Losers preyed upon RUTHLESS loan sharks are recruiting desperate Crown casino losers to babysit drug crops in Melbourne's suburbs. Court records show how criminals are preying on out-of-luck punters to look after hydroponic cannabis setups worth millions. Judges have expressed frustration at the number of cropsitters who say they ended up minding the houses after coercion by the lenders. It has also emerged an Asian organised crime figure was paid a $5000 commission for each casino patron he could lure into acting as heroin mules on high-risk international runs out of Vietnam. [continues 350 words]
WE ARE increasingly being confronted with the scourge of drugs on society. The tragedy of talented actors and musicians that overdose generates a feeling of sad loss and shock as we look at a person who has achieved more success than most can imagine and are loved and we contemplate the waste of life. The scandal of football heroes allegedly at the centre of a drugs syndicate leaves us with a feeling of betrayal as we as a society hoist these people up as mentors for our children. [continues 150 words]
Public hearings considering the use of marijuana for medical purposes will begin on Thursday, as a leading drug law reform advocacy group called for the ACT to become the first jurisdiction to establish a legal scheme. A Legislative Assembly committee will hear evidence on the subject as part of its consideration of legislation introduced by Greens minister Shane Rattenbury, which would allow for the use of medical cannabis for the terminally and chronically ill to alleviate pain and symptoms. In a submission to the inquiry, advocacy group Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform have called for the scheme to go ahead without a new clinical trial. [continues 359 words]
IT'S nearly three years since I used this literary real estate to provoke conversation on the decriminalisation of drugs. I didn't know then if it was an appropriate response. I still don't. Watching convicted Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran being driven off yesterday in armoured vehicles to be executed was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. The talkback callers on Triple M's Hot Breakfast also made me think many things, none of which I had an answer for. Why should I care about a couple of greedy drug smugglers? [continues 754 words]
Drug Seizures and Arrests Hit Highest Levels in 2013; Spike in the Use of Ice The imminent execution in Indonesia of two Australians caught there for trafficking drugs comes as Australia faces its own worsening narcotics problem. PHOTO: REUTERS Mr Suhandro Putro, representative of The Javanese Christian Church funeral home, says they usually receive orders for caskets when executions are carried out on Nusakambangan, an island off Java. The extent of the problem can be seen from the Australian Crime Commission's most recent report on illegal drugs, released last April. [continues 689 words]
Despite Prohibition and Tough Penalties, the World Is Losing the War on Drugs Writes Greg Barns INDONESIA'S President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo leads a developing world country. And like many developing world countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America illicit drugs are part of daily life. Where President Jokowi differs from some developing world leaders is, he naively thinks imposing draconian penalties like the death penalty will send a message to those who grow, manufacture and sell drugs that they ought to avoid Indonesia. [continues 695 words]
Karmichael Hunt is learning that the potency of an illicit drug scandal is likely to be far stronger than anything he has ingested. In the wake of the allegations against Hunt, a predictable hysteria has swept through the country. And while there is no doubt that Hunt is alleged to have done something extremely foolish, if so, his real crime is underestimating our society's deeply irrational attitude to certain substances. Part of the problem is the catchall term: drugs. A drug is any substance that has a physiological effect when introduced into the body. Everything we ingest is, by definition, a drug. In terms of the effects they produce, it is time we accepted that all substances appear on a spectrum. Your favourite coffee or red wine is favoured precisely because of the altered states of consciousness it brings about. And any reasonable debate about drugs must be anchored to the specific effects they produce. We can demystify illicit drugs by paying attention to what they are and how they work. [continues 589 words]
A VETERAN police inspector admits containing the drugs scourge in Richmond is an uphill battle, but one police remain determined to win. Addicts have turned parts of Melbourne's biggest public housing estate into makeshift shooting galleries. Inspector Bernie Edwards, due to finish a four-year spell as Yarra Police inspector in coming weeks, said the drug menace was an ongoing fight. "People talk about adopting a zero-tolerance hardline approach, but that doesn't work," Insp Edwards said. "You can't win by just putting people in jail. What you have to do is try and break that cycle of use." [continues 198 words]
Shooting Gallery Not the Answer A NEW push to set up a legal heroin-shooting gallery in one of Melbourne's most drug-affected suburbs - dubbed "zombie town" - has angered traders and residents. They are tired of junkies littering Richmond's streets with discarded syringes. But Yarra Council, the Yarra Drug and Health Forum, the Greens, the Australian Sex Party, and the Australian Medical Association are keen for the State Government to follow NSW's lead by sanctioning a six-month trial of a supervised injecting room. [continues 583 words]
THE number of students using or possessing drugs in NSW schools is at record levels. On average 20 students are suspended each week after being busted with illicit drugs, with some principals calling it a "crisis". Schools handed out 790 long suspensions for drug offences in 2013 - the highest number in almost a decade and more than double the number of suspensions in 2009. For the two years 2012 and 2013, schools imposed 1539 long suspensions on students for offences involving suspected illicit substances, data collated by the NSW Department of Education and Communities shows. While much of the drug and alcohol use occurs outside school, some students have become seriously ill in class or in the playground and have had to be taken to hospital. [continues 275 words]
