Cannabis Legalisation is Coming to Canberra
A piece of legislation that would legalise the personal possession of cannabis for recreational use is to be debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly this week. And with the support of both Labor and the Greens, it’s set to be...
Another Casualty of the War on Festivals: An Interview With a Psyfari Organiser
At the moment, the NSW Liberal Nationals government is conducting an all-out assault on this state’s festival industry. And the reason why it’s doing it, is it can’t deal with the fact that in order to stop drug-related deaths, it...
Pill Testing Kits Available at Pharmacies
The President of the Australian Medical Associate, Kean Seng Lim, has urged caution following the announcement that a pharmaceutical chain is selling basic kits which test for the presence of popular illicit drugs such as MDMA (‘ecstacy’) and cocaine. A...
Police Can Now Issue On-the-Spot Fines for Drug Possession
Since 25th January 2019, NSW Police Officers have been empowered to issue on-the-spot fines for certain drug possession offences. Those who are issued with a fine will avoid a criminal conviction if they decide to pay, rather than contest it...
Getting Honest About MDMA: An Interview With NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann
This music festival season has seen more drug-related deaths and hospitalisations in NSW than ever before. And at the same time, the police presence at these events has also been the heaviest in the state’s history. So, something isn’t adding up....
Beyond Pill Testing: Calls to Legalise and Regulate MDMA
As far as regularly used licit and illicit drugs go, pure MDMA is one of the least dangerous around. This is an idea that might take some by surprise considering the deaths of five young people – who at least thought they...
Government Continues Festival Crackdown and Ignores Pill Testing
Over the long weekend, 25 people aged between 16 and 25 were hospitalised after taking illicit drugs at music festivals around Sydney. This, of course, follows on the deaths of five young people in drug-related circumstances at festivals over the last five months....
Youths Demand Pill Testing to Stop Deaths: An Interview With SSDP’s Sofia Devetak
Decades ago, the Just Say No campaign was launched by Nancy Reagan, wife of then US president Ronald Reagan. Comprised of the simple idea that telling children to say no to illicit substances would somehow stop drug use, the campaign...
Keep Poppers Legal: An Interview With the Nitrite Group’s Paul Kidd
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released an interim decision last year that would see amyl nitrite and other alkyl nitrite inhalants banned. This means these substances popularly referred to as poppers would be moved into schedule 9 of the Poisons Standard along...
Pill Testing Saves Lives, and Does Not Lead to Increased Drug Use
In the wake of a spate of recent deaths at Australian music festivals, the mainstream media is starting to report on the potential benefits of pill testing - and politicians from the major parties are starting to listen. The main...
