NSW Drug Driving Inquiry Seeks Submissions | Naloxone Trial a Success in WA | Child Q Incident Should Force Britain to Rethink Its Drug Laws
All the drug policy and related news from the past week in one place.
Hello!
Happy Friday and welcome to issue #77 of Drugs Wrap, a weekly compilation of the top stories in drug policy from across Australia and around the world.
Happy Easter weekend to all who celebrate - or simply enjoy a few days off - and a Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the fast.
Fair bit on this week, starting with a hopeful opening of the NSW drug driving law inquiry, initiated by Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, to submissions from the public. The inquiry could see an overhaul of drug driving laws in the state, which currently make no exception for medicinal use of cannabis in road side drug tests.
In the UK, outrage continues to grow about the shocking treatment of Child Q, a young Black girl subjected to a highly invasive strip search at school by police because teachers thought they smelled cannabis on her. It’s a brutal conflation of racism and criminalisation mindsets that so often converge when it comes to drugs and should, hopefully, be a wakeup call to UK authorities for how drug possession and use is policed. Police strip searching children in the name of public safety - where have we heard this before? *Cough* NSW *cough*.
There have also been a number of interesting studies released with findings showing the possible mechanism of action that psilocybin has on the depressed brain which are worth checking out.
At the bottom there’s a couple of interesting videos and a podcast to keep you going as well.
If you’re enjoying the wrap, feel free to pass it on to friends or colleagues and give it a follow on Twitter. You can also follow me for inane musings and throw a few dollars my way to help keep the wrap going.
You can also follow the Drugs Wrap Psychedelia playlist on Spotify for new ‘psychedelic’ music caught in the email filter.
Let’s get to it.
Submissions Open for NSW Drug-Driving Inquiry
‘A government inquiry into The Road Transport Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis — Exemptions from Offences) Bill 2021 has progressed to the submissions stage in New South Wales.
NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann introduced the bill to the Legislative Council late last year. It provides an exemption from a drug-driving offence if an individual has been prescribed and used a medicinal cannabis product in accordance with the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 or a corresponding act of another state or territory.
To lodge a submission, click here’.
Benny Scott, 28, Walks the Globe to Shine Light on Addiction, Recovery and Need for Pet-Friendly Rehab
‘Benny Scott knew he needed to go to rehab for his cocaine and cannabis addiction, but he couldn't do it without his beloved dog.
"My family used to hassle me to go to rehab ... and I used him [Frankie] as an excuse," Benny said.
Rather than leave his best mate behind, Benny is embarking on an ambitious journey across the world using nature and wide-open space to heal.
The 28-year-old is walking from Sydney to Darwin, before tackling an overseas leg of the journey.
While it isn't quite the rehab his family asked for, he said the journey has turned into an adventure of self-discovery.
Benny has spent more than 100 days on the road and has another three or so months ahead of him before he reaches Darwin, his first milestone’.
The Cocaine Will Flow, Despite Police Parading Latest Seizure
‘Yet another image of police parading in front of a large haul of drugs appeared in the press last week.
Located off the South Australian coast by the Australian Border Force on 18 March, the drugs were detected after intelligence suggested a bulk-carrier ship was being used to smuggle them in.
As the multiple blocks of cocaine weighing 416 kilograms in total were displayed before the cameras, two police officers carrying some serious-looking automatic firearms stood to the side guarding the illicit substances, just in case one of the reporters got the itch and made a last minute dash for a line.
AFP assistant commissioner Peter Harvey said four Filipino nationals had been charged in relation to the shipment and he added that the amount of cocaine, which carried a street value of $250 million, was so large it was undoubtedly destined for all major cities across the nation.
Of course, just like many other cops on the beat, at least some of the law enforcement officers present at the press conference must have been aware that despite the impressive display the bricks of coke made, it was hardly going to make a dint in the local market.
Indeed, the 100-odd years of drug prohibition has led to such a gargantuan and powerful transnational drug network that it controls the market here, and while the occasional major bust might look good for local law enforcement, it’s just a slight inconvenience for those really in charge’.
Naloxone Police Trial Helps Save Over a Dozen Lives in Past Nine Months
Unfortunately, I can’t read this one as it’s behind a paywall, however, the ongoing trial of police officers carrying naloxone in Western Australia appears to be going well.
The trial begun in July last year and is part of several ongoing state trials for broader access to naloxone for front line workers as well as the general public.
Naloxone reverses the effects of opioids in the body, and this life saving drug has long been a focus of harm-reduction campaigners who argue that increased access will enable those around people who have overdosed on opioids to bring them back.
Although the details are hidden here, it looks like the trial has been a success and will likely continue - hopefully other jurisdictions start to replicate the practice soon.
Fears Regional Victorians Are Dying as Shortage of Detox Beds Sparks Lengthy Wait Lists
Across regional Victoria, demand for detox services is continuing to outstrip supply.
‘In its 2021-2051 strategy, Infrastructure Victoria urged the state government to build more residential detoxification and rehabilitation facilities across regional Victoria within five years.
Not only are there too few facilities, but it's recruiting and retaining staff has also been an ongoing struggle.
Scott Drummond, acting chief executive at the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association, said these shortages could have devastating consequences.
"There are long waitlists for intake and assessment, waitlists for withdrawal, waitlists for residential beds," he said.
"And in the meantime, there may be weeks or months of risky drug and alcohol use impacting the individual, their families and the community."
It is a crisis that is only getting worse’.