A MAVERICK Sydney doctor who sacrificed his career to treat epileptic kids with cannabis oil has warned the NSW Government's trial of medicinal cannabis will progress too slowly to save hundreds of sick children. Andrew Katelaris was deregistered in 2005 for refusing to stop supplying cannabis oil to the families who had turned to cannabis in a last hope to treat their children. He spoke to a packed Nimbin Town Hall at Saturday's medicinal cannabis workshop the second event in as many months. [continues 370 words]
GRUMPY4810, referring to your text about law enforcement "bleating on that they had wiped out the drug trade in 1940 but 75 years on it's the same". Give the hardworking police their due, Grumpy dear. Stone Age Man got a millennia headlong start when he discovered how to numb the fears and hardship of his/ her life, by brewing beer and the habit has stuck. When they finally migrated to the Euphrates Valley they cultivated grapes and now wine is big business and so are his fears and hardships. [continues 388 words]
The NSW government's clinical trial of medicinal cannabis is inappropriate for patients suffering extreme pain, and the drug should be legally approved for patients diagnosed by doctors, a paper in a top medical journal argues. "We are behind the times on medical cannabis," writes David Penington, an emeritus professor at Melbourne University, in a paper in the Medical Journal of Australia on Sunday. "Twenty three states in the US have legalised use of cannabis for medical conditions, as has Canada since 2001. Other countries approving it include Israel, Holland and the Czech Republic." [continues 132 words]
TERMINALLY and chronically ill Victorians could legally grow their own cannabis plants and get early access to the drug, under an ambitious plan by a top drug expert. The use of cannabis for medical purposes should be decided by a discussion between a patient and doctor, rather than relying on the results of an upcoming trial into the drug's effectiveness held across the eastern states, says the University of Melbourne's Professor David Penington. Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia today, Prof Penington said even if the trial proved the drug as effective, cannabis could never be regulated as a pharmaceutical product like other medications for prescription. "It contains a variety of components of variable potency and actions ... consequently, cannabis has variable effects in individuals," Prof Penington said. [continues 113 words]
PRISONERS are getting high behind bars with almost every drug, including heroin, cocaine and marijuana, found in more than 2000 drug incidents across the state's jails. Inmates were caught with drugs and utensils more than 670 times a year for the past three years, with the state's largest jails showing the worst results. Prisoners were also busted with alcohol, brewing implements, "smoking devices" and drug test decoys in the centres, documents obtained under Right to Information show. Drug tests, both random and targeted, showed hundreds of prisoners were getting wasted on drugs, while hundreds more refused to give urine samples. [continues 301 words]
ONE of Australia's top lawyers will lead a review into the use of medical marijuana. The appointment signals good news for patients and families who say they need a sign they can be confident the State Government is doing all it can to change the law. Attorney-General Martin Pakula has appointed leading lawyer Dr Ian Freckelton, QC, as Special Commissioner to the Victorian Law Reform Commission's review into the use of medicinal cannabis. "This is an important step in investigating the legal practicalities in making medical marijuana available to help people in dire need," Mr Pakula said. [continues 60 words]
Food ministers have rejected advice from Australia's food standards agency that hemp be allowed to be used in food. Hemp is a species of cannabis, but unlike marijuana contains no or very low levels of the mind- altering chemical tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC). It is used in Australia in clothing and building products, but cannot be used in food. In 2012, Food Standards Australia New Zealand approved an application to include hemp in food. Food ministers asked the agency to review its decision, which the agency reaffirmed, noting that foods derived from hemp seeds did not present any safety concerns. [continues 120 words]
NSW has been hit by an ice-berg. Rates of ice use and detection are crashing through the roof and have now reached pandemic proportions. Experts have compared the crisis to the crack cocaine scourge that hit the United States in the 1980s. It's a problem that's careering out of control, and the Liberal State Government doesn't have a clue what to do about it. Trust me, I know -- because I've seen this crisis first-hand. As a criminal lawyer (who mostly deals with legal aid clients) much of my work involves defending people who are struggling with drug addiction and/or mental health issues. [continues 710 words]
HIS lawyer made every effort to keep him from spending time behind bars, even likening the case to drug trafficking charges faced by a former Queensland Origin star, but ultimately [name redacted], 19, was denied bail. Defence lawyer Travis George represented [name redacted] in Maryborough Magistrates Court and told magistrate John Smith his client was "crapping himself" at the prospect of spending time in jail. "He's never been in prison before," Mr George said. "He's just had 24 hours straight in the watchhouse. He's petrified of going to jail." [continues 213 words]
Keira MP Ryan Park has thrown his support behind Labor leader Luke Foley's push for a more ambitious approach to medicinal cannabis. Mr Park, a long-time advocate for the availability of the drug, has echoed the call for bi-partisan action to ensure people can "get some comfort from this drug and not feel like a criminal in the process". "I am very supportive of the fact that Luke has put this issue on the agenda because, to be frank, I think it is one that has been kicked around for too long," Mr Park said. [continues 301 words]
Inside Australia
