• Families turning to drug dealers to source medicinal cannabis

    Doctors have warned that fam­ilies are turning to drug dealers because the process of obtaining medicinal cannabis legally is too arduous, despite the Turnbull government legalising its export earlier this month […]

  • Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall

    According to the study, Is Legal Pot Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations? The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on US Crime, when a state on the Mexican border legalised medical use of the drug, violent crime fell by 13% on average. Most of the marijuana consumed in the US originates in Mexico, where seven major cartels control the illicit drug trade.…

  • Injection Sites Provide Safe Spots To Shoot Up

    In about one hundred locations across Canada, Europe and Australia, supervised drug injection facilities allow visitors to inject heroin and other drugs in a clean, well-lighted space under the watchful eye of trained personnel who can rescue them if they overdose. […]

  • Attitudes drive drug policy, not facts, says Global Commission

    Terms such ‘drug user’, ‘drug abuser’, ‘addict’ and ‘junkie’ should be avoided as they are derogatory and dehumanise people who take drugs, fuelling harmful drug policies which affect their health and human rights. These views are voiced in a new report launched on 9 January by the Global Commission on Drug Policy – a leading advocate speaking to the failures of…

  • New Zealand’s First Cannabis Grower Is Being Considered for Sainthood

    Unlike other Europeans who scorned aboriginal medicine in favor of Western medicine, Aubert studied traditional Maori medicine and incorporated it into her healing practice. Aubert also recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis, and is believed to be the first New Zealander to ever cultivate the plant in the country. The prospective saint created numerous medicinal formulations, many of which contained…

  • US: Going After Weed in the Middle of a Deadly Opioid Crisis Is Insane

    On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions opened a new front in the War on Weed, rescinding Obama-era policies that discouraged federal prosecution of pot crimes in legal-weed states. Given that study after study suggests marijuana availability is linked to lower overdose death rates, reduced use of opioids for chronic pain, and lower rates of opioid addiction, a stranger, more ill-advised policy is hard…

  • The World Drug Perception Problem

    The fear of drugs has translated into messages for prevention that promote complete abstinence and state that all drugs are equally bad. However, providing information which is incomplete and often even incorrect lessens any chance of trust between the authorities and young people. A better way forward would be to offer honest information, 9 encourage moderation in youthful experimentation, and…

  • There are more positive ways to engage an effective community response to methamphetamine

    Why are the local media so interested in publishing stories updating their readership of the latest results of the national methamphetamine wastewater analysis competition? It provides the media with an opportunity to perpetuate the so called “ice epidemic” and associated moral panic. It is worth noting that the ACIC data does not mention cannabis, giving methamphetamine a much higher profile…

  • UK: Changing drug laws too much hassle for Tories, says Nick Clegg

    Speaking at a lunch hosted by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, of which he is a member, Clegg said: “I experienced coalition with the Conservatives, and I couldn’t find a sensible Conservative who didn’t privately entirely agree that the law is a complete ass and everything should be changed. […]

  • Ineffective drug policies can no longer be ignored

    Here is a plan for governments of all persuasions in 2018: 1. Convene a national summit to commit to introducing policies that reduce drug harm. 2. Redirect funding from ineffective policies and practices to those that are effective. 3. Stop criminalising people for the simple act of possessing or using drugs and expunge the existing records of people with such…