Authorised Psychiatrists Will Soon Be Allowed to Prescribe MDMA and Psilocybin
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced on 3 February that two popular recreationally used illicit substances, MDMA and psilocybin, will be available to specifically authorised psychiatrists to prescribe to patients for certain mental health conditions. Better known as party drug ecstasy, MDMA...
Taking The Piss: Is Urinating in a Public Place a Crime in New South Wales?
At around 9.20pm on Saturday 16 July 2022, a 31-year old man allegedly climbed to the rooftop of a packed Sydney Cricket Ground during a Wallabies test match and appeared to relieve himself . Shortly thereafter, police arrested the man...
Agitating Against Mardi Gras Corporatisation: An Interview With Pride in Protests’ Mikhael Burnard
In less than a fortnight, Sydney city will be awash with hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe, as WorldPride 2023 kicks off, with the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras incorporated into the international event this year. So,...
“The Threat From China Is a Lie”: Peace Activist Nick Deane on the Build Up to War
Talk of war with China has been mounting over recent years. The current Labor government, and the Coalition before it, have been warning that Beijing has become increasingly aggressive, which is leading to growing tensions in the Indo Pacific that...
Ecstacy and Magic Mushrooms to be Approved for Treatment
In a major win for those suffering from chronic depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has added Psilocybin - or magic mushrooms – and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, or ‘ecstacy) to Schedule 8 (Controlled Substance) of the Poisons...
Government Talks Loud But Does Little to Bring Julian Home
Many aspects of the ongoing detainment of Julian Assange in London’s notorious Belmarsh Prison at the behest of the White House, as it continues to seek the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition to the US, have been criticised as measures that undermine...
DNA Evidence is Not as Reliable as Many Believe it to Be
TV-shows like CSI and Bones, have seared in the public consciousness the image of the faultless crime fighting forensic scientist and infallibility of DNA evidence. But the reality is that DNA evidence is not what many believe it to be...
‘Sextortion’ is a Crime in New South Wales
Over the past decade or so, social media has become a popular way for people to connect and get to know each other. But sadly, it has also become the preferred mechanism for nasty and unscrupulous people to ‘catfish’ others,...
What is A Voir Dire?
A lot of legal jargon is outdated, confusing, unnecessary and even counter-productive to ensuring the law is comprehensible to all people - whether represented by a lawyer or self-represented - and that access to justice is fair, regardless of whether...
How Can I Find Out if Someone is a Lawyer?
On 24 January 2023, a defended criminal law hearing was stopped in its tracks in Downing Centre Local Court after information was received to suggest the young man who was presenting himself as a practising lawyer was never in fact...
