OPINIONS of The Northern Star's online readers are divided on the controversial issue of saliva testing motorists to identify who is driving with illicit drugs present in their system. When the paper shared to its Facebook page a story about Monday's anti-saliva testing protest held outside Lismore Court, more than 40 readers commented. The majority of the comments supported the use of random drug testing by police. Sara Elizabeth Carr posted: "Don't do drugs or drink and drive. Simple." [continues 173 words]
PROTESTERS against saliva testing drivers gathered outside Lismore Local Court yesterday as more than 50 people faced the magistrate on drug driving charges. Inflatable joints, large hand made banners and signs including 'swab testing is not impairment testing', 'change the law not our lives' and 'good medicine' dominated the peaceful rally a protesters heard from a number of speakers. Nimbin Hemp Embassy President Michael Balderstone told protesters due to the alarming statistics police had gathered about drug driving, they plan on trebling the number of saliva tests in NSW next year. [continues 203 words]
THE ice epidemic has emerged as a key driver of this year's horror New South Wales road toll, which has shot back up to the highest level since 2013. Almost 50 per cent of motorists who failed roadside drug tests in 2015 took ice, while 72 per cent took cannabis, 6 per cent took ecstasy - and a whopping 97 per cent had a combination of drugs in their system. After years of falling crash rates, including a record low in 2014, this year's road toll has spiked 12 per cent with 333 deaths so far in 2015, up from 298 last year. Back in the 1970s around 1300 people died each year on NSW roads. [continues 321 words]
Where is the "war" against drugs when we all know the penalties are so ineffective ("Death, 60 arrests at Stereosonic", 6/12)? If there were significant penalties, would people be arriving at such events in large numbers with illegal drugs? If they don't care about the law or health, then punish them with something they do understand. Money and possessions are treasured above most other things in our society, so why not place a nominal fine of, say, $10,000 on those found carrying drugs and higher for those under the influence? Confiscate cars, phones, computers and cash up to that value and hold it in trust for one month, six months, a year or indefinitely, subject to drug test results. Philip Eagles, Mill Park [end]
SO 'ICE' is an epidemic. In 2013 it was established that less than 7% of Australians over the age of 14 years had used methamphetamine at least once in the past year. Methamphetamine first synthesized from ephedrine in 1918 (and amphetamines synthesized in 1888) were used during the Second World War o enhance endurance during long range bomber flights. Servicemen often believed it was bromide to suppress their libido. Truckies used amphetamines to combat fatigue and increase alertness. Today, amphetamines are still used medically to treat narcolepsy (a sleep disorder) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). [continues 242 words]
WITH the Stereosonic music festival coming to Adelaide tomorrow, parents will be asking, "What do we need to do to keep our children safe?" This follows the tragically predictable death at the Sydney event last weekend of a yet another young Australian. It's as if we are faced with some sort of horrendous "toxicological terrorism" - we don't know where the next death will be, just that inevitably, there will be another. Having become a parent myself in the decade since I last wrote about drugs in The Advertiser, it's a question that has become a very personal one for me. [continues 727 words]
Australia No Longer in the Lead Australia is caught in an irrational, unwinnable war against drugs that is just a "war against its own children", health and legal experts say. A new group run or supported by some of Australia's top drug experts, Harm Reduction Australia, will argue more needs to be done to support harm minimisation - including the decriminalisation or even legalisation of some drugs. Australia uses only about 2 per cent of its drug spending on harm reduction activities, compared with 66 per cent (about $1.1 billion) on law enforcement. Australians spend more than $7 billion a year buying illicit drugs. [continues 493 words]
Turn the subject to drug use and suddenly it's a war with far too many people fearful of being branded as soft on drugs. Imagine sitting in your home with friends, some are having a glass of wine and some are smoking a cigarette on the balcony after a calorie-laden dinner. A loud bang and yelling at the door silences everyone as the reality hits that you are about to be arrested and charged for drinking, smoking and unhealthy eating. [continues 807 words]
