• ‘Zero tolerance approach denies the reality’: pill testing debated in Legislative Council

    Independent MLC Ruth Forrest introduced the motion which, in an effort to minimise harm related to drug use at Tasmanian festivals and events, asked the government commit to looking into the steps that would need to be taken to conduct a trial in 2019-20 festival season. “Pill testing provides targeted opportunities to educate and counsel a group of people that…

  • TAS Labor will not support Ruth Forrest’s pill testing motion

    Labor will not support a move to have the Tasmanian government consider pill testing. Independent member for Murchison has accused Labor of “rolling over” and “playing politics” for refusing to support her motion which will be debated in the Legislative Council on Tuesday. […]

  • The brutal, bloody, vicious and deeply counter-productive NZ War on Drugs ends in a defeated whimper

    I raise a salute to all those NZers who suffered at the hands of this cruel social policy and am sorry that there will be no apology given to you or acknowledgement that you should never have had to be treated like that in the first place. Let’s remember the real victims of this War on Drugs as the State…

  • Luxembourg to be first European country to legalise cannabis

    Luxembourg has called on its EU neighbours to relax their drug laws as its health minister confirmed plans to become the first European country to legalise cannabis production and consumption. “This drug policy we had over the last 50 years did not work,” Etienne Schneider told Politico. “Forbidding everything made it just more interesting to young people … I’m hoping…

  • NZ: The ‘most significant drug reform in 40 years’ is about to become law

    Director of the NZ Drug Foundation Ross Bell praised the government for passing the amendment, but said it was only the first step to wholesale drug reform. “It’s not the reform that we need. It’s not reform that the law commission recommended. Everyone knows that the Misuse of Drugs Act needs more than a few sentences changed. […]

  • ‘The message is not getting through’: The war on drugs is not being won

    Greg Chipp, Director of Drug policy Australia argues that “criminalising, persecuting, prosecuting and vilifying” drug users only makes the problems worse. “We need to take control of what is ultimately a health issue not a drug issue,” said Mr Chipp. “Criminalising is not helping, it doesn’t stop people using and it creates a black market with enormous costs.” […]

  • Break addiction to failed ideology of prohibition

    And can politicians please stop listening to Tasmania Police on pill testing? They are not health experts. They live in cloud cuckoo land when it comes to drugs although privately every police officer you speak with thinks the current “just say no” approach to drugs is a huge failure. […]

  • Victoria could have pill-testing by 2020

    A draft of the legislation was revealed today, which sets out what the service would look like. The Bill calls for two pill-testing services to be trialed for two years: a free mobile pill-testing facility to be used at festivals and a fixed-site lab for drug analysis. Both sites would be reviewed after one year and have the potential for…

  • New pill-testing push as mother of drug victim urges premier to act for ‘greater good’

    On Monday the Greens will unveil plans to introduce legislation for a two-year trial, including a mobile pill-testing facility to attend music festivals and a fixed-site laboratory that could test drugs all through the year. The legislation will be known as “Daniel’s Bill” after Daniel Buccianti, who died of a drug overdose at the Rainbow Serpent festival in 2012. […]

  • Drug laws on possession: several countries are revisiting them and these are their options

    As countries look for ways to implement UN recommendations to avoid criminalising people for using drugs, they will need to consider different options carefully. They will, as Ireland has found, need to adapt them to their own legal, social and drug use contexts. They can do so with a fair amount of confidence that removing the harms of punishment is not likely to…