Western Australia could be on the verge of abandoning its decades-old “tough on drugs” attitude to illicit substance addiction after both sides of parliament backed a plan to examine the decriminalisation of drugs. A high-powered parliamentary committee, to be chaired by Greens MP Alison Xamon with representatives from the Labor, Liberal and National parties, will look at “alternate approaches to…

Canada may stumble along the way, but there are potential upsides, among them more effective education about all substances; larger and faster clinical trials of its medicinal properties; and less use of alcohol. Legal cannabis may lose its rebellious cachet and experimental allure among kids. Bringing an underground economy to the surface starves criminals of a lucrative and untaxed black…

The United Nations’ drug strategy of the past 10 years has been a failure, according to a major report by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), which has called for a major rethinking of global policy on illegal narcotics. […]

The lost decade in the global war on drugs – New report shows 10-year United Nations drug strategy set to conclude in colossal failure Vienna, 22 October 2018 – A report released today by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) has exposed the United Nations 10-year global strategy aimed to eradicate the illegal drug market by 2019 as a spectacular failure…

Canada has legalised cannabis. And I’m not interested in celebrating. I’m interested in preparing — preparing for cannabis legalisation by ensuring we have the best health and safety measures in place before it hits our shores. […]

Canada has become the second country after Uruguay to legalise possession and use of recreational cannabis. Medical marijuana has been legal in the country since 2001. […]

“If we could just start treating drugs as a health problem not a criminal problem it’s just blindingly obvious that you’re going to start getting on top of the problem,” Sir Richard said. “If it can work in Portugal it can work in pretty much any country in the world.” […]

Health Minister David Clark said the coalition Government was dealing with drug use as a health and harm reduction issue. “In light of this, I’ve had initial discussions with the Justice Minister about ‘drug checking’ services. “Through him, I’ve asked for advice on the legislative and criminal justice issues around such services.” […]

On Friday, 12 October, Sir Richard Branson will officially launch a new Uniting Church campaign, calling on governments to reform Australia’s drug legislation to reflect a harm minimisation approach. The grassroots campaign calls for the decriminalisation of small amounts of currently illegal substances for personal use. The call has been spearheaded by the NSW and ACT Synod of the Uniting Church…

Senator David Leyonhjelm attended the Uniting Church’s drug summit in Sydney today, reinforcing the Liberal Democrats’ longstanding policy of decriminalising recreational drug use in Australia. “I believe we have reached a level of maturity in this country where we can move beyond policies based on fear or disapproval and embrace an evidence-based medical and harm-minimisation strategy, as sophisticated societies have…