Funding punitive law enforcement targeting drug use and related social harms, rather than redirecting that funding towards addressing the other underlying causal factors for drug use and dependency in the first place, simply buries the problem under increasing amounts of government expenditure but never truly improves it. […]

Much of American policy is designed to stop the flow of illicit drugs, which Dr Wodak said was close to useless in countries such as the United States and Australia, which have large borders. To address the growing problem, Dr Wodak made six recommendations, including increasing the availability of medical cannabis in Australia. […]

Tasmania needs to listen to the experts — retired judges, magistrates, police commissioners, health experts and ex-premiers — and reorient resources towards preventing addiction. We need to intervene early, educate, fund more drug treatment programs and court mandated diversions, and decriminalise the personal use of drugs. […]

Speaking of crime, what impact has ice had on rates of violent crime? A big one, according to the media. However, the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reports a recent downward trend in crimes such as robbery — down by 63 per cent since 2000 — which wasn’t the case during the heroin crisis of the 1990s, arguably the…

A report calling on the Tasmanian government to decriminalise illegal drugs and invest more money in treatment services has the backing of a former chief magistrate. Community Legal Centres Tasmania on Monday released a study advocating a health-based approach to tackle the state’s “failing” war on drugs. […]

Reports of summary executions, including of children, are multiplying in the Philippines, three United Nations experts said Monday, urging the government to investigate and curb “spiralling rights violations”. “The Government of the Philippines must urgently address growing reports of human rights violations, including murder, threats against indigenous peoples and the summary execution of children,” the panel of three experts said in…

A rehabilitation centre should be a sanctuary. Given that this facility is a private, unregulated clinic, there is little the government can do to regulate its actions. However, journalists can be more critical in colluding with such services by considering what the motives are for a story when it is being pitched, and questioning whether using and fully identifying vulnerable people…

Alcohol and Drug Foundation national policy manager Geoff Munro says the heroin toll will continue to rise. “We are disappointed that Victoria cannot follow the example of New South Wales of a supervised injecting room where people can get the medical assistance they need in case of an overdose,” he said. […]

The ACT Labor caucus will be forced to consider pill testing at Spilt Milk 2017 after a motion was unanimously passed at its conference on Saturday. Pressure has been mounting on the government to allow harm minimisation groups to help people test their illicit drugs for dangerous substances. […]

The federal government signed off on the health centre’s application Wednesday after receiving the request for an injection site last January. Once a follow-up inspection is done, clients will enter one of five injection stations on the first floor of the health centre’s facility and shoot his or her drugs under the supervision of health experts. […]