World Moves Closer to Cannabis Decriminalisation
Despite the lamentable outcome of the NZ cannabis legalisation referendum that saw the usually progressive nation vote in a slight majority against making the plant legal for recreational use, the ongoing international trend towards cannabis use becoming a legal practice...
Managing Problematic Behaviours: An Interview With Smart Recovery’s Josette Freeman
As it’s often said, the first step to recovery is admitting to yourself that you have a problem, while the second step is reaching out. And for many people, what springs to mind initially is 12 step recovery programs, such...
Reining in Police Powers: Shoebridge on His Drug Dog and Strip Search Bill
Over the last two years, unlucky commuters at Sydney’s Central Station have been confronted with NSW police officers accompanied by drug dogs. Deployed at peak hour, these officers have been equipped with screens, allowing them to strip search citizens if...
Legalising Cannabis: New Zealand’s Referendum Setback Isn’t the End
Cannabis advocates across the globe were left gobsmacked last Friday, when the preliminary results of New Zealand’s national cannabis referendum turned up a vote against legalising the comparatively innocuous drug, with 53 percent of those polled and counted voting “no”....
Legalising Cannabis Would Assist Australia Out of Its Deep Recession
Australia is going through its greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures in early September that showed over the 12 months to June the economy had contracted by 6.3 percent. The downturn was...
Should a Regulated Cannabis Market be Introduced in Australia?
Preliminary results from the New Zealand referendum on cannabis legalisation indicate strong opposition to the reform. The results show just over half (53%) of voters rejected proposed changes which would have allowed the legal possession and sale of cannabis products,...
With Tripartisan Approval, Drug Decriminalisation Looks Likely for Canberra
ACT MLA Michael Pettersson is yet again championing the harm reduction approach to illicit substances. This time the Labor backbencher has initiated an investigation into the feasibility of decriminalising the use and personal possession of “drugs of dependence” in the...
Berejiklian’s Heavy-Handed Festival Laws Aren’t Reducing Serious Drug Incidents
It’s anyone’s guess as to how the 2020/21 NSW music festival season is going to pan out, as currently, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, there’s a statewide ban on such events. And with cases of the virus on the...
Upholding the Rights of People Who Use Drugs Post-COVID
The onset of COVID-19 has drawn attention to many of the inequities that our social systems operate under. And the authoritarian response of governments to the pandemic has further highlighted some of the flawed assumptions that underpin the war on...
Canadian Activists Hand Out Free Drugs to Highlight Overdose Crisis
Drug User Liberation Front members appeared at an intersection in the Canadian city of Vancouver on 24 June and handed out free clean cocaine and opiates to highlight the issue of rising overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a result...
