The ACT is the only jurisdiction to allow fixed and onsite drug testing. Backed by Pill Testing Australia, the CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service uses a face-to-face service.
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The ACT is the only jurisdiction to allow fixed and onsite drug testing. Backed by Pill Testing Australia, the CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service uses a face-to-face service.
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Qld Parliamentary Legal Affairs & Safety Committee
[…]March 2023
[…]Queensland’s move aligns the state with a growing international norm. In fact, the evidence to support such services has existed for decades.
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The Queensland government has announced it will be the second jurisdiction in Australia to provide illicit drug testing, aiming to change the behaviour of users and reduce the risk of harm. […]
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Queensland will roll out pill-testing sites in an attempt to curb the harmful effects of illicit drugs. […]
Senator David Shoebridge, on behalf of the Greens, has obtained compelling constitutional law advice that provides a path forward for Federal Parliament to legalise cannabis for adult use across the country. […]
Associate Professor David Caldicott, an emergency department doctor who appeared at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to advocate the drugs be used for returned soldiers suffering from psychological trauma, said he was pleasantly surprised by Friday’s decision. […]
Stalled progress on the city’s second safe-injecting facility is heaping pressure on community health professionals
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“There’s a storyline that drug users don’t care and they’re reckless and don’t give a shit about their own health, but it’s just not true.” […]
“The lack of pill testing services outside Canberra is an ongoing tragedy for far too many people and families, and begs the question of how much more evidence is required for these services to be established,” Mr Vumbaca said. […]
Australia’s first government-sanctioned drug-checking service CanTEST has issued its inaugural ‘red alert’, the highest level of warning, following the detection of metonitazene in a yellow pill masquerading as the pharmaceutical drug oxycodone. We should be very worried about this drug’s emergence in Australia. […]
The ACT government has released the first ever ‘red alert’ over a drug detected through Australia’s first fixed pill testing site. […]
A total of 500 samples have been tested at CanTEST in Canberra’s CBD since it opened in July as a drug-harm minimisation bid from the ACT government.
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HRA Letter to NSW Premier to approve Pill Testing Australia request to provide pill testing services at World Pride 2023 events in Sydney
[…]New public health research says Australia’s prohibition approach to marijuana is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy […]
Your guide to dealing with police at a festival […]
CanTEST extended its trading hours prior to the music festival Spilt Milk but still couldn’t meet demand […]
By the time the ACT Legislative Assembly passed legislation on 20 October 2022 to commence the decriminalisation of personal quantities of all illicit drugs in October 2023, drug law reform was already well on its way around the world. […]
Angry punters have declared that Sydney’s “night-life is dead”, after police were seen disturbing customers at a pub over the weekend. […]
That the century-old system of drug prohibition is a failure is well-established in legal circles, amongst medical experts, those who partake in illicit substances, families who’ve lost loved ones to the use of them, and a growing cross section of the community. […]
The government’s claim that strip-searches at music festivals could be reasonable – even if a judge finds they were unlawful – has been criticised in court as illogical. […]
Australia’s first fixed pill testing site has discovered a new recreational drug not seen in the country before. […]
‘As far as we’re aware, this is the first detection of a new drug by a drug-checking service anywhere in the world,’ says professor […]
Dr Alex Wodak, AM, is a former director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. He is now chair of Australia21, an independent think tank. I spoke to him on Thursday […]
According to former NSW magistrate David Heilpern, who resigned over the issue in 2020, the medicinal cannabis industry won’t be financially viable until the “absurd” laws are reformed […]
A Sydney lawyer has accused police of providing “dangerous and incorrect” information to festival goers charged with drug offences. […]
The summer music festival season has begun – and already 18 people across two events have been hospitalised with suspected drug overdoses.
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Ever wondered what’s inside party drugs? We went behind the scenes of Australia’s first drug testing clinic in Canberra to see what you can expect when you go inside. […]
A constitutional law expert says the pathway to legalising cannabis is through regulating plant variety rights at a Commonwealth level. […]
This whole process has almost been a complete waste of money and time for everyone involved.
