While offering a pill-testing service will never guarantee that there will be no drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals, the international evidence is indisputable and growing that it significantly reduces the risk. And even though the process may seem counter-intuitive to the “just say no” strategies we’re used to (which are failing), it is one that works. […]

It is time for a permanent ACT drug testing site. Evidence shows that accessing drug checking services not only equips people to make informed decisions by providing clarity regarding substance make-up, it connects them with further harm reduction information and support services. If the challenge is to keep our community safe, then this is a test we must not fail.…

As the global prohibition effort enters its second century, we are witnessing two countervailing trends. The very idea of a prohibition regime has reached a crescendo of dead-end violence not just in Afghanistan but recently in Southeast Asia, demonstrating the failure of the drug war’s repression strategy. On the other side of history’s ledger, the harm-reduction movement led by medical practitioners…

The fact that the ‘War on Drugs’ has failed does not mean we should give up; indeed, it should be seen as a spur to action. Pill testing will not abolish all the harms associated with drug taking, but if handled carefully, it carries the likelihood of reducing them significantly. […]

“The great myth about pill testing is just that we’re just telling people what’s in their pills,” Dr Caldicott said. “The reality is that we know it works very well in stopping people from taking drugs – or at least changes the way they take drugs so that they don’t have to end up in hospital. […]

It remains disappointing that despite mountains of supporting research and national lip-service to “evidence-based” approaches, harm reduction interventions still face such strong resistance. Clearly, there are those who still find these approaches scary and are made uncomfortable by them. But research says very loudly that they work, and more importantly, they save lives. […]

In recent weeks, erosion of civil liberties in New South Wales has been taken even further by the state’s government. In the run-up to the state’s election, the ruling Liberal / National coalition has revealed plans to allow warrant-less searches of the homes of individuals previously convicted of dealing drugs. […]

If there’s one thing the ASSAD data indicates, it’s that the Australian government’s war on drugs—and its flaccid “just say no” campaign—is failing. In Alex Wodak’s view, the best way to minimise harm and ensure that we don’t “see young people die” is not necessarily to try and stop them from taking ecstasy, but rather to implement systems which make…

The so-called war on drugs in the United States has been a failure, with the added consequence that five decades of law enforcement efforts have forced drug traffickers to become more effective and efficient in distributing their wares. This frank assessment, by a group of researchers from several US universities, with additional input from Anthony Bebbington, from Australia’s University of…

If there was any sense to the logic that drugs busts lead to decreased drug use, we would not be in the middle of an overdose crisis, one of the most devastating public health crises in U.S. history. Despite literally tons of drug seizures over the last four decades, and millions of (mostly black and brown) people incarcerated for drug…