Source: Reuters
By: Abigail Levene
(AMSTERDAM) — “Vogue” it ain’t. But “Mainline Lady,” a new Dutch glossy magazine for female drug addicts, is perhaps the ultimate in heroin chic.
Stuffed with tips on fashion, sex, beauty and health — the stock-in-trade of women’s journals the world over — the new magazine bears a passing resemblance to its more staid sisters.
But “Mainline Lady,” financed by the Dutch health ministry, is definitely no mainstream publication.
Its fashion model is Shauna, a tattooed recovering addict. The sex section recounts recollections of a junkie prostitute. The beauty rubric counsels on countering drug-induced dry skin, and “Dear Doctor” deals with HIV (news – web sites) hazards for syringe users.
Wijnie, a 38-year-old cocaine and heroin addict from Amsterdam, gets a hair and face make-over. An HIV-positive former convict talks about her grim experiences in prison.
The magazine is the brainchild of the Mainline foundation, a 10-year-old non-governmental organization that works to improve the health and quality of life of drug users.
Mainline has published a general news sheet for drug users for a decade. It decided to create the glossy after women clamored for something to address their specific needs.
“Female users are not just skinny hags. They have lots of interests, and that’s what we wanted to reflect in the magazine,” editor-in-chief Jasperine Schupp told Reuters.
Schupp said women had welcomed the magazine, which is being distributed free by Mainline across the Netherlands. If the pilot — circulation 5,000 — is successful, further issues will be published.
“Our readers’ surveys have found that leaflets about drug use and risks are not widely read,” said Schupp. “If you want to sell your message, you’ve got to package it right.”
“CONDOM WASHDAY”
Humor — albeit distinctly black — comes in the form of a cartoon with the punning title of “hevig huishouden,” offering tongue-in-cheek tips to bored housewives.
“Huishouden” means either to keep house, or to wreak havoc.
The cartoon depicts a fishnet-stockinged, ghoulishly grinning housewife ironing her silver foil. By her feet is a washing basket overflowing with used syringes; over her head, washed condoms hang out to dry.
“Have a weekly condom washday,” is one tip. “Experiment with new drugs, then test them on your clients” it suggests, or ”Sharpen your syringes regularly — it’s good for the environment.”
Horoscopes are also on offer. Capricorn promises luck in love, advising: “Make sure you have enough condoms.” Cancer promises “your dope will taste better than usual” and Libras are assured their doctor will “for once understand what your problem is, instead of just prescribing methadone again.”
The poignant horoscope for Gemini points up the difference, however, between “Mainline Lady” and mainstream women’s magazines with their relentless emphasis on slimming.
“At last you’ll manage to put on a bit of weight,” it says.
Much of “Mainline Lady” makes grueling reading. Tales of drug-fueled prostitution and abuse, AIDS (news – web sites) and hepatitis infection, jostle for space in the 31-page glossy.
Perhaps the saddest piece is “Times Past,” where childhood photographs of three grown-up addicts flank first-person descriptions of their lives in their carefree, drug-free days.
“When I look at this photo, I think: “If only I could live my life from that moment over again. Then I didn’t have any scars and I looked great,” recounts Thilene, whose picture shows her smiling at the age of nine.
Despite its no-holds-barred exposure of the emotional and physical toll that drug abuse takes on women, the magazine does not urge readers to fight their addictions.
“We treat people like adults, offering them information so they can make healthy choices,” said Schupp. “Getting them to kick the habit is not our first priority.”