I can anecdotally state that nearly every person in prison is there as the result of drugs: using, dealing or an act of madness fuelled by "something" ("War on drugs hurts those at risk: experts", November 26). Nearly everyone does "something". Beer o'clock, drinkies, shots after work, wine while making dinner, cones behind the shed, lines in the office, party pills before the parade - and then there is ice. Organised crime steps in to make a market in anything declared illegal. The last thing major players in the drug game want is for any relaxation of laws. The consequence is globally savaging and individually ruinous. [continues 105 words]
Five weeks ago, Bill Shorten visited Cherie and Trevor Dell in their Sydney home to talk about how medicinal cannabis is helping their daughter Abbey, aged 3. The very next day, the police came knocking. Abbey suffers from a genetic disorder which results in constant violent seizures. They tried every legal medicine and treatment under the sun but found that nothing worked. Eventually, desperate to relieve Abbey's suffering, they turned to underground suppliers that provide illegal medicinal cannabis oil to families in need. [continues 308 words]
The Turnbull government wants to make it legal to grow medicinal cannabis in Australia this year. On Friday, Health Minister Sussan Ley said she was finalising changes to the Narcotics Drugs Act to allow cannabis to be legally grown for medicinal and scientific purposes. Victoria and NSW state governments have indicated they want to legalise medicinal cannabis, and are waiting on a federal regulatory scheme to do so. This comes days after Greens leader Richard Di Natale announced he would put a separate cross-party bill on the same issue to the Senate next month. [continues 180 words]
Prime Minister Should Back Bill Legalising Medical Marijuana to Ensure It Passes, the Greens Say. Richard Di Natale is forging ahead with his bid to legalise medical marijuana and warns the Turnbull government would be foolish to stand in the way. The Greens leader will ask the Senate to vote on his bill co-sponsored by Liberal, Labor and crossbench senators next month and he's calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to get on board to ensure its success. Senator Di Natale will personally press Mr Turnbull for his support when the pair meet in Canberra this week. [continues 359 words]
Most wars end. One of the longest in history, the Hundred Years War, finally ended in 1453. However, a war that has been fought internationally for nearly as long, the "war on drugs", continues almost unabated, causing havoc and misery for many people in our community. Winston Churchill once said: "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." Rarely do we look closely at the effectiveness of drug prohibition and the war on drugs. A close analysis, however, shows that globally over the past four decades more than a $US 1 trillion has been spent on a strategy that has led to the incarceration of millions worldwide solely based on their drug choice, thousands have been put to death as a "deterrent" (including two Australians in Indonesia this year), families have been destroyed because of overdoses and HIV, young lives ruined because of a criminal record, law enforcement and public officials have been corrupted, and criminal gangs have reaped the rewards of a policy that has failed to curb demand. Yet illicit drugs are cheaper, and more available and accessible than ever before. [continues 682 words]
With major police busts barely denting the illicit drug trade the time has come for a decriminalisation trial in Tasmania, writes Hans Willink Decriminalisation does not mean legalisation. It does not mean that drug dealers can ply their evil trade with impunity. THIS month police in Perth confiscated 320kg of methamphetamine, estimated to be worth $320 million, in what was Western Australia's biggest seizure of ice. Politicians nationwide rejoiced. Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan said "this seizure is a hammer blow for the organised criminals who peddle in ice". [continues 1348 words]
Regarding the ice epidemic ( SM, Aug 23), make no mistake, drugs are bad. But the war on drugs is worse. As the Americans found out during the 1920s prohibition on alcohol, such a war empowers organised crime. It is time to move away from policies that focus on law enforcement towards ones that include the legalisation of some drugs, decriminalisation of others, rehabilitation and treatment programs, as well as advertising campaigns. Cameron Ljubic, Bethania [end]
I just finished reading the special report on ice addiction ("Wild trip into the ice storm", 23/8). I have seen how this drug has taken hold, destroying families, jobs, and everything it touches. It's taking our children from us and turning them into people we no longer recognise. They are turning to crime, violence, and god only knows what else to get a hit. It's easy to say well, they do it because they had a bad childhood. Rubbish! [continues 100 words]
