Jump to content
The Corroboree

tronica

Members2
  • Content count

    46
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About tronica

  • Rank
    Psychonaut

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://monicabarratt.net
  • ICQ
    0
  • Skype
    monicabarratt

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Female

Previous Fields

  • Climate or location
    Melbourne, Australia
  1. LAST 3 DAYS OF AUSTRALIAN SURVEY Since July, we have been surveying Australian cannabis growers. 562 growers have generously given their time and sharing their information, stories and expertise through our survey. We thank all of you for your efforts - it is really appreciated by both of us. We will be closing the survey at the end of the month - yes, that's this Thursday 28 February. So, this is your last chance. If you have ever grown cannabis, and have not yet completed the survey, go to http://worldwideweed.nl/ and click on the link next to the Australian flag. If you know anyone who might like to contribute, please forward them this post. FYI, we have already done considerable media based on the interim samples both in November and last week. In November, we focused on medicinal use, and last week on the number of plants above which growers can be automatically charged with supply, as well as animals eating crops (which appeared offline in the mX nationally). The Hack story is the most detailed - I recommend taking a listen. Hack, Triple J [mp3 - 30 mins] Cannabis growers risk supply charges - Nine MSN Skippy's getting stones - mX Backyard pot grown for health - Fairfax (Sydney Morning Herald) We will be updating you as we progress with formal data analysis. We look forward to presenting more findings and discussing them with you! Many thanks Monica Barratt & Simon Lenton
  2. Hello to the SAB community... we are still recruiting for this study. If you have ever grown cannabis and you have not already completed this survey, please have a look and we'd really appreciate your perspective. It's become even more important for medical growers as now that the NSW parliament has launched an inquiry into medical cannabis use, we will use these results to make our submission to the inquiry. So it's an easy way to ensure your experience informs the inquiry if you are not otherwise making a submission. We also hoping to make it to a sample of 420 Australian completed responses! We are currently just under 400 so we'd love it if you could help us get to the magic number
  3. tronica

    The federal model schedules are coming

    Hi there, interesting to read other people's take on this new legislation. I wrote about it on Friday here: http://monicabarratt.net/?p=385 Interested in your comments...
  4. tronica

    Global Drug Survey - released today

    Also, regarding Fairfax and other media partners, they don't have access to the data. They are also not funding the survey. It is self-funded through Adam Winstock's Global Drug Survey company - this way it can be independent from government or any other interested parties. The deal with the media partners is that they will promote the survey and then GDS will provide exclusive stories using the results back to the media partners. The media partners do not create the stories themselves although they do have some editorial control. I think it's a good option to promote a survey to the masses for free without compromising your independence as a research organisation.
  5. tronica

