Federal police have decided to turn a blind eye, while drug educators are wary about the accuracy of information posted on a youth-orientated drug Web site. Either way, the Internet has opened up discussion about the use of illicit substances.
The overseas hosted site www.pillreports.com describes the colour, shape and size of a range of illegal drugs and includes summaries of their effects and how long they last. The site is updated daily to include a list of which state and terrritory the illicit pills are available in.
The site's Australian section contains over 1300 reports and 33 pages.
Anyone can register a user name and password at the site and post comments about a range of party pills, including Butterflies, Pink Barrels, Barbarellas and Blue Love pills.
Rankings
A ranking of 9-10 describes a "completely mind blowing" pill, "the best you're ever going to find (like 150g of MDMA)".
Postings by the likes of efreak, ruski BuzzE, Bobby and Flames include comments such as: "This pill blew me away. It has to be one of the best pills i have eva had. Massive extreme rushes. Really good pill. If u come across this pill make sure u get it. But don't get the ****ed local ones."
Sites like these give people a false sense of security, according to information manager at the National Drug and Alcohol research centre, Paul Dillon.
Unfortunately, "the same drug affects different people in different ways," Dillon said. "Just because it hasn't had a negative affect on one person doesn't mean on the next person it won't either."
No Investigation
There's been a luke-warm response from Australian Federal Police, who say they have no reason to investigate the site.
"This [site] wouldn't be anything the Australian Federal Police (AFP) would have any interest in," an AFP spokesperson told ZDNet.
"There has been no offence committed in relation to having this site on the Web," the AFP spokesperson added. "It's not trafficking drugs, it's providing information," she added.
The AFP claims it's up to the Australian Broadcasting Authority to do something about the site.
"ABA guidelines indicate drug use should not be encouraged [on the Internet] therefore the site is a matter for them," the AFP spokesperson said.
"Nothing is going to be done by us about this site," an ABA spokesperson said.
If the ABA considered the site's material objectionable then a classification assessment would have to be carried out before further action could be taken.
The site would probably have to contain material that instructed the manufacture of illegal drugs or how to administer such drugs to be refused classification, the spokesperson added.
If in the ABA's opinion the site should be refused classification, responsibility would shift back to federal police.
Opinion divided
Opinion on the site varies between health educators.
"There's no guarantee that the information goes through any kind of quality control," executive officer of the Australian National Council on Drugs and Alcohol, Gino Vumbaca said. "Anyone can post information on the site."
Postings on the site are of personal experiences that are unverified, according to Vumbaca.
Furthermore, "there's a fine line between providing information and promoting," Vumbaca added. "Where do you draw the line?"
