-
![Smoking rates at record low… or is it just [illicit] smoke and mirrors?](https://www.harmreductionaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Prohibition-smoking-image-1.jpeg)
Smoking rates at record low… or is it just [illicit] smoke and mirrors?
“The best way to fight a black market, is with a well functioning legal one.” See this latest piece in The Conversation by HRA tobacco harm reduction adviser, Dr James Martin and colleagues Dr Ed Jegasothy and Dr Paul Kelaita… https://theconversation.com/three-things-australia-must-do-to-end-the-tobacco-wars-287569 […]
-
National Press Club – Tobacco Policy has increased harms
The National Press Club presentations on July 22nd discussed the topic “Illicit tobacco – It is costing Australia heaps”.The speakers raised a number of issues relevant to tobacco policy:-have tobacco policies over the past decade been counter productive to reducing the harms associated with tobacco use?-why have many countries been…
-
Free naloxone machines rolling out across Victoria
Opioid overdose is the leading cause of drug-related death in Victoria and it can happen to anyone.Naloxone is a free, easy-to-use medication that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose. You can use naloxone even if you’re not sure whether someone has taken opioidsNaloxone is legal, suitable for people of all…
-
Pill Testing Policy Brief
Pill Testing (Drug Checking) Services in Australia: a Public Health and Harm Reduction PriorityPill testing services (also known as ‘drug checking’) enable people who use drugs to understand more about what is in their substances, empowering safer decisions, and connecting them with health and social supports – an intervention that…
-
Media Release: A Caution Can Save A Life…
HRA backs expansion of cannabis cautioning, but says legal reform still needed… Harm Reduction Australia (HRA) welcomes moves to expand access to cannabis cautioning in Victoria but says the reform should be understood as an important harm reduction measure, not a substitute for broader cannabis law reform. Read full media release…
-
HRA Submission to DAP Program Logic & KPIs
HRA took the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Drug and Alcohol Program (DAP) Program Logic and KPIs, which will inform the development of the new Grant Opportunity Guidelines (GOGs) for the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability & Ageing. We are particularly concerned about the absence of harm reduction as…
-
Media Release on The Use of Strip Searches & Drug Dogs in NSW Report
New report shows over 80,000 strip searches conducted in 10 years, with more than 85% finding nothing. The report titled ‘The Use of Strip Searches & Drug Dogs in NSW’, based on 10 years of police data from 2014 to 2023, was released today by Harm Reduction Australia and Redfern…
-
Black Market Economics – Enforcement, Adaptation & the Paradox of Prohibition
This keynote presentation by Dr James Martin (HRA special adviser on tobacco harm reduction) at the recent Victorian Alcohol & Drug Association (VAADA) Conference explores the unintended consequences of drug law enforcement in Australia. It begins by examining longitudinal trends in drug arrests, seizures, and enforcement funding, highlighting the escalation…
-
Harm Reduction Australia talks with Antony Loewenstein
Register now to see the 7:00pm Wed 5th June 2024 live interview with world renowned author and commentator Antony Loewenstein at https://sage.fm/harmreductionaustralia/loewenstein-madden The first in a series of Harm Reduction Conversations. […]
-
Correspondence to Victorian Premier re Pill Testing
At an event at Parliament House today, PTA offered a cost-free trial of its public health based pill testing service to the Victorian Government – the offer is supported and endorsed by a variety of unions and organisations. Media-Alert-Victorian-Pill-Testing-Trial-15-Nov-2023Download Letter-to-Victorian-Premier-re-Pill-Testing-Trial-15-Nov-2023Download […]
