Hi-Ground

🚨 Introducing Hi-Q – Queensland’s new anecdotal drvg warning system.

With Queensland no longer having access to drvg checking services, Hi-Q is our response—an anecdotal warning system that collects and shares community reports to help keep people informed and reduce harm.

Have you or someone you know experienced an unexpectedly strong effect, overdose, unusual reaction, or a suspected adulterated substance?

Hi-Q collects anonymous community reports from across Queensland to help identify emerging trends and share timely alerts with the community. By sharing your experience, you’re helping improve harm reduction and keep others informed.

You can submit a report or view current warnings through the Hi-Ground website or visit www.hi-q.org.au.

At the event, we also played a Fact or Myth game and asked:
💭 “If you’ve taken a substance before, it will always have the same effects.”
Answer = ❌ Myth!
Drvg effects can change from one occasion to the next. Factors like dose, potency, adulterants, your physical and mental health, medications, food, sleep, hydration, the setting, change of supplier and mixing with other things can all influence your experience.
That’s why staying informed, looking out for your mates, and keeping up to date with community warnings through Hi-Q can help reduce harm.

Want to help contribute to our new community info sharing system?

Peer-Based Reporting: Anonymous reports from PWUD notifying peers about a bad batch, unusual side effects, or unexpected drug contents.

Service Providers: Data from NSPs, drop-in centers, or harm reduction workers regarding localised overdose clusters or unexpected reactions you’ve heard from clients.

Post-Event/Event-Based Reports: Information gathered following music festivals or nightlife venues regarding patrons who have had unusual or negative experiences.

PartySafe

We had heaps of fun running into a chemistry whiz at the event who we all agreed would make the perfect game show co-host

This round of the Drugs Wheel landed on Empathogens (think MD*MA, MDA, 4-MMC and others).

The greatest overlap on the Drvgs Wheel is between stimulants and empathogens which our game player also mentions. While many empathogens also produce stimulant effects, they are included as a separate category because some substances (such as MDAI) primarily increase serotonin activity without producing noticeable stimulant effects.

It’s also important to remember that drvgs can affect people differently, and some substances fit into more than one category. For example, many synthetic cathinones can produce both stimulant and empathogenic effects.

*Empathogens vs Stimulants*
These categories overlap, and some substances can fit into both. While both can increase energy and heart rate, empathogens are more likely to produce feelings of empathy, emotional closeness, and enhanced sensory experiences, whereas stimulants primarily increase alertness, energy, and focus.

*Things to watch out for with M**A*
Overheating and dehydration
Drinking too much water
Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Jaw clenching and teeth grinding
Anxiety or panic
Trouble sleeping or low mood afterwards

Nausea and vomiting can also happen, especially on the come-up, due to MD's effects on serotonin, overheating, dehydration, higher doses, or mixing with other substances.

*MD & antidepressants:* Some SSRIs can reduce the effects. Taking more to compensate can increase the risk of harm, and combining MD with MAOIs or other strongly serotonergic medications can be dangerous. Never stop prescribed medication to use MD without speaking to your healthcare provider.

One final takeaway: language matters. While our chemist friend uses terminology common in scientific and medical settings, as harm reduction workers we prefer person-centred, non-judgemental language like "drvg use" or "substance use" rather than "drvg abuse" or "substance abuse." Reducing stigma helps create safer, more supportive conversations.

We asked a few people what their rave essentials are for a great night out 🎶✨

The answers were all different—from an asthma inhaler and prescribed medications, ear plugs to chewing gum, lighters, great music, and even “a boyfriend to carry my handbag” 😂.

While everyone’s list looks a little different, here are a few essentials we think everyone benefits from:

🤝 Be the mate you’d want around – Look out for each other. If someone seems uncomfortable or unsafe, check in or get help from staff or security.

🧠 Just Say Know! – Know what you’re taking, avoid risky combinations, and remember: you can always have more, but you can’t take less. Learn more at hi-ground.org.

💚 Consent matters – Consent should always be Clear, Ongoing, Never assumed, Specific, Enthusiastic, and Two-way. No means no.

💧 Heat, hydration & hunger – Drink water, replace electrolytes, eat before you head out, take breaks, and cool down when you need to.

📱 Have a safety plan – Charge your phone, choose a meeting spot, stay with your mates where possible, don’t leave drinks unattended, and plan a safe way home.

💊 Pack your personal items – Bring any medications you need (in their original labelled packaging where possible), along with essentials like inhalers, EpiPens, insulin, naloxone, or anything else you might need.

🩵 Check in with yourself – Your physical and mental wellbeing matter. Risks can increase if you’re tired, anxious, unwell, hungry, or mixing substances (including alcohol and medications).

Now we want to hear from you! 👇 What’s one rave essential you never leave home without?

Keen to join a passionate team of harm reduction party people?! Do you live around or near Mackay region?! We’d love to hear from you and offer you free training and a spot on our team for Mushroom Valley Festival in September.

Get in touch with us asap as applications are closing soon!

💙 Drvg Category Spotlights: Depressants, Opioids & Cannabinoids.
Depressants affect the central nervous system, slowing down the messages travelling between the brain and body. Common depressants include alcohol, G and benzos.
In this round the wheel landed on effects so we were looking for the following:
😌 Feeling relaxed, confident, euphoria and care-free
🐢 Slower reaction times
🗣️ Reduced inhibitions and risk-taking
⚖️ Poor coordination and balance
😴 Drowsiness, sedation, unconscious, blackouts or coma
⚠️ Nausea, vomiting, dependence

💚 Depressants vs Cannabinoids: What’s the Difference?
While depressants and cannabinoids can have similar effects, they’re not the same.
🤝 Similarities
Both can: Promote relaxation, cause drowsiness, impair coordination and reaction time, affect memory, concentration, and decision-making
🔍 Key Differences
While depressants slow activity in the central nervous system, cannabinoids act on the body’s endocannabinoid system and are more likely to alter mood, perception, appetite, and sense of time—making these the key clues that distinguished cannabinoids from depressants.

💚 Opioids vs depressants: What’s the Difference?
Opioids and depressants are often confused because they share some effects, but they are different categories with different primary mechanisms of action.

🤝 Similarities
Both can: Make you sleepy, slow your breathing, and impair coordination.

🔍 Key Differences
The biggest difference is that opioids primarily relieve pain by acting on opioid receptors, while depressants slow activity in the central nervous system more broadly. Mixing either with other depressants (including alcohol) can dramatically increase the risk of overdose.

Knowing how different categories affect the body can help you make safer, more informed decisions.

Hi-Ground is all about partying safe and learning more... and we think this can be done in fun interactive ways. We went to a rave with a new game to test people’s party knowledge!

🛞 What is the Drvgs Wheel?
Not all drvgs affect the body in the same way. The Wheel is a harm reduction tool that groups substances by their primary effects on the brain and body, helping people better understand how different ones work and the risks they may carry.
The wheel categorises them into seven groups:
🔵 Depressants
🔴 Stimulants
🟣 Psychedelics
🟢 Cannabinoids
🟠 Opioids
🟡 Dissociatives
🩷 Empathogens

Understanding these categories can help you:
✔️ Recognise the effects you may experience.
✔️ Understand why mixing certain ones can be risky.
✔️ Make more informed decisions to reduce harm.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing some snap shots of interactions we had with party peeps, and explaining what the categories are, common effects, and key harm reduction tips.

Knowledge is one of the best tools for staying safer. 💙