"Dob in a drug dealer" will only put low-level dealers and your kids in jail. If someone is selling points to fund a habit, they are far from drug kingpins and are mostly people in their early20s who don't fear the consequences until it's too late. They'll be thrown into the system and come out hardened criminals. I've seen first-hand the damage ice causes and in no way condone its use, but our war on drugs isn't working and if we follow America, then we'll have one hell of a jail population and no real solution. MULLUMBIMBY [end]
As a nation of ice users we all must unite to fight this evil drug which is destroying families, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and causing so much terror and pain. We must all unite to be vigilant and report any ice dealers and manufacturers using the 1800 333 000 police line (anonymous). All ice users must get help before it is too late. This ice war is a war we are losing. But we must win it for the sake of our young people, families and our most beautiful children. Please, we must. BIDWILL [end]
TRUTH is the first casualty of war. So when Tim Badrick (Letters, Aug 25) calls for mandatory jail sentences in the war on drugs, on the basis that "many ice addicts start out smoking cannabis", that ice is "the second worst drug on the planet" and opines about an "ice epidemic", then a reality check is long overdue. According to the latest government statistics, only 2.1 per cent of Australians reported using methamphetamine in the 12 months prior to the survey - hardly an "epidemic" since use has remained stable for at least the last 10 years. [continues 148 words]
Marc Lewis Argues That Addiction Is the Result of ' Deep Learning', Probably Triggered by Stress or Alienation. It Can Duly Be Unlearned... Via Better Habits For a long time, Marc Lewis felt a body blow of shame whenever he remembered that night. " We thought you were dead," accused one of his mates, leaning over him. Lewis was slumped half-naked in a bathtub. " We were just talking about what to do with the body." Lewis was at only the beginning of his odyssey into opiates. After this overdose, he dropped out of university and didn't pick up his studies for another nine years. At the next attempt, he was excelling at clinical psychology when he made front page news. He'd been busted raiding a pharmacy for goodies, hopefully Demerol or Methedrine. That was careless; he'd been successfully pulling off three or four break- ins a week. [continues 1417 words]
SIRS, Ia=C2=80=C2=99m writing about Kerri-anne Mesnera=C2=80=C2=99s colum= n: "=C2=80=C2=9CCrime thrives=20 on illegal drugs" (3-Aug-15). Caffeine is a drug. How much crime and corruption do you have associated with it? My guess is none. None whatsoever. Why? It'=C2=80=C2=99s legal. Criminalise caffeine and the situation would soon change. Kirk Muse Mesa, AZ USA [end]
SOME find "getting high" a great rush and an escape from their stressful and frustrating lives, while others have paranoid hallucinations or worse. Recently, the New South Wales Government announced the first medical marijuana trial. It comes as ongoing media stories focus on drugs in Australian society. As someone who has lived in five states in this country, reporting in each of those on drugs, and having been a teenager who tried marijuana, I have to say I agree with some aspects of the legalisation argument. [continues 706 words]
AMERICA is once again in the grip of Reefer Madness. This time though, it's a mad rush to make a dollar out of the burgeoning legal marijuana trade, which has gained strong momentum on the back of a wave of legislative change washing over what has traditionally been one of the toughest countries in the Western World when it comes to drug laws. Marijuana, or cannabis, is now legal for both medical and recreational use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon, and according to Wikipedia, 23 states have passed laws allowing some degree of medical use of marijuana. [continues 907 words]
Matt Noffs means well. But he has fallen for a crackpot idea in his quest to help the addicts at the Ted Noffs Foundation crisis centre founded by his grandfather. He wants legally sanctioned "ice consumption rooms" where methamphetamine addicts can smoke, snort or shoot up to their heart's content. No surprise who has been whispering in his ear. "Alex Wodak and I have been drawing up an idea of how an ice consumption room could work in the same way that they have, you know, crack rooms in the States, where people go to smoke crack," Noffs told ABC radio yesterday. "It's a ventilated room; you contain a person for a period of time." [continues 745 words]
More people are buying recreational drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine online, partly because it is much cheaper than buying them on the street, where the price of drugs in Australia is more than double the global average. An international survey on drug habits has detected a rapid increase over the past six years in the number of people who buy their drugs online using sites such as Silk Road, whose founder was jailed for life last month. The Global Drug Survey 2015, which was conducted in partnership with global media organisations including Fairfax Media, polled 102,000 people from 50 countries, including 4030 from Australia, about their patterns of drug use. [continues 495 words]
