New proposals put drug and alcohol councillors in an ethical bind.
Articles on Drug policy
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Indonesia’s war on drugs aims to protect the country’s young generation from an alleged “national drug emergency.” But the government’s coercive approach is harming the people it wishes to protect.
The government’s “blanket ban” on legal highs goes against the evidence.
The myth has been debunked time and time again.
Not only can they improve public health and decrease treatment costs, but they can also address one of the root causes of addiction: loneliness.
In the 1930s, Harry J. Anslinger, the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, embarked on a fierce anti-marijuana campaign. Highlighted by the 1936 anti-marijuana film Reefer Madness – where marijuana…
Over the past decade, drug use in the US has risen dramatically, with heroin use reaching epidemic proportions. The country’s policy for combating abuse has involved incarceration, abstinence-only treatment…
On all sides, our politicians and commentators seem convinced Britain’s drug policy has been a failure. Party conference season saw Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg rehash his old refrain that we’ve…
Brazil has a serious drug problem. The country lies beside the largest coca plantations in the world in Peru and Colombia. A sizeable part of the cocaine used in Europe moves through its vast territory…
Reports of a “flesh-eating zombie drug” called krokodil, accompanied by lurid images first appeared in English during 2010. The drug serves as an excellent illustration of the havoc bad drug policies can…
In 1967, the Beatles took out a full-page advertisement in The Times describing Britain’s marijuana laws as “immoral in principle and unworkable in practice”. Almost half a century later, both past and…
Alex Oates’ debut Fringe play traces the journey of 19-year-old Geordie lad Bruce, as he begins dealing cocaine via the illicit online marketplace Silk Road. Under the guise of a coming of age drama, the…
The John Maddox Prize for standing up for science is awarded to individuals who are judged to have “promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest” and especially those who have faced…
Alcohol and substance abuse costs the Australian economy A$24.5bn a year. The human toll from accidents, overdoses, chronic disease, violence, mental illness and family disruption, however, is immeasurable…
Once again, overdose deaths from opioids are increasing in Australia. And once again, we are in danger of ignoring effective, evidence-based interventions. According to the National Drug and Alcohol Research…
Sixteen years ago the premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett, asked me to conduct an inquiry into drug policy. At the time, deaths from heroin overdoses were high and the use of cannabis and other drugs continued…
John Fahey, the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), promised before the London Olympics that anti-doping testing at Games would employ the latest advancements and would be as rigorous as…
From a drug-use control perspective, the 2012 London Olympic Games (LOG) will be the “biggest ever”. Since the Ben Johnson affair at the 1988 Seoul Olympics there has been a concerted effort to secure…
Doctors, just like the rest of the population, make personal choices about drug use. Some choose to use legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol; others take illicit substances like cannabis and amphetamines…
Former Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has argued that the war on drugs has failed and cannabis should be decriminalised. He argued that the hardline approach has brought “disastrous” consequences…
Top contributors
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Honorary Fellow, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
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Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong
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Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne based), Curtin University
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Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores University
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Associate Professor of Sociology, Bentley University
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Wright State University
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Professor in Criminal Justice and Faculty Director of Public Engagement, University of Kent
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Associate Professor, Public Health, Monash University
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Emeritus Consultant, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst
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Professor of History, University of Johannesburg
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Professor in Criminology, Loughborough University
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Lecturer, RMIT University
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Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Penn State
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Associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; York University, Canada; University of Sydney
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Junior research fellow, University of Oxford