Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 31 August to 6 September 2020
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Victorian Government Backtracks on ‘Gagging’ Sexual Assault Complainants The state’s government intends to repeal recently enacted laws which prohibit complainants in sexual assault cases from...
A Crime of Compassion: An Interview With Green Light’s Nicholas Morley
Against the backdrop of the ACT having just passed laws to legalise cannabis use, and the pending three year anniversary of the government’s highly derided cannabis medicine licensing scheme, comes a documentary that deals with the reality of medicinal cannabis...
End Prohibition. Vote HEMP: An Interview With Dr Andrew Katelaris and Michael Balderstone
As Australian historian Dr John Jiggens recalled in 2010, an article appeared in a major Australian newspaper in 1938, warning about a “Mexican drug” that causes madness. And this report introduced the term “marijuana” to the Australian public. “Under the...
Police Should Test for Impairment Levels of Drugs, Not Minute Traces
On the first weekend of this month, NSW police carried out a roadside alcohol and drug driving blitz in the Northern Rivers region. And while locals aren’t complaining about officers booking drunk drivers, they are opposed to those charged with...
‘Medicine Man’ Escapes Prison Time for Serious Drug Charges
Veteran medicinal cannabis producer Tony Bower escaped prison time when he was sentenced for commercial drug cultivation, along with other serious drug offences, at Port Macquarie District Court last Monday. Known locally as the Medicine Man, Mr Bower turned himself...
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...
Prohibition is a Recipe for Failure
On 2 June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy declared that the “war on drugs has failed”. The declaration marked a significant shift in public attitude towards the 40-year-old policy launched by US president Richard Nixon that saw the intensification...
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...
Mobilising Against White Nationalists: An Interview with CARF’s Tess Dimos
Milo Yiannopoulos is a name that seems to crop up on your Facebook feed as you flick through it from time to time. A quick scan of his Wikipedia page reveals that he’s a British alt-right figure, who is anti-Islamic,...
Government Refuses to Pay Victims of Police Brutality
The Western Australian government has been criticised for appealing a District Court decision to award $1.1 million in damages to a couple who were illegally Tasered, wrongfully arrested, unlawfully detained and maliciously prosecuted by police after they stopped to help...
