Question for Wolverine

[mare_idol]

In the nerd post you wrote:

"Gets paid to talk about sex & drugs = cool"

Wow, can you elaborate -- that sounds exciting

(I'm guessing you either write a column or have a radio show?)

[8D]

[WolverineSyr]

I wish I had a show...

I work for a human service agency that has several state contracts to provide education to health & human service workers, teachers, teens and parents. Most of my funding comes from the Dept of Health. I teach people how to work with HIV-infected patients/clients, issues around the disease, risk & harm reduction, medications, etc.

I do a lot of other topics, like Urban Legends, how not to overdose, etc. I do a lot of consulting work & my agency gets called a lot for me to come in do stuff for people.

Plus, I do workshops for rehab centers. If you ever want to hear gory drug taking practices - I'm your man!

I like it all, but it's time for a change!

[mare_idol]

Good for you!

If you feel like sharing some stories, please share them, I'm very interested.

When you say "how not to overdose" can that mean with herbs/supplements as well?

I just started working in a health food store part-time and people ask me a lot of questions regarding how much of something to take. I always advise them to talk to a holistic doctor because everyone is different.

[MARV]

Hey Mare, pardon me for asking what may be interpreted as a stupid question as I may be missing something here but could'nt you make these posts in the "nerd" thread itself? Very cool about your investigative journalism award by the way.

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>

[WolverineSyr]

I don't know anything about supplements & herbs really. I usually caution people who are taking any prescribed medication & want to take supplements or herbal stuff to really do their research & absolutely take the bottle or package to their doctor before they take it. A lot of medications can have a pretty bad interaction with herbal stuff. After all, a lot of prescribed drugs are based on natural chemicals in the frst place.

When I say how not to overdose, I mean illegal drugs. People who use coke or heroin generally are good about dosages - it's when people take meth or other "homemade" drugs is when people need to be real dose specific & try a little before going for whatever they think is a normal hit. You never know what the ingredients are, where they stopped cooking, and how pure or impure it is. If they're taking ketamine, they also have to be real aware of dosages because there's a real fine line between "ok" & too much.

That sounds weird for people to hear - it's called risk reduction. "Dead addicts don't get better." If you help someone take drugs smarter, they have to potential to quit them someday. Little steps get you to the big picture. Abstinence is a great concept, but it doesn't happen overnight. It's a theory that can be applied to drug education, sex education, quitting smoking, dieting, whatever.

[mare_idol]

Marvy Marv -- that's a great question! Heh, I do that on the raw food board too when I want to get someone's attention. Sometimes the posts are so long with a million responses and if I have a particular question for someone, I don't want it to get lost in the mix, as I've had happen a few times.

Do you ever get dizzy from those super long threads? I do

Wolverine -- WOW! That's so smart -- great points! I'd like to get into doing something like that.

[MARV]

I think everybody should do what I do and just go straight to the "Active Topics" page. You'll only see the threads that have been replied to since your "last visit" if that's what you set it at. You can also select different time frames for what is shown, be it last twenty four hours, week, month, etc.

Sorry, I'm just little bit of an organizational freak er..."nerd" [;)]

Actually, I'm [i]alot[/i] of bit an organizational nerd [8D]

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">I dig whales.</a>