Dark web demand growing Anyone following the Silk Road story could be forgiven for thinking that the online black market's shutdown in October 2013 and the sentencing of its owner to life in prison without parole last week meant the end of online drug sales. Nothing is further from the truth. The results of the latest Global Drug Survey show the number of illicit drug users turning to the dark web the hidden internet accessible with easily-obtained free software is growing. [continues 468 words]
NSW has decided that the best way to deal with the current ice problem is to have a media campaign. Last Friday the NSW Bar Association hosted a conference with the single theme of a debate on the association's position paper titled "Drug Law Reform". Those who attended weren't the bleeding heart type. They included eminent health educator Professor David Penington, Associate Professor Nick Lintzeris from the NSW Ministry of Health, Professor Ian Webster from the University of NSW, senior members of the legal fraternity, Dr Alex Wodak from St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and former NSW Police Superintendent Frank Hansen. [continues 681 words]
If Bans Do More Harm Than Good, It's Time to Try a Different Approach Who suffers most from drug prohibition? The conventional wisdom is that Western countries pay a very high price for illicit drugs originating from and transiting through some developing countries. But the truth is the highest price for our failed "war on drugs" is paid by those relatively few countries where the drugs are produced or through which they move. This perspective was usefully analysed in a recent report from the United Nations Development Program, headed by former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark. Entitled Perspectives on the Development Dimensions of Drug Control Policy, it shows the worst damage from global drug prohibition is not in places such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, but in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico. [continues 838 words]
THE excuse wowsers use to get governments to waste billions of dollars on the prohibition of recreational drugs is that drugs kill users. That argument has no validity in a world where governments are slaughtering thousands a year as punishment for drug trafficking. The recent executions of Sukumaran and Chan by the Indonesians are only the tip of the iceberg. Around the world, thousands are killed every year. The fact of the matter is, the cure is worse than the disease. [continues 91 words]
Semantics instead of confronting this scourge won't help IN a week the Geelong community has talked openly and honestly about ice, some bureaucrats and academics have sadly failed to do the same. Concerning themselves more with the language used in the Addy's Breaking Ice series than with the people and truth behind our stories. Epidemic is defined as "the occurrence of more cases of a disease than would be expected in a community during a given time period". This week we have heard Geelong drug rehab providers say the number of people being admitted to their centres for ice addiction has risen by about 40 per cent in the last few years. We've heard the convener of a local family drug support service say the group - previously made up of family members of alcoholics, cannabis smokers, pill poppers and more - is now "all ice". [continues 531 words]
Michael Coulter The war on drugs has filled our jails, enriched the worst among us, wasted police resources and blotted up millions of dollars that could have been far better spent. 'Are we in the grip of an ice epidemic? No. Are all ice users violent monsters? Certainly not.' 'Are we in the grip of an ice epidemic? No. Are all ice users violent monsters? Certainly not.' It would be nice to say that the war on drugs had achieved nothing. The truth is far worse. [continues 758 words]
More than two-thirds of Australians back the use of medicinal cannabis, according to a new survey likely to bolster support among MPs who are set to vote on the issue in the coming months. Palliative Care Australia has found 67 per cent of people are happy to see the drug used to help patients with chronic pain and illness - and support is strongest among the elderly. The survey found people in older age brackets were more supportive of legalisation than the young: 72 per cent of 75 to 84-year-olds are in favour, compared to 62 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds. [continues 352 words]
Across Australia increasing numbers of families are turning to cannabis as a last resort to relieve their children's seizures, chronic pain and a host of other suffering. But with no legal supply and many doctors unwilling to discuss use of an illegal drug, they are left to run the gauntlet of trial and error and the uncertainties of the black market. In this first part of a series looking at the medicinal cannabis debate, Scott Hannaford meets one family facing tough choices. [continues 9965 words]
