Legalising the Inaccessible: An Interview with Medicinal Cannabis Advocate Dr Teresa Towpik
A medicinal cannabis bill that would make it easier for terminally ill patients to access imported cannabis medicines passed through the Senate on Thursday. However, it’s expected the Turnbull government will vote it down in the lower house. This really...
Drug Decriminalisation Is Logical: An Interview with SSDP Australia’s Penelope Hill
The tough on drugs approach has been shown to actually increase the harms associated with the use of illicit substances. However, successive Australian governments have ignored the evidence and continue to apply zero tolerance policies. Nowhere is this more apparent...
LGBTIQ Harm Reduction Innovations: An Interview with Unharm’s Kane Race
Australian authorities continue to take a heavy-handed law enforcement approach to illicit substances. This is despite the evidence that suggests zero-tolerance policies actually increase the harms associated with the use of illegal drugs. Victoria police are currently pushing for expanded...
Drug Possession Charge Quashed Due to Illegal Search
A man was recently acquitted of a conviction of drug possession in the NSW District Court, when he appealed his conviction by the Local Court on the ground that a police officer’s search was unlawful. The case reiterates that police...
Pill Testing Approved for Aussie Music Festival
Finally, after years of calls from health professionals and members of the public, Australia is about to see its first government-sanctioned pill testing trial at a music festival, with the aim, of course, of reducing the dangers associated with drug...
AOD Media Watch: Correcting Mainstream Media Misinformation About Drugs
On March 31 this year, an opinion piece appeared in the Age with the headline, The zombie apocalypse is here and none of us are safe. The author Wendy Squires relates a confrontation she had with a man, who’d allegedly...
Your Rights When Approached by Police at Music Festivals
The hot weather is starting to kick in and with it, the festival season is upon us. Thousands of revellers are gearing up to take in their favourite live music acts, get down to some old skool beats, or spend...
Stop Murdering Drug Users: An Interview with Harm Reduction Advocate Pascal Tanguay
At 8pm on Thursday night, Catholic leaders across the Philippines rang their church bells simultaneously for five minutes to honour those who have died during president Rodrigo Duterte’s “reign of terror.” The ritual will take place for the next 40 days and...
Medicinal Cannabis for the Elderly: An Interview with Canna Nanna Karen Burge
The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s Special Access Scheme (SAS) is a formal arrangement that allows patients to import unapproved therapeutic goods into the country. There are two main pathways to access imported medicines via this scheme: category A and category B....
Residents Demand Safe Injecting Facility
The Melbourne suburbs of North Richmond and Abbotsford have long been the site of an extensive street drug market. And with it come the harms associated with an unregulated and criminalised drug trade. Between 2009 and 2015, there were 96...
