Portugal decriminalised drugs 15 years ago. There’s been a decrease in drug use, crime, disease and overdoses. Other nations are taking the same prescription, and ending proscription. It’s an approach that should appeal to progressives, libertarians and conservatives alike – progressives and libertarians because of their support for freedom, and conservatives because of their appreciation for rational, evidence-based policy. […]

A proposal to hold a trial at next month’s festival at the University of Canberra received the green light from the university. Late last week former Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Palmer wrote to promotors of Groovin the Moo, noting the university’s support was “very positive”. “I am delighted to see the progress being made towards improving the safety…

The Victorian report includes a recommendation to “monitor” the situation in prisons, and defer some of these issues to an advisory body. We remain hopeful the advisory body will consider prison reforms alongside the other welcome recommendations in the report. […]

Pill testing should be introduced at music festivals to help emergency workers treat patients suffering adverse reactions like overdoses, according to an inquiry into Victorian drug law reform. A state parliamentary committee investigating laws and regulation of illicit drugs released the mammoth 680-page report with 50 recommendations. It proposed authorities, but not festival goers, have access to “back-of-house” testing of…

President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, Alex Wodak, is quoted in the report and was present in parliament when it was tabled. “Our efforts to date have been a miserable failure. We’ve relied almost exclusively on efforts to cut the supply of drugs, probably well intentioned, but the market force is very powerful,” Dr Wodak told AAP on…

Labor’s MP Geoff Howard, insisted a move away from the ‘war on drugs’ did not mean going soft on crime. “Rather, it emphasises that law enforcement responses to illicit drug use should focus on trafficking and criminal behaviour arising from use, while people apprehended solely for use and personal possession be directed to a range of treatment and support options,…

ADF HRA Media Release 270318 […]

A new, 50-state study finds that putting more people in jail for drug offenses doesn’t reduce drug use or overdose deaths. Jake Horowitz, director of research and policy at Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety Performance Project, said they compared states’ drug imprisonment rates to rates of drug use, overdose death and drug arrests, and found no correlation at all. […]

A pre-eminent group of health and social service providers are calling for all Australian governments to decriminalise drug use and to treat it primarily as a health and social issue. The group, comprising doctors, academics, sociologists, criminologists and social service providers want to see drug laws reformed to remove penalties and jail time for people caught with drugs for personal…

After a disappointing false start last year, the time has come for the ACT to break new ground by holding Australia’s first pill testing trial. It is an opportunity for the territory to earn its reputation as a forward-thinking jurisdiction while displaying leadership on a nationally-relevant issue. […]