The Offence of Possessing a Commercial Quantity of Unlawfully Imported Border Controlled Drug
Police arrested a 29-year old man on Thursday, 2 September 2021 at his home in Mt Colah in Sydney’s north, after raiding several properties including a storage facility in Hornsby. It has been alleged that the raids led to the...
Victoria’s Ongoing Heavy-Handed Cannabis Policing Is Harmful
The Victorian state government has created a “ring of steel” enforced and protected by police. Protection from COVID-19, you’re thinking? Well, yes, but there is another ring of steel operating in this state, which is preventing drug policy reform. Already...
The Need for a Medicinal Cannabis Driving Defence: An Interview With Former Magistrate David Heilpern
The NSW government introduced the state’s much maligned drug driving laws in 2007. The regime criminalises any trace of the psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, in the system whilst driving. The federal government, however, legalised the use of medicinal cannabis...
What is the Drug Court Program in New South Wales?
Deputy Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley AM will be made a permanent judge of the District Court and will be sworn in as the Senior Judge of the New South Wales Drug Court in the coming weeks. Deputy Chief Magistrate Mottley...
The Offence of Participation in a Criminal Group in New South Wales
30-year old Dylan Farrell, who once played for the St George Illawarra Dragon and South Sydney Rabbitohs, has been arrested in Nowra, south-east New South Wales. Police say he was arrested at around 8.30am on Thursday, 8 July 2021 when...
The Offence of Supplying a Large Commercial Quantity of Prohibited Drugs in NSW
Two New South Wales men are facing charges for drug offences after police allegedly seized $12 million worth of crystal methamphetamine, or ‘ice’, and cocaine in Sydney’s South West over the weekend. Police allege the two men were arrested during...
Drug Busts Like Ironside Make No Substantial Impact
Charges continue to be laid against those arrested in relation to the nation’s “most significant” drug racket investigation, Operation Ironside. More than 250 arrests have been made, six drug labs were shut down, over 3.7 tonnes of illicit drugs were...
PM’s Continuing ‘War on Drugs’ Rhetoric Ignores That There’s a Better Way
During an 8 June press conference, PM Scott Morrison called on Australians to reject illicit drug use, as “it fuels organised crime in this country, as well as “human misery” here and in many “parts of the world”. The prime...
What are the Penalties for Prohibited Drug Offences in New South Wales?
The main piece of legislation in New South Wales which facilitates the prohibition of drugs is the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (‘the Act’). The main criminal offences contained in the Act are divided into two parts: Summary offences...
Driver Who Filmed Dying Police Officer Sentenced in Court
The man who filmed a police officer while she lay dying on the road after being hit by a truck could walk free from prison in the coming days, after receiving a backdated sentence of 10 months in prison. The...
