• The Overwhelming Evidence in Favor of Harm Reduction

    The evidence for harm reduction services is overwhelming. They keep people alive, are cost-effective, and foster healthier, safer communities. It is shameful that these facts are ignored by many. Until prejudice and fear stop ruling when it comes to drug policy, our health will continue to be undermined. […]

  • Australia needs to get with the times and follow New Zealand on recreational weed use, Larissa Waters says

    Greens Senator for Queensland, Larissa Waters said it’s “high time” for Australia to legalise the drug and we’ll risk being “getting left behind” in the world if we don’t act soon. […]

  • New Zealanders likely to vote for cannabis legalisation at referendum in 2020

    A study conducted earlier this year by the NZ Drug Foundation found that two-thirds of New Zealanders support the legalization of cannabis for recreational use. “These results show that New Zealanders are ready for a future under which cannabis is regulated,” said Ross Bell, executive director at the foundation. “People realise that the way we’re currently dealing with cannabis isn’t…

  • Australian Festival Association launches, aims to unify strategies and make events safer

    “We are establishing this industry group so that our members can develop informed and unified strategies in response to a range of issues, including event liquor licensing, drug policy, harm minimisation practise, building code compliance, green initiatives, user pays policing, event medical guidelines, and third party ticket sites. “Our aims are to make festivals safer for patrons, and reduce friction between…

  • Australians say yes to pill testing, new poll confirms

    The poll follows the death of a young man at a Sydney music festival this month. A further two lives were lost at another music festival in Sydney in September. ‘Pill testing saves lives – that’s the bottom line,’ Dr Hester Wilson, GP and Chair of the RACGP Specific Interests Addiction Medicine network, told newsGP. […]

  • Drug experts say yes. Many politicians say no. What’s the evidence for pill testing?

    Despite concern about pill testing increasing the appeal of illicit substances, research shows it can lead to less drug taking, and help people consume drugs in a safer way. “What’s clear from the results of the services operating [in Europe] is that people make different choices based on the results of the testing — some choose to put their drugs…

  • Women against women in Duterte’s drug war

    As the drug war in the Philippines becomes politicised, it is no longer just a war against women. It has also become a war among women. A UN Women Policy brief shows that women are involved in high-risk tasks in the drug trade but are paid much lower than men. In Mexico, media reports indicate a staggering increase of murdered women. […]

  • Fiona Patten moves to legalise cannabis, predicts revenue of $205m

    Re-elected MP Fiona Patten has put drug law reform at the top of her political agenda by introducing a bill to legalise marijuana in Victoria, which she hopes will gain the support of the new Parliament. Ms Patten wants cannabis legalised so that it can be cultivated and manufactured while subject to regulation. […]

  • NZ to hold vote on recreational cannabis

    New Zealand is set to hold a binding referendum on the legislation of recreational cannabis, the government has announced. The plebiscite would be held alongside the country’s next general election, in 2020, Justice Minister Andrew Little told reporters on Tuesday morning. Pro-reform campaign group New Zealand Drug Foundation welcomed the vote, with its chief Ross Bell saying the current approach…

  • UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s Opioid Strategy Ignores What’s Most Proven to Work

    Damon Barrett, director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, points out that the Integrated Strategy emphasizes policing, rather than public health, and doesn’t seem any different from the status quo approach to drugs in general. The strategy also seems to mirror President Donald Trump’s Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem, a document co-signed…