Reining in Police Powers: Shoebridge on His Drug Dog and Strip Search Bill
Over the last two years, unlucky commuters at Sydney’s Central Station have been confronted with NSW police officers accompanied by drug dogs. Deployed at peak hour, these officers have been equipped with screens, allowing them to strip search citizens if...
Berejiklian’s Drug Supply Regime Will Enhance Police Powers and Erode Individual Rights
Let’s face it, Gladys Berejiklian loves waging the war on drugs. When five young people died at NSW festivals over the summer of 2018/19, instead of implementing life-saving pill testing, she legislated for more ineffective prohibition laws, and attempted to...
Legalising Cannabis: New Zealand’s Referendum Setback Isn’t the End
Cannabis advocates across the globe were left gobsmacked last Friday, when the preliminary results of New Zealand’s national cannabis referendum turned up a vote against legalising the comparatively innocuous drug, with 53 percent of those polled and counted voting “no”....
Legalising Cannabis Would Assist Australia Out of Its Deep Recession
Australia is going through its greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures in early September that showed over the 12 months to June the economy had contracted by 6.3 percent. The downturn was...
Should a Regulated Cannabis Market be Introduced in Australia?
Preliminary results from the New Zealand referendum on cannabis legalisation indicate strong opposition to the reform. The results show just over half (53%) of voters rejected proposed changes which would have allowed the legal possession and sale of cannabis products,...
The Offence of Cultivating a Prohibited Plant in New South Wales
NSW Police have seized more than 13,000 cannabis plants worth an estimated $40 million, in what they describe as one of the largest cannabis busts in Australia’s history. Fourteen men have been charged with a range of drug and criminal...
Drug Supply Prohibition Orders: Targeting Those Who Have ‘Served Their Time’
The Berejiklian government has introduced a bill that establishes a pilot scheme that allows NSW police to place those who have been convicted of drug supply or drug manufacture under enhanced surveillance after they’ve served their sentences. Introduced on 20...
Don’t Bring the Drug Dogs Back: An Interview With Sniff Off’s Xiaoran Shi
On the evening of 10 September, the Sniff Off Facebook page alerted its close to 85,000 followers that police officers with a drug dog had been spotted at Blacktown Station. The post noted that this was the first time a...
With Tripartisan Approval, Drug Decriminalisation Looks Likely for Canberra
ACT MLA Michael Pettersson is yet again championing the harm reduction approach to illicit substances. This time the Labor backbencher has initiated an investigation into the feasibility of decriminalising the use and personal possession of “drugs of dependence” in the...
Drug Importation in Australia
The Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Border Force (ABF) and New South Wales Police Force (NSWPF) issued a joint media release this morning to report the seizure of ‘hundreds of kilograms of border controlled drugs’ from a vessel off the Newcastle...
