As killings continue in Sydney streets, Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann has stepped up her call for the legal regulation of cocaine. Paul Gregoire reports.
drug law reform
Budget measures to raise the tax on tobacco products are supposedly about “harm minimisation” and discouraging smoking when it’s another attack on the poor. Isaac Nellist reports.
The Australian Lawyers Alliance has renewed calls to decriminalise cannabis use, saying Victorian Labor must shift away from law enforcement and punishment. Kerry Smith reports.
From your morning coffee to your afternoon alcoholic drink with friends, drugs play a significant role in society. However, the war against drugs that has plagued society has resulted in a differentiation between the legal drugs we consume and the drugs that are criminalised by the government.
According to 2016 government data, 8.5 million people — 43% of Australians — have used recreational drugs and illegally obtained pharmaceuticals for recreational or self-medication uses.
“REJECTING ROOM”, screamed the front page of the Herald Sun on July 6, in a very clever pun on North Richmond’s safe injecting room that had opened a few days earlier.
“Addicts snub injecting facility” and “Nothing changed in heroin hotspot” sat above the main cover slogan to emphasise the point about ungrateful “druggies”.