New Zealand’s Progressive Medicinal Cannabis Law: An Interview with Advocate Rebecca Reider
The New Zealand government introduced a bill into federal parliament last week that will establish a local medicinal cannabis industry. NZ health minister David Clark said that cannabis medicines could be available in 24 months if the nation follows Australia’s example. However,...
Medicinal Cannabis Doctor Is Being Held Behind Bars on Remand
The benefits of medicinal cannabis have been widely recognised over recent years. Cannabis medicines have been used to ease the pain associated with chemotherapy, to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis, as well as to reduce seizures in cases of...
Norway Is Decriminalising Drug Possession
The global shift towards a health-based approach to the use of illicit substances continues, as Norway becomes the first Scandinavian country to decriminalise the use of illegal drugs. The move is yet another admission that the almost fifty-year-old war on...
Needle Exchanges Are Desperately Needed in Australian Prisons
It’s well-known that illicit substance use occurs right across the Australian prison system. A 2010 Corrective Services NSW report found that just over a third of inmates reported using an illegal drug at least once during their current stint behind bars....
Pill Testing Is Inevitable: An Interview with MP Shane Rattenbury
Despite the initial set back to Australia’s first government-sanctioned pill testing trial taking place, it appears that those behind the initiative are confident it will go ahead. According to them, the question is not if, but when. On September 22,...
Defendant Appeals after Pleading Guilty Due to Incorrect Legal Advice
On the afternoon of 26 May 2015, Brett Ritchie was pulled over by police as he was driving down the Oxley Highway near Wauchope. The officers then arrested him due to outstanding warrants. Whilst standing next to the car, Mr...
Country-Based Drug Treatment: An Interview with Professor David Penington
In late October, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews approved a two-year trial of a safe injecting centre for North Richmond. The inner city Melbourne suburb has long been the site of an open street drug market, and 34 overdose deaths have already occurred...
South Australia’s ‘Medicinal Cannabis Defence’ Hits a Roadblock
Independent public policy think tank Australia 21 released its latest report on drugs back in March. The document outlines thirteen key recommendations designed to minimise the harms associated with illicit substance use. Significantly, eleven of the sixteen participants who produced the report...
Fears for the Life of the Boy Who Cannot Be Named
We previously reported that at around 4.30 pm on May 19 this year, two Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) workers, accompanied by four NSW police officers, entered Newcastle’s Church of Ubuntu, and removed a boy, who’d been residing there...
The British Empire’s Opium Trade Led to the War on Drugs
In the mid-18th century, China was exporting large quantities of highly sought-after commodities to European countries, such as porcelain, silk, tea and spices. By contrast, the goods produced in Europe were of little interest to the Chinese. Under the Qing...
