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Drug Law Reform Is Desperately Needed, Yet Berejiklian Refuses to See Reason

When we discuss drug use in society, let us first remember that most illicit drug use is not problematic and secondly, that if someone we know or love does experience problems, we would want the best help, support and treatment available for them and their family. Its time all our politicians realised, as many voting citizens in the USA have just done, that our current drug policies and laws are not fit for purpose and cause preventable harms and intolerable human rights violations for far too many people. […]

As a police commander, I used to ask myself: was drug use really a matter of crime?

Anything that reduces the antagonism between would-be offenders and the cops is worthwhile. The latter may well then be seen as a catalyst for getting help, therefore making it a far safer situation for all. Allowing police to focus on diversion instead of arresting and charging is going to make the job of police far safer than what it is today. […]

Consortium asked to test pills by festival promoters Australia-wide

“We’ve been getting calls from promoters all around the country wanting us to do pill testing, there’s been a change in momentum,” Mr Vumbaca said. “They do a hell of a lot of work in maintaining patron safety and protecting the health of patrons. While program like ours is not a silver bullet, it’s part of a suite of measures they’d like to have available.

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HRA-IDPC Media Release on Global Drug Strategy 22nd October 2018

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 of policy and urged a re-think of its new strategy for the next decade. […]

Support sought for more pill testing

Harm Reduction Australia is hoping to raise $100,000 to roll out more music festival pill testing trials, following the success of the first pilot in Canberra. […]

GINO VUMBACA. Drug Reform series-At last, a government sanctioned pill testing program

Governments across the country need to publicly acknowledge that our health and law enforcement systems have worked, and can continue to work, effectively together in the grey areas of life. No-one wants to see young people (or any people) harmed from drug use but to simply believe that we have the ability to prevent supply and prevent drug use is at best fanciful and at worst tragic. […]

TONY TRIMINGHAM. Drug Reform Series-Don’t punish drug users. Help them instead.

The need for drug policy reform remains as urgent as ever. We need to talk to our politicians, write to the newspapers, enlist the support of young people who are so often damaged by current drug policies. By educating people on the pitfalls of current drug policy, we stand a chance of getting the community onside. […]

Drug users shouldn’t be treated like criminals

When I am asked by people at the ceremony why people using drugs are treated as criminals and pursued by the law, I have to be honest and say I don’t know why, in the face of all the evidence, we have governments that still prefer to punish rather than help. […]

National Summit in Canberra to Plan Improvements for Opioid Treatment

Harm Reduction Australia and ScriptWise are joining forces to host a national summit in Canberra on May 23 to re-think outdated policies and increase access to opioid treatment. The current system, the two organisations say, must be updated to ensure Australia avoids continuing on a trajectory towards the opioid crisis currently being seen in the US. […]

Ineffective drug policies can no longer be ignored

Here is a plan for governments of all persuasions in 2018:

1. Convene a national summit to commit to introducing policies that reduce drug harm.

2. Redirect funding from ineffective policies and practices to those that are effective.

3. Stop criminalising people for the simple act of possessing or using drugs and expunge the existing records of people with such convictions […]

It’s Important To Understand Pill Testing Before We Condemn It

The NSW Government has no reason to be fearful of a forum to debate and discuss policies that affect so many of its citizens’ lives. It is an opportunity to review the evidence, understand the impact of current laws and policies and develop effective approaches that make communities, families and people healthier and safer. […]

Safe Injection Rooms Would Save Lives

The idea that rooms are provided to allow people to take drugs like crystal methamphetamine needs to be taken seriously. When my son Damien died in 1997, the idea of injecting facilities and prescription heroin drew my attention but I was cautious about them. Rather than dismiss them out of hand I took it upon myself to visit Switzerland and see them functioning in Geneva and Berne. […]

Confronting the ‘meth monster’

The first step to solving a problem is admitting there is one. So together we must realise that the real problem is not the use of drugs, it is the fear and the subsequent belief we created that the criminal justice system is the answer. […]

Drug Policy Based On Fear Means Everyone Loses

If evidence-based drug policy is something you want to see in this country and is more important to you than public moralising, misguided beliefs and a fanciful goal of a drug free world, then this is your how-to-vote card to take with you on the 2nd of July. […]

Drug Harm Index Paper

Earlier this year HRA asked Dr Michael McFadden to prepare a paper on the Drug Harm Index, used by some law enforcement agencies, for use on our website. […]

Uniting calls for a re-think on drugs

Uniting, the services and advocacy arm of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW and the ACT, is calling for a re-think on illegal drug use. […]

When it comes to handling drugs, we need to be transparent

Given that many countries are talking seriously about the need to change the international treaties, and the abject failure of a law-enforcement approach for addressing drug use, the pressure will be on Australia to decide if it remains in the small band of countries fighting a ‘war on drugs’ or becomes part of the growing movement for change, which even includes the USA these days. […]

HRA UNGASS and NDS Statement

Australia was once a world leader in drug policy and addressing HIV and related diseases but over the years this has sadly diminished as our leaders have become politically fearful of evidence that highlights a need for change. […]

HRA Ice Strategy Statement

Harm Reduction Australia has welcomed the Federal Government’s first step to shift from a law enforcement focus to a health based approach to addressing drug issues in Australia. […]

Launch of Harm Reduction Australia

Australia’s first national harm reduction organisation for individuals committed to reducing the health, social and economic harms potentially associated with drug use – Harm Reduction Australia (HRA) – was launched at Parliament House in Canberra. […]