Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation

Listen: Drug Law Wars

Is it time to rethink Australia’s drug policy? Join Dr Alex Wodak AM, Senior Specialist of St Vincent Hospital’s Alcohol and Drug Service and President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, as he discusses the ‘war on drugs’ with host Sally Warhaft.

MP3: Drug Law Wars – Dr Alex Wodak & Sally Warhaft

Is Legalisation the Answer?

UPDATE: A recording of this event is now available to stream or download. Many thanks to the UNSW Law Society for sharing.

1 Comment April 21, 2012

Lecture: The Futility of Global Drug Prohibition

The lecture given by Dr Wodak on the 18-April-2012 is now available to stream or download. Many thanks to the sponsors.

On the radio

UPDATE: one of our ADLRF members has kindly linked me to a comprehensive media repository of the Australia21 report. It can be found here. Thanks AIVL!

Panel discussion on Drug law reform

Radio National – Illegal Drugs

Derryn Hinch interviews Professor Bob Douglas AO, Author of report “The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are letting it happen”

Australia: Illegal drug trade now measured in billions

Australians for Drug Law Reform

To coincide with a new report by the think tank Australia21 a group of prominent Australians including the Hon Bob Carr AC have today called for a change to Australia’s policy on illicit drugs.

The full text of the report entitled The Prohibition of Illicit Drugs is Killing and Criminalising our Children and we are all Letting it Happen can found here.

Please visit our page advocates of reform for a list of other high profile Australians who support drug law reform.

Examples of drug law reform from around the globe can be viewed here.

A call for evidence-based policies on illegal drugs

One of Canada’s chief medical officers has added his voice to the case for drug law reform.

Writing in the peer-reviewed journal of open medicine, Dr Kendall and his co-authors argue a strong case for evidence based drug policies.

They conclude:

In light of the persistently widespread availability and relative safety of cannabis in comparison to existing legal drugs, as well as the crime and violence that exist secondary to prohibition of this drug,4 there is a need for discussion about the optimal regulatory strategy to reduce the harms of cannabis use while also reducing unintended policy-attributable consequences (e.g., the organized crime that has emerged under prohibition).

In a media interview with The Sun, Dr Kendall states that:

“The fact cannabis is illegal doesn’t diminish access rates. The so-called war on drugs has not achieved its stated objective of reducing rates of drug use. It’s universally available in B.C. and the supply is controlled largely by criminal enterprise,” Kendall told The Sun.

“It should be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco. It [cannabis] is less addictive than either of those.”

Measuring the Illegal Drug Economy of Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has made an estimate of the size of the illegal drug economy in Australia. They report:

Results for the 2010 year suggest Gross Value Added (GVA), Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE) and Imports for the illegal drug economy is 0.5%, 1.0% and 0.4% of total Australian GDP, HFCE and Imports respectively. This paper has applied the OECD recommended methodology to estimate the value of the illegal drug economy in Australia.

Please note that these are not to be regarded as official statistics.

The report can be found by clicking here.

1 Comment March 22, 2012

The War on Drugs a Global Debate

Watch Geoffrey Robertson QC and number of other prominent international figures debate the war on drugs

2 Comments March 18, 2012

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Contact us

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation
PO Box R169
Royal Exchange Post Shop
NSW 1225
Ph: 0419 495 179

Ban Ki-Moon

In addition to criminalizing HIV transmission, many countries impose criminal sanctions for same-sex sex, commercial sex and drug injection. Such laws constitute major barriers to reaching key populations with HIV services. Those behaviours should be decriminalized, and people addicted to drugs should receive health services for the treatment of their addiction’.

For example, in Eastern Europe, people who inject drugs represent more than 80 per cent of all people living with HIV but account for less than 25 per cent of those receiving antiretroviral treatment.

Progress made in the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS

Report of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

7 May 2009