There is a potential for significant harm in Australia if we don’t have adequate systems in place to monitor our drug markets and respond rapidly when specific dangers are detected.
Drug-detection dogs don’t stop most drug use. And they have been shown to encourage more dangerous practices, criminalise and traumatise marginalised groups, and render all as potential suspects.
Ecstasy is the street name for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, an illicit party drug that speeds up messages to and from the brain and alters the user’s perception of reality.
The AFL season opened this week. But on the day that Collingwood was slated to play Sydney, the media was focusing on much more than the footy. The Herald Sun alleged that 11 Collingwood players had positive…
Not only are our drug policies not working, we’re falling behind the rest of the world and what evidence says is best to ensure we have fewer deaths from illicit drugs.
The ice taskforce’s report sends a clear message about the importance of focusing on drug use as a health issue. This signals an important shift in thinking.
This week the AFL announced revisions to its illicit drug policy. With strident critics calling for “zero tolerance” and even criminal sanctions for transgressions, it is an opportunity to reflect on why…
The challenge is to intervene before users hit crisis point. A Hawaii-based program does just this and has achieved substantial reductions in drug use. A similar scheme could work in Australia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said ice is far more potent, far more dangerous, and far more addictive than any other illegal drug. Is that supported by the data?
There is no evidence to suggest mandatory treatment outside of the criminal justice system would work. Instead, we need to increase funding for treatment programs, including early intervention.
In March 2015, Karmichael Hunt pleaded guilty to four counts of cocaine possession. This coincided with the end of his career at the Gold Coast Suns AFL club. At the close of the court case, a colleague…