GOOD on you, Annastacia, for giving the green light for a medicinal cannabis trial. I hope it doesn't take donkey's years to allow it. I don't have anyone in my family who needs it for epilepsy but I could sure use it for arthritic pain. At my age I'm not likely to become a junkie and would it really matter if I did? Quality of life is the most precious of one's life and everyone deserves it. Joan Dunlop, Toowoomba [end]
Green fun and games at town's annual 'protestival' ONLY in Nimbin could a protest rally be celebrated with a parade full of hemp-themed floats, bong-throwing contests and a flock of green, prancing Ganja fairies down the main street. This weekend was the 2015 Nimbin Mardi Grass cannabis law reform rally, a tradition that began as a small, peaceful protest outside the Nimbin police station in May, 1993. This year, heavy rain and wild winds threatened to wreak havoc on the popular "protestival". [continues 511 words]
KERRY Herron (Letters, May 1) acknowledges the sad execution of the Bali drug runners and asks may we now have equal media attention on deaths from illegal drugs. I couldn't agree more. Let's focus on the abject failure of current control strategies, and acknowledge that the socalled "war on drugs" was lost a very long time ago. Let's accept that decriminalisation and harm minimisation are the only logical ways forward, and start discussing how that can be achieved. Brett Lee, Tingalpa [end]
THE emotional circus surrounding the executions of Bali Nine drug masterminds Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran is wrong on so many levels. One lowlight was the grandstanding 11th hour intervention by a group of actors telling Tony Abbott to "show some balls". But nothing was as bad as the unscrupulous opportunism of the drug reform lobby. No sooner had the shots been fired on Nusakambangan Island than the drug liberalisers started capitalising on acute media-driven sympathy, declaring the executions were proof the "war on drugs" is futile. [continues 717 words]
THE family of a four-year-old boy has welcomed news the Victorian Government plans to fund a medicinal cannabis trial for people suffering terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Nationally recognised as one of the most controversial cases surrounding the use of the drug, epileptic Cooper Wallace's family stood tall during yesterday's announcement at Treasury Place. "It's exciting, we just hope that the laws change quickly enough for children like Cooper, and that we're not left waiting," his mother Cassie Batten said. [continues 253 words]
THE State Government is still determining whether a legislative change will be needed for Queensland to take part in medicinal cannabis trials. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday announced Queensland would work with the NSW Government in trialling the medicinal use of cannabis. Children with drug-resistant epilepsy are most likely to be included in the program. "Let's be very clear, this is strictly medical cannabis," Ms Palaszczuk said. The Premier said the state would now determine whether law changes would be needed. [continues 83 words]
Premier swayed on cannabis trial by epileptics A CAIRNS mum whose two daughters suffer from a rare and painful disease wants them to be among the first patients involved in Queensland's medical cannabis trials Sherri Hickey, whose teenaged daughters Elyshia and Emily - aged 19 and 15 - have both been diagnosed with the rare Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, says medical marijuana would provide them with an effective alternative for pain relief. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced that Queensland will take part in medical marijuana trials aimed at helping people with various illnesses, including children with epilepsy. [continues 257 words]
THE family of a four-year-old boy has welcomed news that the State Government plans to fund the use of medicinal cannabis in a trial for people suffering terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Nationally recognised as one of the most controversial cases surrounding the use of the drug, young epileptic Cooper Wallace, with his family, stood tall in light of the announcement. "It's exciting. We just hope that the laws can change quick enough for children like Cooper, and we're not left waiting," his mother, Cassie Batten, said. [continues 186 words]
Medicinal marijuana to be tested AN ADVOCATE for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis has welcomed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's announcement the state will be part of scientific trials of the treatment for cancer, epilepsy and end-of-life patients. But Hervey Bay's Jannean Dean, who stood as an independent candidate during the State election, was concerned at the cost and delay of trials. Queensland will join forces with New South Wales which has already committed to medicinal marijuana trials, with $9 million to be spent over five years as the trials are carried out. [continues 233 words]
