This is an attack on poor areas by the rich. It is lopsided. Oh, and speaking of rich people — did I mention that while ice is on the decrease, cocaine is on the up? Where, among other places? Canberra. You heard correctly. Canberrans use more cocaine than most Australians. So if we’re going to drug test people, let’s drug test everyone on…

Nearly 1000 doctors, nurses, addiction specialists and allied health professionals are pressuring the Senate crossbench to reject the Turnbull government’s plan to drug-test welfare recipients. The medical professionals – who have more than 20,000 years combined practical experience – have signed an open letter saying there is no evidence to suggest the policy will work and will not help people with drug addictions […]

Mental health issues and substance abuse could rise in Western Australia if a plan to drug test jobseekers goes ahead, a National Drug Research Institute professor has warned. NDRI Professor Edward Wilkes said the intended testing was “punitive” and targeted those who were among the most disadvantaged is society. […]

Hundreds of Richmond residents have called on the Andrews government to reconsider its opposition to safe injecting rooms following the deaths of 34 drug addicts in the laneways of North Richmond last year. But Premier Daniel Andrews again refused to budge on the issue, which could play a key role in the battle with the Greens for the seat of…

Given the huge amount of taxpayers money spent on drug law enforcement – with few results – and the manifest benefits of such safe and effective facilities, it is high time that Australian governments show a capacity for nimbleness and innovation by opening a network of drug-consumption rooms where they are most needed. […]

Mourners, some of them wearing white shirts displaying the words “Justice for Kian,” held flowers and small flags, and placards denouncing the killing, as the procession including vans and motorbikes moved out of delos Santos’ home in Caloocan city. […]

The head of Australia’s largest youth drug and alcohol rehabilitation service has warned the government’s plan to test welfare recipients will force more people into drug dealing. “That’s why this is a stupid, stupid idea that is not based on evidence but is based on someone not looking at the literature and pretending they have the answers,” the chief executive of…

This is entirely about harm minimisation, not hypocrisy or wowserism. The Age has long argued the “war on drugs” has failed dismally and that regulation and education, rather than prohibition, would, as it has elsewhere, save lives, reduce drug use and cut crime. […]

“I think a picture like this really does tend to sort of suggest Australia’s tacit support for these killings,” Human Rights Watch Australia director Elaine Pearson said. “It’s sickening the head of Australia’s spy agency would pose for a photo effectively fist-pumping a leader who has instigated the killing of thousands of people in the so-called war on drugs. […]

The pain, harm and suffering endured by so many people, families and friends is so much greater than any monetary figure we can assign. This is why it is important to think about the lives of severely dependent people who use heroin and how this treatment may change all that. […]