Church-led Coalition Calls for Drug Decriminalisation
On Friday morning, Sir Richard Branson launched Uniting’s Fair Treatment campaign at Sydney Town Hall. The well-known drug reform advocate threw his support behind the campaign that’s pushing for the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use, as well as...
Australia’s First Cannabis Medicine: An Interview With Little Green Pharma’s Fleta Solomon
Locally-grown and produced medicinal cannabis products are finally available on the Australian market. Western Australian company Little Green Pharma is the first amongst a number of producers to deliver the long-awaited local product since cannabis medicines were legalised. However, this...
Cannabis Legalisation Is Inevitable: An Interview With ADLaRI’s Ben Mostyn
Global drug prohibition had its beginnings over a century ago. And the intensification of its law enforcement aspect – known as the war on drugs – was launched by Nixon in 1971. In NSW, this prohibitive system is reflected in the...
The Cannabis Climate in Australia: An Interview With SA Cannabis Council’s Matthew Rowland
Attitudes to the cannabis plant are rapidly changing around the globe. Recreational cannabis is now legal in nine US states, while Canada is set to legalise it nationwide. And medicinal cannabis is now readily available in 31 jurisdictions throughout the US. The...
NSW Police Force Doubles Strip Searches
The NSW Police Force has nearly doubled the number of strip searches it carries out after positive indications from drug detection dogs. In 2016, police officers carried out around 590 strip searches after an initial search turned up nothing, while in...
Calls to Stop Baseless Ban on Amyl Nitrite
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has just released an interim decision that would see amyl nitrite and other nitrite inhalants banned across Australia. The proposal would move these drugs into schedule 9 of the Poisons Standard along with substances such...
Legalising Personal Cannabis Use: An Interview With ACT Labor MP Michael Pettersson
ACT Labor MLA Michael Pettersson introduced a draft of a private member’s bill into the territory’s Legislative Assembly on 19 September that would effectively legalise the personal use and possession of cannabis. The Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill...
Dr Katelaris Spent Four Months in Prison for Possessing Massage Oil
Renowned medicinal cannabis practitioner Dr Andrew Katelaris was arrested in April after being pulled over by police on the Central Coast. The doctor was charged with supply of a prohibited drug, as an officer found two small bottles of what...
Richmond’s Safe Injecting Room Saves Lives: An Interview With NRCH’s Demos Krouskos
The North Richmond Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) opened its doors on 30 June, and it’s already been hailed a success. Over its short time in operation, staff at the facility have treated over 140 people for potentially fatal overdoses. The...
Statistics on NSW Drugs Busts Exaggerated
The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has announced it has mistakenly double-counted a large number of drug busts over the past seven years - an admission which many believe further bolsters the argument that the war on drugs...