This Week in Weed
Govt Helps Fast-Track Organic Medicinal Cannabis Industry
Cleveland Seeks to Expunge 4.000 Minor Cannabis Convictions
Can Changing the Name 'Marijuana' Help Address Racial Divide from America's Drug War?
Federal Legalisation Still Wouldn’t Free All Cannabis Prisoners
New Medicinal Cannabis Clinic to Open in Wollongong
Maryland Governor Lets Bill to Implement Cannabis Legalisation Take Effect Without His Signature
SAS-B Approvals Continue to Rebound
CBD ‘Tolerated’ in UK but No Products Have Yet Been Authorised, Food Standards Agency stresses
NZ Government Announces $32m Partnership with Puro to Fast-Track the Country’s Organic Medicinal Cannabis Industry
Amsterdam Mayor Doubles Down on Plan to Ban Cannabis Tourism
Around the World
The Abuse of Child Q Should Make Britain Rethink Its Drugs Laws
‘In March 2022, the revelation that a 15-year-old Black pupil had been strip-searched by police in a London school after being wrongly accused of having drugs in her possession sent shockwaves across the United Kingdom – and for good reason.
Everything about the 2020 incident is absolutely harrowing. An independent child safeguarding report found that her own teachers called the police on the young girl after suspecting she may be carrying cannabis.
Once they arrived at the school, Metropolitan police officers took the girl into a medical room and strip-searched her without appropriate supervision, despite being aware that she was menstruating. After the invasive and traumatising search, she was asked to “go back into the exam” she had been sitting, with no teacher asking about her welfare.
The safeguarding report concluded that the treatment of the child was unjustified and racism was “likely” a reason why she was strip-searched in the first place. While the trauma inflicted on Child Q understandably shocked the nation, the actions of the police in this case can hardly be considered an anomaly. It is well known that communities of colour are disproportionally policed in the UK, and British police commonly respond to alleged drug offences – especially when the suspect is a person of colour – with violence.
But racism was not the only reason why this child was subjected to a traumatic strip-search in her own school. When considering the factors that led to the shameful treatment of Child Q, there is also a need to look into the intersection of institutional racism in the police force, and our country’s drug laws.
Indeed, our drug laws are significantly increasing the possibility of children of colour having contact with the criminal justice system, and indirectly facilitating situations where police abuses of power can occur. The prohibition of drug possession has, in practice, given law enforcement a blank cheque to systematically target and criminalise communities of colour’.
Elsewhere in the UK, there are calls that Labour must start having sensible conversations about drug reform.
‘Tory MP David Warburton was the subject of allegations of drug use earlier this month after photos emerged of him next to lines of an unknown substance.
He was also accused of sexual assault and borrowing £100,000 from a Russian businessman, which he failed to declare – yet most discourse has centred around the alleged drug offences.
It is important to note that there are many drug users who don’t have the power, resources and wealth of an MP, and they tend to be punished more harshly. Equally, many have drawn attention to Warburton advocating for harsher penalties for those implicated in county lines drug operations.
Setting both of those points aside, it seems wrong that drug use should be honed in on more closely than accusations of sexual assault. It is indicative of our society’s attitude to addiction and drugs that the instinct is to stigmatise and criminalise, rather than look for solutions that can improve lives. The more taboo an issue is, the less likely it will be for meaningful policy change to occur. With drug deaths soaring, we can’t continue to ignore the hard truth: UK drug policy is contributing to needless death, misery and ruined lives. Unfortunately, by refusing to consider alternative policy directions, Labour is complicit’.
Opinion: Paying People to Stay Off Drugs Works. So Let’s Keep Doing It
‘A welcome addition to the widespread problem of treating addiction is the concept of using a paid incentive to encourage abstention from drug use as revealed in Emefa Addo Agawu’s April 3 Opinions Essay, “She was paid to stay off drugs. Here’s why this approach could help many others.” The primary tool in that prevention program is frequent drug testing to verify the addict’s cessation of drug use’.
The direct cash payment incentive revealed in this valuable article is a welcome addition to the nation’s drug prevention arsenal to help reverse the current tragic soaring rates of drug addiction, incapacitation and overdose deaths that are a blight on society today’.
Also in the US, Teen drug overdose deaths rose sharply in 2020, driven by fentanyl-laced pills.
‘For the first time in a decade, overdose deaths among teens in the United States rose dramatically in 2020 and kept rising through 2021 as well. That's according to the results of a new study published Tuesday in JAMA.
Fatal overdoses among adolescents nearly doubled from 492 in 2019 to 954 in 2020, an increase of 94%. There was an additional 20% rise in 2021 compared to the previous year. The highest rates were among Native American and Alaskan Native teens, followed by Latino teens’.
Singapore Resumes Hangings for Drug Offenses, Provoking Outrage, Rare Public Protest
‘In a move sharply criticized by rights advocates as a violation of international human rights law, Singapore has resumed executions for non-violent drug offenses.
On March 30, 2022, the authoritarian city/state hanged Abdul Kahar bin Othman on charges of drug trafficking, its first execution since November 2019. The execution of the 68-year-old bin Othman may presage a spate of executions, human rights leaders feared, following the denial of appeals earlier in March of an intellectually disabled Malaysian man and several others condemned for drug offenses under Singapore’s mandatory death penalty statute.
As the UN Human Rights office expressed concern about what it feared would be “a surge in execution notices,” Amnesty International charged that:
“The use of the death penalty in Singapore violates international human rights law and standards. The death penalty is never the solution to crime or the solution to address the risks and harms of using drugs”’.