A Swinburne University study is the first of its kind to test the driving performance of Australian cannabis users. In it, 40 subjects — all regular medicinal cannabis patients — were assessed for their driving ability using a simulator before and after taking medication. The subjects showed no sign of impairment in speed or their ability to stay on the…

The Victorian government is being urged to reassess its stance on pill-testing after the death of a man from a suspected drug overdose at a weekend music festival. The 23-year-old was airlifted in a critical condition to the Alfred hospital in Melbourne from Mafeking near Ararat, in the state’s south-west, in the early hours of Sunday but later died. […]

The RACGP is using the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022–23 report to reiterate calls that GPs treating people with problematic alcohol and other drug (AOD) use need more support. […]

The NSW health department has issued a drugs warning after 11 people who believed they were using cocaine or methamphetamine recently experienced an opioid overdose. […]

Dr Green said that, without drug testing being made available to the public, it was too challenging to find out what was in a drug after a patient had suffered an overdose. […]

Chemistry lead of CanTEST, Australia’s only fixed-site drug checking service, Malcolm McLeod told ABC RN’s Life Matters that “around 10 per cent to 15 per cent of samples [are] maybe not as expected”. […]

A two-year pill-testing trial would cost Victoria about $3.7 million, the Parliamentary Budget Office has found, as left-wing crossbenchers pressure the state government over drug reform after overdoses at this summer’s festivals. […]

A 2023 report on the first six months of Canberra’s fixed drug-testing site showed that when a substance tested was not what the user expected, they were four times more likely to discard the drug. These tests can serve as a last-ditch attempt to save a life. […]