On Thursday the government released the four-volume report and its interim response a month after the inquiry’s findings were delivered by Commissioner Professor Dan Howard. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the government would not support the inquiry’s recommendations to open more medically supervised injecting centres, run needle and syringe programs in prisons, allow consumer substance testing (more commonly known as…

Rather than treating drug use as a health issue, many in the major parties are still clinging to their failed criminalisation approach. We can’t wait for them to see the light. Lives are at risk. We need to work now to force change onto the political agenda. A bold community campaign that included trade unions, student unions and health organisations…

“The war on drugs doesn’t work, never has worked, never will work,” he says. He says NSW should follow the lead of Portugal and some Nordic countries which have decriminalised minor drug offences and shifted the focus to health and social support to tackle problematic drug use. “Let’s deal with them as people. […]

On January 8, the US Senate agreed to a resolution that condemns, among other things, the state-sanctioned killings and the detention of Philippines Senator Leila De Lima, a prominent critic of the drug war. The resolution also called on President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on implicated security forces and government officials. […]

“I have a theory why our opponents are so against what we do. It’s not about the pill testing itself – it runs far deeper than that,” says Caldicott. “It represents a far scarier prospect for those so committed to an approach to drugs that globally has passed its sell-by date. […]

The lack of pill testing at this weekend’s Spilt Milk festival is a “real missed opportunity” according to ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury who wants to see the political barriers to pill testing removed. He repeated calls for a permanent pill testing site in Canberra which was rejected by government. […]

The Coroner did not suggest, and I certainly do not suggest, that pill testing is the answer to illicit drug use. It is simply one of a matrix of reforms which we must be prepared to consider and trial if we are to make a positive difference. But to suggest that pill testing gives the green light to drug use…

“In my mind (pill testing) is a health issue, it’s not a law enforcement issue,” she said. “We need to target suppliers and dealers. The more we can disrupt the supply, the better. “I live in the real world, and as a nurse and a midwife you come across people who have made poor or odd decisions … and no…

And they want drug checking. Would it have saved Josh? The Tams can’t be sure. But it might have. “The first thing the (counsellors) would have said to him was, ‘Mate, you’re struggling with the heat, do you realise what MDMA will do to your body?’” says Julie. They would have talked him through the dangers. […]

Mr Gough said when people are stigmatised and discriminated against it becomes internalised – resulting in people thinking they don’t deserve any services. “So what I see is people who are disengaging with society because their problematic drug use is causing social isolation,” he said. “Really everyone has a different situation and a different set of problems but people who…