Police Use of Strip Searches Skyrockets in NSW
At the 11 May Midnight Mafia festival at Sydney Olympic Park, NSW police officers searched 272 punters following an indication from a sniffer dog. Of these, 32 were charged with possession and eight were issued with new on-the-spot fines. This...
The NZ Cannabis Legalisation Referendum: An Interview With NZ Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick
New Zealand justice minister Andrew Little announced on 7 May that all three political parties that from the minority coalition government have agreed to the foundational elements of a legal and regulated cannabis market that the nation is set to...
Government Tightens Screws on Unjust Drug Driving Regime
As of next Monday, 20 May, first time alleged low-range drink drivers and drivers in respect of whom the presence of drugs is confirmed by a laboratory analysis will be fined $561 and have their licences suspended for three months....
A Right Now Politician: An Interview With the Australian Greens’ Matthew Thompson
In many ways, this coming federal election is an anomaly in its disconnect. According to the ABC’s Vote Compass, the number one issue that concerns Australian voters is the environment, which for the most part means climate change at present....
Why the Greatest Medicinal Plant is Outlawed: An Interview With HEMP’s Dr John Jiggens
As Australian historian Dr John Jiggens puts it, cannabis is the “greatest herbal medicinal plant on the planet”. It can be used to treat more conditions than any other medicine. There’s no risk of overdose. And early last century, it...
Police Raid on Nimbin Hemp Embassy: Little More Than a Show of Strength
Stores in California will open at 2am AEST tomorrow morning. And some of the shoppers living in the fifth largest economy in the world will buy legal cannabis to smoke. Meanwhile, there will be other Californians at home, tending to...
End Prohibition. Vote HEMP: An Interview With Dr Andrew Katelaris and Michael Balderstone
As Australian historian Dr John Jiggens recalled in 2010, an article appeared in a major Australian newspaper in 1938, warning about a “Mexican drug” that causes madness. And this report introduced the term “marijuana” to the Australian public. “Under the...
Woman Are Less Likely to Support Cannabis Legalisation Than Men
Community attitudes towards the legalisation of cannabis have shifted in recent years, with more and more people calling for marijuana to be legalised in Australia. However, research by North Carolina State University has suggested that women are less likely than...
It’s Time to Regulate Cocaine and MDMA: An Interview with Transform’s Steve Rolles
The debate around legalising recreational cannabis in this country is growing louder. What once seemed to Middle Australia like a far-out idea held by some rural hippies, nowadays, isn’t such a distant concept as the news of successful legalisation in...
On Legalising and Regulating Cocaine: An Interview With Dr Julian Buchanan
The NSW police drug detection dog program has been widely criticised, as it gets it wrong between two-thirds to three-quarters of the time. And the 2006 Ombudsman report pointed out that when searches are successful, most only turn up small...