[…]A proposed drug strategy action plan will also assess whether more restrictions are needed on alcohol delivery services and vaping. […]
Drug decriminalisation laws will return to the ACT Legislative Assembly “shortly” as the government calls for community feedback on its updated drug action plan. […]
By Malcolm McLeod, David Caldicott […]
Canberra service examined 58 samples in August with nearly a third of potential users discarding drugs once made aware of what they actually contained […]
Research into Australia’s first government-backed pill testing service has revealed just what’s in some of the country’s most popular party drugs. […]
“Is it in the best interest of individuals and festival goers, and will it lead to less deaths, less injuries and less drug use?” […]
Drug checking: NZ’s safe legal place to check your drugs […]
From Dickson to New England, here’s how some of Australia’s most conservative electorates feel about cannabis. […]
Anna Vidot spoke with President of the Australian Federal Police Association Alex Caruana on Drive. […]
Music is a big part of Raya Meredith’s life, but these days she hesitates before going to a gig, scared she will be subject to a strip search by security or police. […]
In a region that stands out for having some of the most brutally punitive drug policies in the world, it was astonishing to witness Thailand has become the first country in Asia to legalise cannabis. […]
Gino Vumbaca is president of Harm Reduction Australia. He and his team are behind the trial of the new facility which runs tests on drugs to make sure they’re safe for the user to take. He says trials at music festivals in recent years have undoubtedly saved lives. […]
On Tuesday, Australia’s first fixed-site drug testing facility opened its doors in Canberra. During opening hours, two days a week, casual and routine drug users of all walks are encouraged to get their gear tested for threats. […]
Drug users in the nation’s capital will be offered free pill testing in the CBD at Australia’s first government-run drug-testing site. […]
In an Australian first, a fixed site drug and pill testing site is opening in Canberra with the aim of reducing the harm caused by illicit substances. […]
Its Time for Drug Law Reform
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Medicinal Cannabis & Driving
[…]Media Release 17 Feb 2022
[…]HRA letter to Minister Greg Hunt
[…]7 Oct 2021 – Media Release
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If we want to reverse the growing trend of overdose deaths, naloxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids, must be distributed to everyone who is interacting with those who are dying, including the police. As well, it is time that we follow Spanos’s recommendation and make pill and drug testing available. […]
The commissioner who led the state’s ice inquiry has accused the NSW government of missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for drug reform and ignoring his recommendations 15 months after handing down a landmark report. Professor Dan Howard SC said he was deeply disappointed with the government’s failure to respond to the 104 remaining recommendations after rejecting five almost outright, including pill testing and another supervised injecting centre. […]
It’s hard to know what it will take to fix the legal problems we have here with cannabis but one thing we do know is that the current approach based on a “don’t take drugs” (alcohol excepted) approach is not only a cruel joke but has become completely irrational. […]
Allowing pill testing at music festivals would not increase the use of ecstasy, research from Western Australia has suggested. The Edith Cowan University study surveyed 247 people and found pill testing at an event or in a fixed, permanent spot had no positive influence on the respondents’ intention to use MDMA. […]
Last week, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he was open to the idea of a pill testing trial but said for it to work, it would have to be based on the evidence. “We will look at what’s happening down south and make an informed decision off the back of that,” he said. […]
The evidence is in. We know that pill testing saves lives. We know that it also leads to some people deciding not to take the drugs that they’ve had tested because they’ve found that they might be dangerous. It really is about allowing people to make informed choices around their drug use and to be sensible around it. […]
Call for Federal Health Minister to immediately remove the discriminatory and unlawful payments plaguing the opioid treatment system
[…]The architect of the legislation, Labor MLA Michael Pettersson, has been pleased with the results so far. But he said the laws were not the end of the road for drug reform, but rather a step towards treating drug use as a public health problem, rather than a criminal one. “For the most part, I think things are pretty similar to what they were before, but I think we’re now heading in the right direction,” he said. […]
A US state decriminalised drugs, the UN admitted cannabis can be good for you and Colombia discussed buying up its entire cocaine harvest. It’s been a momentous year for drug liberalisation. […]
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. […]
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. […]
When we treat drug use as a health and social issue – and this government proposal is an initial step in that direction – police will have greater resources to be tough on large-scale drug trafficking and violent crime. The proposal by the NSW government is a step in the right direction. […]
