“Jesus Used It Back in the Day”: An Interview With Legalise Cannabis/HEMP’s Michael Balderstone
The HEMP Party has decided to change its name to Legalise Cannabis Australia for the upcoming federal election. Established back in 1993, HEMP or Help End Marijuana Prohibition has been keeping the issue of cannabis legalisation on the political agenda...
The Need for a Medicinal Cannabis Driving Defence: An Interview With Former Magistrate David Heilpern
The NSW government introduced the state’s much maligned drug driving laws in 2007. The regime criminalises any trace of the psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, in the system whilst driving. The federal government, however, legalised the use of medicinal cannabis...
What is the Drug Court Program in New South Wales?
Deputy Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley AM will be made a permanent judge of the District Court and will be sworn in as the Senior Judge of the New South Wales Drug Court in the coming weeks. Deputy Chief Magistrate Mottley...
PM’s Continuing ‘War on Drugs’ Rhetoric Ignores That There’s a Better Way
During an 8 June press conference, PM Scott Morrison called on Australians to reject illicit drug use, as “it fuels organised crime in this country, as well as “human misery” here and in many “parts of the world”. The prime...
What are the Penalties for Prohibited Drug Offences in New South Wales?
The main piece of legislation in New South Wales which facilitates the prohibition of drugs is the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (‘the Act’). The main criminal offences contained in the Act are divided into two parts: Summary offences...
Driver Who Filmed Dying Police Officer Sentenced in Court
The man who filmed a police officer while she lay dying on the road after being hit by a truck could walk free from prison in the coming days, after receiving a backdated sentence of 10 months in prison. The...
“The Beginning of the End of Drug Prohibition”: An Interview With Drug Policy Australia’s Greg Chipp
Pill testing has been implemented in certain European nations since the early 1990s. This harm reduction strategy developed out of the burgeoning rave culture alongside the emergence of new forms of electronic music and a taste for party drugs. Thirty...
As NZ Legalises Pill Testing Permanently, Australian MPs Watch the Death Toll Rise
New Zealand health minister Andrew Little announced on 9 April that the 12-month-long interim laws permitting legal pill testing at festivals will be made permanent prior to their expiration, as the services have been making a positive impact. Passed in...
Light Up This 420 as the Edifice of Global Cannabis Prohibition Continues to Crumble
Today, 20 April, is 420: a global day when cannabis legalisation advocates mobilise against the ongoing prohibition of the herb. Although, these days, the number of jurisdictions around the planet where this action still holds relevance is dwindling. Pot, weed,...
Legalise Cannabis WA Takes Two Upper House Seats: An Interview With MLC Sophia Moermond
In a sign that the global trend towards legalised cannabis markets is likely to hit Australian shores in the not-too-distant future, the Legalise Cannabis WA (LCWA) Party took out two Legislative Council seats in the 13 March Western Australian state...
