“If you have problematic injecting drug use and a number of people are requiring ambulance attendance because of overdose and a number of people are dying of accidental overdose and discarded equipment is in the streets, there’s public use going on and the local business community and local residents are sick of that and you’re lucky enough to have local…

So what’s the solution? Legalization. Yes, legalize marijuana, which is the number one producer of wealth for the cartels. End the federal prohibition, reschedule cannabis, invest in research and infrastructure, support medical advances and improve upon the nation’s economy all the while ending the war on drugs and dismantling the illicit market, which thrives on prohibition. […]

A longstanding relationship between two countries means being able to stand up for what’s right. Australia has to be prepared to deliver difficult messages, not becoming indulgent of, or indifferent to, murder on a mass scale, like what we’re seeing in the Philippines. […]

Incarcerated addicts shouldn’t be denied the health protections that are available to everyone else. The government should have faith in its evidence-based approach, and bring harm reduction inside prison walls. […]

A call to introduce pill testing in Victoria has been shut down by the state government. A spokeswoman for Health Minister Martin Foley told the Leader there were no plans to introduce it, despite the three deaths in Melbourne earlier this month. […]

Today law enforcement agencies continue to receive more than 65 per cent of the national drug budget to arrest people using drugs — so rather just saying we can’t arrest our way out of a drug problem, maybe it’s time to actually do something different. […]

The Philippines police will disband anti-drugs units following the killing of a South Korean businessman by rogue officers, but President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to forge ahead with his war on drugs until the last day of his term. […]

Law enforcement attempts to interrupt the supply of illicit drugs are neither effective nor cost effective and they produce substantial collateral damage. Change is starting to happen in some countries and will eventually start in Australia. […]

“Corruption is in government offices, but there are 80 percent of Catholics in government. If there’s corruption and murder, it’s because Filipinos do not practice their faith.” […]

No organisations or individuals — not governments, police, teachers or even parents — have ever been able to stop young people using drugs. The exasperating truth is that all we can do as a society, and as parents, is to make it as safe as possible when they experiment with drugs. […]