The commissioner who led the state’s ice inquiry has warned an outdated law and order war on drugs threatens to derail critical reform and leave NSW lagging behind the rest of Australia. Dan Howard, SC, said he was concerned that a failure to grasp the concept of decriminalisation could squander the chance for reform as Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s cabinet remains split over the issue. […]
Dr Hester Wilson, Chair of the RACGP Addiction Medicine Specific Interests network, told newsGP she is not surprised by the finding that so many Australians support pill testing. ‘Because it makes sense,’ she said. ‘It’s sensible and we know that pill testing actually assists people to make safer choices.’ Dr Wilson says pill testing plays an important role in harm minimisation. […]
The researchers call for more discussion surrounding further trials to gather evidence for the strategy’s effectiveness in harm reduction. Without pill testing trials being considered in most states apart from the ACT, let alone implemented, the researchers suggest it will remain a chicken and egg problem until then. “The objection of the states to pill testing is surprising, since the stated goal of both sides of the debate is to save lives,” the study read. […]
Nearly two-thirds of Australians support pill testing at music festivals, despite the majority of state and territory governments rejecting proposals to implement the practice. According to data from the 2019 Australian Election Study, a population-representative survey of 2000 Australians following last year’s federal election, 63.4 per cent of respondents said they supported the testing of illicit drugs at festivals. […]
These decriminalization measures also address another major roadblock for those seeking help: stigma. “The public-health-based approach of decriminalization centers human dignity and connection,” says Natalie Lyla Ginsberg, policy and advocacy director at MAPS, an organization focused on developing medical, legal, and cultural contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics, including cannabis. […]
“The country is split down the middle on a particular concept of legalisation. And I think there’s every ground now for the government to be looking very carefully at this, beginning to discuss with other parties, including obviously the Green Party, on where to go from here. “What I found as one who got quite involved in the debate was a lot of people said: ‘oh we’d like to decriminalise but legalised as a step too far’. […]
We still don’t know with certainty who will be the next president of the United States. But this year’s election results have given us a lot more clarity on one thing: American voters, even conservative ones, are ready to reel back the US’s war on drugs. In every state where a ballot measure asked Americans to reconsider the drug war, voters sided with reformers. […]
Oregon made history Tuesday in the movement to reconsider the nation’s war on drugs by becoming the first state to decriminalize small amounts of heroin and other street drugs. Voters overwhelmingly supported Measure 110, a coup for the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, the same criminal justice reform group that backed Oregon’s successful marijuana legalization effort in 20 […]
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says her new Government is keen to allow more legal pill testing at music festivals. Her comments come after Justice Minister Andrew Little ruled out further liberalisation of drug laws following the preliminary “no” vote on the cannabis referendum. […]
Currently, Australia criminalises people for having a health problem, addiction, but the country needs an alternative to this if there is to be any expectation that it can slow or reverse these trends. The need for change is upon Australians, and the three-pillar approach must become more responsive. Ultimately, the harm reduction leg of this wobbly policy-making stool must include more options, and if it does, all Australians, not just those directly affected by drugs, stand to benefit. […]
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has been appointed the chair of the 26-member Global Commission on Drug Policy. Clark succeeds the former President of the Swiss Confederation, Ruth Dreifuss, who has served as chair since 2016. Since its establishment in 2011, the Global Commission has advocated for evidence-informed drug policy. […]
Canberra could have an Australian-first pill-testing site in Civic this summer. The government agreed to explore the idea in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday. The pill testing pilot in the city entertainment area would operate on weekends and be informed by expert health advice […]
Drug use is not a fringe activity and the current prohibition strategy is not a deterrent. Much like during the United States’ Prohibition Era from 1920 to 1933, an enormous black market responds to the high volume of demand. The current system places the police and courts in an endless and costly war against a profiting organised crime world and risks the health and lives of that one in six. […]
Pill testing could be introduced at Victorian music festivals under a join proposal by The Greens and the Reason Party. If passed by Victorian Parliament, the joint bill would see the establishment of a mobile pill testing service as well as a fixed-address laboratory likely located in Melbourne. The pill testing model, which has been in use in Europe since the 1990s, allows festival patrons to have illicit drugs tested on-site by health professionals. […]
A new study found that almost three in five Aussies now support pill testing at festivals. The 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey was published last week (July 16) by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020 and found 57% support it and 27% oppose it. This approval is reflected in the study’s other findings including a call for legalising cannabis doubling from 21% in 2007 to 41%. […]