    Global Drug Survey - released today

    Hey folks - just so you know, Global Drug Survey does not collect your IP address. Obviously the researchers cannot be responsible for what ISPs or governments through mandatory reporting from ISPs are collecting. If you are concerned about that, I would suggest using Tor to mask your IP address. In fact I would recommend learning about Tor if you are saying anything that could be incriminating while online. Ahhhh I did a lot of checking through the survey but had not picked up the mistake around methamphetamine. Last year it was cocaine - it only went up to $150+ per gram. Of course everyone in Australia said $150+. Just a function of the survey being originally designed in UK and our drug prices being soooo much higher than theirs. Thanks for pointing it out.
  6. Fairfax is a partner this year so the survey is likely to attract 1000s of Australians and will be the largest survey of Australian drug use ever conducted. So, have your say! Here's the Herald article. And here's the survey. (PS. some interesting modules this year on a pleasure index of different drugs as well as questions on online buying/selling)
  7. Yeah it was a little frustrating - the negative spin the Hack producers put on it. I expected a bit more critique from them... but then again, at least there was a diversity of views from the audience.
  8. Hack's episode this evening will be on this topic - using information from this survey. Listen to Hack at http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/ See the newly published paper at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1465-3362.2012.00519.x/abstract Unfortunately that paper is only available to subscribers... but i've uploaded the proofs version to this post so you can take a read. note that the paper attached does not contain all the stuff about the legislative changes. These will be in a separate paper which we are still working on! Proofs Barratt DAR 519.pdf
  9. I thought this survey was worth posting here as it enables young Australians to have their say on drug policy issues, which I'm sure many of you would be interested in. Short version: Got ideas about alcohol and other drug issues? What do you think should be done? If you are aged 16 to 25 years and live in Australia, we want to know what YOU think! We are doing this survey for the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) - the Council appointed by the Prime Minister to give advice to to government on drug and alcohol issues. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. What you say is completely confidential. You do not have to have tried drugs to participate. Complete the survey and you could go in the draw to WIN one of 2 NEW iPads! Link to survey: http://www.surveys.u...ey/156777/136a/ Long version: You are invited to participate in a study to find out what young people think about responses to alcohol and other drug use in Australia. We want to learn more about young people’s opinions and ideas about policies and initiatives/programs aimed at reducing the harms caused by alcohol and other drugs. You were selected as a possible participant in this study because you are aged 16 to 25 years and live in Australia. Our team (the Drug Policy Modelling Program (DPMP) at UNSW in collaboration with the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) are doing this survey for the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD). This is the Council appointed by the Prime Minister to give advice to government on drug and alcohol issues. We hope young people will benefit because the survey results could be given to government, and they will then have a better idea of what young Australians think about alcohol and other drugs and what should be done about them. We cannot and do not guarantee or promise that you will receive any benefits from this study. If you would like to participate, after reading this page you will move onto an online survey, which will take you 15 to 20 minutes. By clicking ‘I accept’ below, you are agreeing that we can use the answers you provide in the survey. Any information that you provide to us and that can be identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission, except as required by law. We plan to discuss the results with colleagues and disseminate the results through publication in scientific journals, conference and seminar presentations, on the DPMP/NDARC (UNSW) websites, and through the ANCD including via websites, publications, forums and meetings. All data from the survey will be de-identified (so that what you say will remain private and anonymous) prior to analysis and publication. If you would like to receive a summary of the final results, you may provide your email address at the end of the survey and we will email you a two-page summary of the results.You may also provide your email address or mobile number at the end of the survey if you would like to go in the prize draw to win one of 2 new iPads. Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your future relations with the University of New South Wales, the ANCD, YSAS or any affiliated services. If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw your consent and to discontinue participation at any time, prior to submitting the completed survey. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us. If you have any additional questions later, Francis Matthew-Simmons at DPMP (phone 02 9385 0188; email [email protected]) will be happy to answer them. Complaints may be directed to the Ethics Secretariat, The University of New South Wales, SYDNEY 2052 AUSTRALIA (phone 9385 4234, fax 9385 6648, email [email protected]). Any complaint you make will be investigated promptly and you will be informed out the outcome.
  10. Hi DarkSpark - thanks for the support, hope we meet again too! Even if that doesn't happen in person, I'll definitely be able to present these results publicly once they are in and analysed, etc, and I'll make them accessible to everyone here too. There is little chance of funders tainting these outcomes given that we did not seek external funding for this project. This means we are able to continue the project and publish results at our own timing and leisure - we don't have to get them approved by any agency before releasing them. If you happen to know of any grow shop owners that might support this study, please PM me. I can then liaise with anyone who has an interest in supporting the study as we have some small cards which could potentially be included in people's purchases to attract a wider variety of growers.
  11. Cheers Halif. you mean the SR thread? It's insightful for me too. I'm mainly interested in people's perception of risks associated with buying drugs online which seem to vary wildly (as well as trying to ascertain the actual risks, which also seem to vary wildly depending on the situation!). the cannabis cultivation research has brought me in contact with a completely different crew of people, many of whom have illnesses or are on disability and tend to be much older than the 'partying' groups I've generally dealt with in my research. It's sad that these people have to hide away growing a plant that they believe helps them with less side effects than conventional medicine. The issue of medical cannabis is one we want to highlight with this study as there's been little research on this aspect in Australia.
  12. Hi folks, just thought I'd update this thread. We have recruitment over 200 people and 144 have so far completed the whole questionnaire. We will do some more mainstream media over the next month with the hope of recruiting more. but if you know anyone who has grown cannabis, please pass on the link. Thanks
  13. Thanks to those who have completed the survey - perhaps the next project can be about all the other wonderful plants we are growing, as a contrast to the woeful mainstream media clip we've just been subjected to...
  14. Tune into Triple J about now, he's just about to come on.
  15. While all this has been going on, I was looking at new alerts for journal articles and saw this one: Harris, R., & Gurel, L. (2012). A Study of Ayahuasca Use in North America. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 44(3), 209-215. If only this was the story destined for prime time TV tomorrow night...
×