-24.

Schneider, W., & Stover, H. (Eds.) (1999). Guidelines for the operation and use of consumption rooms. In Proceedings of the conference: Consumption rooms as a professional service in addictions-health (J. Kimber, Trans.). Available http://www.devianz.uni-oldenburg.de/share/download/Leitlinien-English.rtf

Wood, E., Kerr, T., Montaner, J.S., Strathdee, S.A., Wodak, A. Hankins, C.A., Schechter, M.T., Tyndall, M.W. (2004) “Rationale for evaluating North America’s first medically supervised safer-injecting facility” The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 4 (5), pp 301-306.

Wood, E., Tyndall, M.W., Stoltz, J-A., Small, W., Zhang, R., O’Connell, J., Montaner, J.S.G., Kerr, T. (2005) “Safer injecting education for HIV prevention within a medically supervised safer injecting facility” International Journal of Drug Policy,16, pp 281-284.

Yarra Drug and Health Forum(2009), The potential and viability of establishing a Supervised Injecting Facility (SIF) in Melbourne Position Paper, YD&HF, Melbourne.

 

Hammered, the blog

I decided to create this blog to raise awareness of issues of drug-dependence and addiction, and to promote my own forthcoming memoir of addiction. I intend to post updates on my book, Hammered, as well as outlining what it’s like to be addicted to heroin, and to be dependent on other drugs.
I’ll be inviting others suffering from substance abuse issues to post here, from addicts to users, or family and friends of drug users.
I’ll also do my very best to answer any question posed on these issues.
I’d like to invite anyone affected by addiction to email me at gnbraun@live.com if you’d like to post here.

* * *

I abused drugs from the age of 16. I used marijuana, pills and amphetamines for over twenty-five years, and was addicted to opiates for more than ten years. I got off the smack (and the buprenorphine) in 2007, and finally stopped smoking dope in 2010.
I decided to write Hammered to bring to people’s attention the many issues that lead to drug abuse, as well as highlighting my own journey into and out of drug addiction.

* * *

As part of my journey to wellness I wrote my story, in the hope that it can help others see that addiction is NOT a dead-end street, that there is a way out.
I found it, and so can you. So can your son, your daughter, your brother or your sister. So can your husband or your wife, or whoever you love that is lost in drugs.
Don’t give up on them, or they may just give up on themselves.
GNB

New Blog for Hammered, and for discussion of drug-abuse

http://beenhammered.blogspot.com/

Check it out if you have time…

Hammered – Cover Art

‘
And here it is.
The final cover art for my upcoming memoir, Hammered. Nice and gritty, and a photo set in the area where a lot of the action takes place.
Anyone from Melbourne knows you don’t get through Richmond without seeing at least one drug deal go down. The area is rife with heroin and ice.
Most people forget that human beings live there, too. All they see is the drug-culture.
All I see is the humanity lost…

‘Read this and weep—and maybe help change someone else’s life. It’s never over on the street until you’re gone.’
-Kris Saknussemm
Author of Zanesville, Sinister Miniatures, Enigmatic Pilot and Private Midnight

To be released later this year by Legumeman Books.