Police Overreach: Officers Harass Patrons Inside Sydney Events Venue
Anti-drug dog campaign Sniff Off reported on 12 November 2022 that it had received reports from Oxford Art Factory patrons that NSW police officers were requiring them to identify themselves via the use of their mobile phones, even though venue security had...
Calls for Inquiry Into Illegal Use of Strip Searches and Efficacy of Drug Dog Operations
A sizable number of Sydneysiders know the experience all too well: it’s early Friday evening, you’ve left work for the week and made your way down to the local, and as you’re sinking a few with some friends, some jokers...
The History of Drug Criminalisation in the Western World
The first importers and suppliers of what are now classed as illegal drugs were not your typical criminals, but a group of nations, called Great Britain, Portugal, France and the United States of America. The Opium war Britain actually started...
Legalising Cannabis Would Lower Domestic Violence Rates
If you’ve ever spent a lot of time drinking in pubs around Sydney, you’ll have heard the legend of the six o’clock swill, which was when bars closed at 6 pm every evening, as a wartime measure, so the patrons,...
ACT Decriminalises Drug Possession: Labor MP Michael Pettersson on Forging Reform
That the century-old system of drug prohibition is a failure is well-established in legal circles, amongst medical experts, those who partake in illicit substances, families who’ve lost loved ones to the use of them, and a growing cross section of...
NSW Parliament to Consider Medicinal Cannabis Defence to Drug Driving
“The current outdated roadside drug testing laws have very real impacts on the people of NSW, who should not have to choose between being in pain and losing their jobs,” said NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann in relation to people...
Thailand’s Cannabis Industry Is Taking Off Under a Hazy Legal Grey Area
The burgeoning legal cannabis market operating in Thailand is a beautiful thing to witness. No longer are police officers busting individuals over the whiff of a joint, but rather locals and foreigners alike can follow that scent to a legitimate...
Australian Police Continue to Raid Cannabis Farmers… Meanwhile in Thailand
Strike Force Mactier raided a Peats Ridge property on 26 August, seizing 50 kilograms worth of cannabis head and 2,137 plants from four greenhouses. NSW police officers arrested three men in relation to the setup, charging them with large commercial cultivation and...
Inside Bangkok’s Legal Cannabis Café
Bangkok’s backpacker mecca Khao San Road has gone through a lot of changes over recent decades. The slick neon-lit bars lining much of the street are a far cry from the more down-home establishments of the past. But the most...
“Police Powers Are Bleeding Out”: Redfern Legal Centre’s Sam Lee on the Strip Search Class Action
The long-awaited strip search class action was filed in the Common Law Division of the NSW Supreme Court on 21 July. The proceedings will cover all music festival attendees, who’ve registered and been subjected to a suspect strip search at events...