“Most dealers become dealers to support their drug habits … so if you can make access to drugs more available instead of imprisoning them, you could avoid making the situation worse. COVID points it out: if you have a problem, any way that is going to minimise harm is the best outcome. […]
A growing number of Australians support the legalisation of cannabis, while almost three in five back the idea of pill testing, according to a new national survey. The 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey also shows Australians are drinking and smoking less, but some illicit drug use is on the rise. […]
If former Chief Minister Kate Carnell had been allowed to finish her proposed six-month trial of a safe-injecting room in Canberra, there would be no need for a second prison in the ACT, according to drug decriminalisation advocate Bill Bush. Mr Bush, a member of Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform, gave evidence today (14 July) to an ACT Parliamentary inquiry into youth mental health. […]
While the pandemic might have indeed disrupted where Australians socialise and therefore take drugs, drug use has not decreased according to early indications from Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s annual Wastewater survey. This might come as a surprise given there were initial reports earlier in the pandemic that sales of “party drugs” were down across the globe, with dealers in Australia telling Vice, “The customers in Melbourne have gone down though. […]
People struggling with addiction to alcohol or other drugs often continue to use and endanger their lives, even when they have lost everything: their job, their health, their families, and their freedom. The MSIR is a service that recognises what life is like in the real world. And as long as the MSIR is saving lives, then St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne has a chance to turn them around. […]
Victoria is set to get its second safe injecting room, opposite the Queen Victoria Market, after the government was handed a report showing the North Richmond injecting room had been overwhelmed by demand. The Department of Health and Human Services has identified Cohealth Central City on Victoria Street as its preferred site for the state’s second safe injecting facility. […]
Even with a little tweaking, abstinence-only messaging is not among the evidence-based best practices prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for preventing overdoses. “Rather than finding new drug threats to scare people about, one drug at a time,” said Daniel Raymond, deputy policy director for the Harm Reduction Coalition, “effective media campaigns should aim to build on general resilience and protective factors that apply across a range of substances.” […]
One of the architects of the safe injecting room has called for it to prescribe a pharmaceutical opioid to drug users to reduce the illicit heroin trade in North Richmond. Reason Party leader Fiona Patten wants the state government to extend the two year trial of the medically supervised injecting room in its current location. […]
People being treated for opioid addiction risk relapsing without changes in their support and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Royal Australasian College of Physicians spokesman and president-elect of the Chapter of Addiction Medicine Professor Nicholas Lintzeris said the outbreak has had a huge impact on the 50,000 patients who use methadone or buprenorphine as treatment for their opioid dependence. […]
Another step has been taken towards finally establishing a safe injecting facility for illicit drug users after ACT Health contracted the Melbourne-based Macfarlane Burnett Institute for Medical and Public health to conduct a feasibility study. ACT Health expects a draft report to be submitted by 30 June and a final report by 14 August. […]
Australia was already grappling with an escalating crisis with opioid-related disease and death rates before Covid-19, and Nielsen fears that unless authorities begin considering the risk of a rise in addiction rates the problem could get worse. While she says easing access to methadone was a good step, governments could do things like expanding the number of medically supervised injecting centres and increasing free access to naloxone. […]
Last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health published a strong statement regarding the right to health of people who use drugs, which was endorsed by seven other UN appointed experts including the Special Rapporteurs on housing, privacy, and extra judicial killings, among many others. The statement not only acknowledges the unique impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs, but it calls on national governments to recognise people who use drugs as a vulnerable and high-risk population in the context of COVID-19. […]
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association Executive Officer Sam Biondo called on the government to remove the over-the-counter dispensing fee for some replacement therapy drugs, so that those who wanted help to get off illicit drugs could do so more easily. “It’s a punishing fee to be paying when you are already down and out. […]
In the current COVID-19 context, people who use drugs face unique needs and risks, due to criminalisation, stigma, discrimination, underlying health issues, social marginalisation and higher economic and social vulnerabilities, including a lack of access to adequate housing and healthcare. Treatment and harm reduction services should continue to be provided to them. […]