Julia Meisner and Philine Edbauer are the founders of #mybrainmychoice. Philine also deals with drugs at the university. Since 2018 she has been doing research in the master’s program “Modern South and Southeast Asian Studies” at the Humboldt University in Berlin with a focus on “State violence in the name of the ‘drug war’ in the Philippines”.

The 29-year-old was questioned, what needs to be done differently in drug policy? How many times have you heard that your petition would play down drugs?

I expect it every day, but that has never happened before! I would also rather say: Our politics downplay the topic of drugs massively. The state has had the same strategy against drugs since the 1970s, and last year 1,400 people died of it. It is obvious how you can prevent the dead and still nothing is done.

What needs to be done differently in drug policy. How the policies can prevent overdoses?

In principle, we are concerned with saying that death is not inherent in drugs. You don’t automatically die when you take drugs. People who take drugs die from complex, individual circumstances. That’s why it’s called drug accidents. This is due to the fact that people dose incorrectly, that they have no information about the effect or that they get infected with other diseases from used spraying equipment.

 “Harm reduction” in connection with the fight against overdoses

“Harm reduction” means, for example, that syringes are exchanged regularly, that there are consumption rooms, drug checking, and information programs. It’s not about not being allowed to take drugs, it’s about keeping the risk of using it low. People take drugs and have not stopped using them. That’s why people die from drugs. The question should be: How can we prevent this?

What are the concrete measures of “harm reduction”?

Let’s take the example of ecstasy. A different dosage is often a huge problem here. People take more than they want and end up in the hospital. One ecstasy pill can contain 80 milligrams of MDMA, but also 200 milligrams. 200 milligrams can be very dangerous for a small, light-weight person. You can’t see what’s inside the pills and that’s a problem. This is how it comes to overdoses. Such things can be avoided with legal regulation. Drug checking means that the drugs are checked for their ingredients beforehand. This way, consumers know exactly what they are taking. Just like with alcohol, it also says what percentage is in it. If you can check your pill before partying, fewer people will die. This has been proven.

In the same manner, the use of diet pills and other dietary supplements. We all know that there is a huge demand for these products. However, without regulation on this type of drug, people die of overdose or misuse. People are not well-informed of the dangers it may bring. Thus, diet pills or supplements like Leptitox need to educate buyers. Read leptitox reviews before committing on a weight loss regimen that includes this supplement.