THERE was interesting feedback on Saturday's front page story regarding the large haul of cannabis allegedly pulled from a property in Coominya. A good percentage of readers seem to be of the opinion that this investigation was a waste of police resources, and that time and money would be better spent on tackling the ice scourge. When it comes to ice and the effect it has on people, I have to say that I hope police are putting as many resources as they can into catching those involved in producing and selling it. [continues 154 words]
PAIN relief for families with suffering loved ones may be just around the corner, following Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's announcement that Queensland will join NSW's medicinal trials of cannabis. The State Government needs to be congratulated, at the very least, for having the courage to put this controversial issue to the test - to see whether marijuana, when administered under medical supervision, does actually make a difference - for the better - to people's lives. Marijuana has long been outlawed in Australia but the case is building to have the drug decriminalised for those seeking an escape from chronic pain. [continues 177 words]
TWO more states have joined a medicinal cannabis trial being led by NSW. The Queensland and Victorian governments both announced yesterday they would become involved in the trial. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her Government would broaden the trial beyond NSW to include Queensland patients, and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said his Government was working with NSW to ensure at least a quarter of the participants are from Victoria. The Tasmanian Government announced its involvement in the NSW trial in January. [continues 100 words]
Lucy Haslam, the mother of the late-medical marijuana campaigner, Dan, has criticised the state government for moving too slowly to provide access to the drug to the ill. Ms Haslam, whose son died in February, five years after being diagnosed with cancer, testified before a federal Senate inquiry held at the NSW parliament on Tuesday. "We cannot afford to wait for the results of clinical trials," Ms Haslam said. "Don't dismiss the urgent need of people now. "If someone with a terminal illness says that their pain is less [. . .] what are we worried about? [continues 233 words]
An anti-drugs lobby group has told the Legislative Assembly that medical marijuana could act as a "Trojan horse" for illegal drug use in the ACT and any change to current laws could prompt an increase in addiction. Drug Free Australia representatives Gary Christian and Ross Colquhoun are to give evidence on Tuesday to a public hearing considering a medical cannabis scheme proposed by Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury. The lobby group's 125-page submission to the inquiry outlines domestic and overseas evidence that is critical of medical cannabis schemes and says reform is not needed in Australia because some patients already have access to legal synthetic cannabinoid drugs. [continues 503 words]
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - President Joko Widodo of Indonesia has been too busy during the past three weeks to accept a phone call from the Australian prime minister to plead for the lives of two death-row prisoners, an Indonesian envoy said Thursday. Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters on March 5 that he had requested a telephone conversation with Widodo on the impending executions of Australian heroin traffickers Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33. Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, on Thursday brushed off suggestions of a diplomatic snub. [continues 118 words]
WILL Hodgman, it is not acceptable that your Liberal Government has omitted to include the legislation to legalise cannabis for medical use in your next 365 outlook. How many people must suffer in pain under your watch? Where is your Government's duty of care to Tasmanians? It is contemptible you choose to ignore such a vital issue that affects so many. Suffering loved ones, that we care for, require this well-documented, well-researched, proven treatment. These draconian laws need to be changed to reflect the needs of the 21st century. Is that asking too much Premier. Roll on next election. Andrew Irving Hobart [end]
The difficult debate over reforming marijuana laws returned to the ACT on Friday when a Legislative Assembly committee began taking submissions on the issue. That gravely ill members of our community are suffering needlessly and forced to plead with legislators because they cannot get access to the drug is a situation we owe to them to fix. According to overseas evidence, cannabis products can offer great relief, under the right conditions, although debate remains. It is also unacceptable that doctors may face prosecution for advising those patients to access marijuana products. [continues 329 words]
Inside Australia
