Op-Ed: User’s Guide to Speed, From an Australian State government Anti-Drug Workshop

The Daily Telegraph

TEENAGE school students have been given access to a controversial brochure called A User's Guide to Speed while attending a (New South Wales) State Government-promoted anti-drug and alcohol program.

The 35-page booklet, included among drugs literature displayed to up to 100 Year 8 students and parents during a community information day, contains a section on "tips to avoid getting bad speed".

In it, teenage readers are told: "If you don't already have a reliable dealer, try to find one and stick with them.

The rest of the information as reported by the Daily Telegraph is equally unimpressive. Not too surprisingly, people are screaming about the User’s Guide, and the Daily Telegraph is conducting a poll on the subject.

Produced by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the user's guide tells teens amphetamine-related speed can suppress appetite and help in weight loss.

Users are urged to take breaks from using speed, allow time to "come down" so it doesn't interfere with work or study and to carry the phone number of a legal aid solicitor with them.

This is kid stuff. That’s about the only appropriate thing about it. It really is for neophytes who know nothing about speed, as it's been reported. It's the sort of information you'd expect from kids, too. Trusting a dealer is like trusting a disease, and taking breaks from a highly addictive drug is pure blue sky from someone else’s workshop in how to soft sell “Street cred” drivel to government agencies. Speed is part of the notorious “model’s diet”, which does cause weight loss, but at a price. It’s supposed to be administered with medical supervision, because it can tie people’s metabolism in knots, almost instantly. It suppresses appetite, all right, if you like feeling permanently sick, and slightly insane. Noticeable about the information provided is a lack of reporting of any health hazards. Speed is actually a pretty serious drug, and unlike others, it’s invariably bad news for the liver. Combined with alcohol, say hello to cirrhosis. You’d expect anything resembling a study to mention that, but apparently not. Crystal meth, even without any other factors, is also known to cause some very odd effects on the psyche. It is a psychoactive drug, and a lot of violent crime is being blamed on it. Its other party trick is destroying relationships. Reports of massive family problems with teenage users are putting it on a par with Crack as a social engineer. Maybe the government would like to try contracting people who have something which vaguely resembles report writing experience, medical knowledge, and some actual street information? Not nursery rhyme writers with a flair for disinformation? Novelty is after all the soul of drug policy.