Parents or Foster Care? What to do with at-risk children
By Blake O’Connor and Ugur Nedim A spate of recent cases suggest that children placed in foster care are being exposed to cruel treatment, illegal drugs and even sexual abuse. The foster care system is accused of failing to look...
Harm Minimisation and Beyond: An Interview with Unharm’s Will Tregoning
Australia has a long history of harm minimisation. Since 1985, reducing the risks associated with drug use has formed the basis of the nation’s National Drug Strategy. Indeed, Australia has been a world leader in a field that acknowledges some...
Drivers Beware, Double Demerits Are Here
Ahh, the October long weekend. The weather has started out great, so it’s an ideal time to take a little road trip out of the big smoke. But be warned: double demerits point apply on our roads from today until...
People Power: Russian Drug Users Fight Government
Three drug user activists are challenging the Russian government’s zero-tolerance approach to illegal drugs. The trio have filed a case in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), claiming Russia’s blanket ban on substitution treatments is an abuse of their...
NSW Drug Driving Laws: Arbitrary, Unfair and Without Evidentiary Basis
NSW Police are well into their unprecedented ‘crackdown’ on drug driving, with an explosion in the number of roadside tests for the presence of illegal drugs over the past 18-months. Last year saw a 109% increase in drug driving charges...
Stop Arresting People for Drugs! Nimbin Locals Protest
On August 31 this year, another of Nimbin’s so-called “Lane Boys” was arrested at Nimbin police station under Strike Force Cuppa, a cross-border police investigation into the large scale supply of cannabis in the NSW Northern Rivers town. The 26-year-old...
Baby Nearly Dies after Eating Mother’s Ice Stash
A 27-year old mother from Koonawarra on the NSW South Coast has been charged with ‘abandoning or exposing a child under seven’ and six counts of drug possession after allegedly leaving her 21-month old son unattended in her bedroom within...
Drug Use Soars Despite Spike in Arrests
Australian police conducted a record number of drug seizures in 2014-15, according to the recent Illicit Drug Data report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. The 105,862 seizures represented an increase of 13.7% compared to drug busts during the previous...
The $45 Million Phone Call
A Sydney man is facing commercial drug supply charges after being pulled over for using a mobile phone while driving. 26-year-old Neil Deep Roy of Hornsby was driving his Mitsubishi Outlander through Chinatown while speaking on his mobile phone. Police...
Sick Kids to Get Access to Medical Marijuana
NSW is moving forward with medical marijuana reform, commencing a trial on the cannabis-based ‘Epidolex’ drug through the Sydney Children’s Hospital. The drug will be administered to 40 kids who suffer from severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy, under the state’s exiting ‘compassionate...
