Under the motto "The dose makes the poison", drug use was discussed on Wednesday evening at the Hamburg Aidshilfe organisation. Our role model Florian, who caused quite a stir last September with his open stance on the subject of drugs and risk minimisation, was there. Here is his blog post about the discussion at the Hamburger Aidshilfe.
Whether it's AIDS service organisations, volunteers, youth groups or trendy bars and restaurants. We have now been on tour for six months with our talk "The dose makes the poison". The start is usually the same. Only a few people answer the question "who has ever used drugs". Nobody thinks of alcohol, nicotine or the all-too-popular poppers. It's a difficult topic that I discuss with my role model colleague Franz in Hamburg with interested people at the AIDS service organisation - drugs: Everyone has their own image of it. It usually has something to do with syringes, with moral concepts or with a marginalised group.
A marginalised group within other marginalised groups?
Now Franz and I are already gay, HIV-positive and also take drugs. A marginalised group in two other marginalised groups. You can hardly be more marginalised than that. Or so you think. But when I look around me, every weekend there are lots of people exactly where we are, who have the same conditions and are heavy users. That's why the discussion about this topic is important, because it is "mainstream" within the scene.
Today, drugs are no longer an issue of failed personalities. Drugs are omnipresent, in many places even socially acceptable. And some people who point the finger at users sometimes don't realise that their vodka bulls at the weekend are also part of the drug scene.
Whether it is about legal or illegal drugs should be left out of the conversation with the community and those affected. This is the only way to approach the topic and thus important prevention tips at eye level and without moralising.
At Aidshilfe Hamburg, this has been a great success. The volunteers and interested parties listened very attentively to our presentation on Wednesday evening about the different substances currently in use and their effects, side effects and interactions. Openness always leads to openness.
Fringe group my arse
I noticed this again during our presentation in Hamburg. Little by little, the initial reticence gives way to interested and in-depth questions. We discuss the fine line between controlled consumption and addiction, experience a group that thinks "drug checking" is a fantastic idea and get a thank you from a participant who, despite the booster in his HIV medication, has never thought about the dangerous interaction when consuming ecstasy and wants to be much more careful in future.
Mission accomplished: In the end, there are more people who have experience with consumption than you might think. A marginalised group, my arse.
"It's good that I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING is talking about a topic like this and helping to prevent drug-related accidents," someone says to us as we say goodbye. I think he's right.
