A coalition of community groups said there was no proof mandatory treatment worked and warned it would operate at an exorbitant cost. The SA Council of Social Services, Australian Medical Association, SA Network of Drug and Alcohol Services, Uniting Communities and Guardian for Children and Young People Penny Wright all called for the Bill to be withdrawn until a proposal…

Opposition senator Risa Hontiveros, who has railed against the drug killings, said the court decision proved that extrajudicial killings under Mr Duterte’s crackdown were really being committed by rogue members of the national police force. “This is a light in the darkness,” Ms Hontiveros said in a statement. “Despite the gruesome climate of killing and impunity in the country, this…

Tasmania’s innovative Dark Mofo festival has joined the debate about pill-testing at music festivals in the island state. Tasmanian festivals should be able to offer legal pill testing in order to save lives, says Dark Mofo creative director Leigh Carmichael. […]

Usually, problems are photosensitive. Put them to the light and they disappear. Prohibition keeps us in the dark. There’s difficulty for research, for understanding the ramifications, of getting data, of understanding why people do it. The paradigm needs to change to move beyond the failure—and drug control is a failure as it is now. […]

A major push to legalise recreational marijuana has been launched in the ACT where a young Labor pollie claims he has overwhelming support for his bill on the issue. If it gets enough support it would allow adults in the state to keep up to 50g of cannabis or four plants legally. […]

Mr Petterson plans to introduce a bill before the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Assembly this week so adults possessing up to 50 grams of cannabis or four cannabis plants would no longer be committing an offence. A spokeswoman for ACT Labor confirmed the party was united in support of the bill, with 12 votes in favour. […]

Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff tabled the Misuse of Drugs Amendment (Drug Analysis) Bill 2018 on Thursday to provide legal protections for services offering pill testing. “We are building on the experience and evidence from countries around the world to introduce a safe, legal framework for drug analysis in Tasmania,” Dr Woodruff told Tasmanian media. […]

Some countries take things further. Many have safe injection rooms, supervised by medical professionals who check the drugs for safety. In Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, addicts who repeatedly fail methadone programmes may even receive free, government-prescribed heroin. “Heroin-assisted treatment” has been shown to reduce crime and deaths. And it appears not to recruit new users: shooting up at a…

A much broader approach and new treatment strategies is needed for those most harmed by austerity, increasing homelessness, inadequate mental health services and the use of novel and established drugs alike. A start would be to allow and encourage drug safety testing. More broadly, we need to reconsider – as other countries have done, with Canada legalising cannabis – the…

“The only thing that stands in the way of the UK following the example of other European countries is the British government, who continuously state that they will not support drug consumption rooms despite the evidence and the fact they could save lives. It seems they are happy for the backstreets of our city and town centres to continue to…