Rate or Hate: Drugs Edition

Posted 1:44pm Sunday 21st March 2021 by Sasha Freeman

  Rate Codeine. Have become very familiar with this bad boy this week and I cannot sing its praises loud enough. All u need is a cheeky broken shoulder and you’ll get the prescription in your hot little hands faster than you can say ‘get off me I think I have broken Read more...

Activist Urges More “Bongs On The Ground” Activism

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 21st March 2021 by Denzel Chung

Bert Holmes, a veteran environmental and cannabis law-reform activist, has called for more “loud and proud” cannabis activism by students on campus, saying “that’s how we got to where we are today.”  In an interview with Critic Te Arohi, Bert, now coordinator of Read more...

EDITORIAL: Harm reduction isn’t only for middle-class white kids

Posted 11:27am Sunday 21st March 2021 by Erin Gourley

In case you didn’t notice everything about the magazine you’re holding, this week is our drugs issue. Critic is often criticised for being too pro-drug. And yes, we are 100% pro-drug. I don’t think anyone in our office would say “drugs should stay illegal and I hate Read more...

The Pros and Cons of Different Methods of Consuming Drugs

Posted 3:05pm Sunday 21st March 2021 by Runze Liu

Warning: Drugs can cause harm. This guide does not substitute medical advice. If you think you or someone is in danger from drugs, call 111. Whether you’re just lighting up a joint with your flatmate or you’re about to rail some lines of coke in an R-rated comedy trilogy about a Read more...

KnowYourStuff Tested 161 Drugs During Flo and O

Posted 11:20pm Saturday 13th March 2021 by Erin Gourley

KnowYourStuff tested 161 drug samples during Flo and O Week in Dunedin, according to a preliminary report on their testing service in Dunedin.  This is an increase on samples tested in previous years. During Re O last year, KnowYourStuff tested only 91 samples.  Of the 161 samples, Read more...

Drug Safety Club Denied OUSA Affiliation

Posted 4:55pm Tuesday 2nd March 2021 by Fox Meyer

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is not allowed to affiliate with OUSA. The Exec rejected their application on Thursday 18 February.  The rejection was based on a subclause in SSDP’s constitution that said that while the “social supply of drugs is discouraged”, it Read more...

Dangerous MDMA Substitutes in Dunedin

Posted 5:51pm Tuesday 2nd March 2021 by Erin Gourley

Up to 70% of drug samples tested in Dunedin have been found to contain eutolyne. Most of those samples were presumed by their users to be MDMA. Eutylone is a synthetic cathinone, part of a group of drugs also known as ‘bath salts.’ KnowYourStuffNZ’s testing during Christchurch O Read more...

Can You Buy Drugs From Houses With Shoes on the Powerline? A Critic Investigation

Posted 7:27pm Thursday 14th March 2019 by Sinead Gill

North Dunedin is full of students again, and the stocks of almost-legal substances are getting low. This Critic reporter went on the hunt for drugs using one of the oldest methods in the book. The powerline method. For those unfamiliar with this method, it stems from the urban legend that when Read more...

Drug Testing Finds a Quarter of Substances Not What People Think They Are

Posted 9:24pm Thursday 14th March 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

26% of drugs taken to OUSA’s O-Week drug testing service were not what people thought they were. 61 people used the service which was “well received” according to Finn Boyle of KnowYourStuffNZ, who ran the service for OUSA alongside the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Of the 26% Read more...

Government to pump more coin into drugs

Posted 11:09am Sunday 8th May 2016 by Hugh Baird

Three weeks ahead of this year’s Budget announcement, Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman has announced an extra $39 million boost for national drug buying agency Pharmac.  Prime Minister John Key explained that it would boost Pharmac’s annual budget to $850 million a year. He Read more...