• Decriminalise drugs before overdose destroys more lives

    Decriminalisation is not legalisation. Under decriminalisation, criminal sanctions would still be applied to the dealers, manufacturers and importers who are profiting from the illegal drug trade. Instead, we merely change what happens if police find you with a small amount. We try to help, rather than giving you a criminal record. […]

  • Why No Human Rights Section in 2019 UNODC World Drug Report?

    The report recognizes that the lack of “Effective treatment interventions based on scientific evidence and in line with international human rights obligations” for all people who use drugs is a failure—yet no mention is made of the actual violations of those obligations. […]

  • Illegal drugs less harmful than alcohol and tobacco and should be reclassified, finds major report

    Calling for a review of the classification of drugs, the body comprising 14 former heads of state or government criticised the “incoherence and inconsistencies” of laws based on “unreliable and scientifically dubious” methods that punish the use of some substances while ignoring others. “This de facto prohibition is arbitrary,” the group wrote. […]

  • Illegal drug classifications are based on politics not science

    Illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis should be reclassified to reflect a scientific assessment of harm, according to a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The commission, which includes 14 former heads of states from countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Portugal and New Zealand, said the international classification system underpinning drug control is “biased and inconsistent”. […]

  • Uniting Church and Alan Jones back legal push to decriminalise ice use

    The NSW and ACT synods of the Uniting Church and its service arm, Uniting, spearheaded a push last year to have all illegal drugs decriminalised for personal use. The production, trafficking and supply of illicit drugs including ice, a form of crystallised methamphetamine, and other amphetamine-type stimulants would continue to be criminalised. […]

  • Push to decriminalise ice use as bar backs public health approach’

    The personal use and possession of ice and other illicit drugs would be decriminalised in NSW under a public health-driven plan backed by the Bar Association and other top lawyers. In a submission to the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug Ice the association says that criminalising personal drug use “may result in greater harm to the individual, and to…

  • Let’s get real about the war on drugs

    A strong body of evidence suggests that the criminalisation of drugs has undermined the community’s ability to deal with drug use as a health issue – and this is the case for cannabis. Submissions to the ACT Government inquiry pointed out the difficulty of having an open dialogue with young people and family members who use cannabis given the stigma…

  • Eventbrite Report Finds 77% Of Aussies Support Pill Testing

    Music fans from all walks of life are united in support of pill testing, according to Eventbrite’s 2019 Australian Music Fans Report. The report surveyed over 1,130 gig-goers of all ages, and found that 77% were in support of the introduction of pill testing. Pill testing was trialed for the second consecutive year at Groovin The Moo Canberra recently. […]

  • NZ: Demand for drug checking doubles, harm reduction catches on

    The survey findings suggested that people are aware that taking drugs is risky, but without harm reduction advice they are less aware that it’s possible to mitigate those risks. 87% of clients who had used KnowYourStuffNZ’s services before said that their approach to taking drugs had changed as a result of the advice they had received. […]

  • Beyond ‘pill testing’: Calling for appropriate event health care services at music festivals

    Drug checking services at music festivals will never be a silver bullet for all drug related harm and deaths associated with music festivals. But the existing evidence suggests that they can make a significant contribution to reducing drug-related harm associated with these events. We should expand and evaluate this intervention. To do this political support is needed.  […]