Australia’s love affair with drugs
Australians have always loved their drugs – more so than any other nation in which those same drugs are proscribed and used under threat of native, criminal penalties.
Drug taking is a national trait…
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Analysis and Comment (5)
The internet poses unique challenges for drug prohibition
The Australia21 report argues the “war on drugs” has failed and we should consider other options for controlling drugs, such as decriminalisation or regulation. In addition to these arguments, an important…
Gangster-nomics: the nasty business of criminalising drugs
Policy making is supposedly influenced by scientific evidence, which in turn leads to better political, social and economic outcomes, depending on the issue at hand. One would like to think that in a moderately…
Dependent on development: why we’re losing the war on drugs
Around 6% of the world’s population aged 15 to 64 use illicit drugs – that’s 250 million people. It’s a rapidly changing population, with many different pathways to illicit drug use and new users constantly…
Explainer: What is synthetic cannabis or Kronic?
Synthetic cannabis, known commercially as Kronic, K2, Kaos or Spice, was designed to circumvent drug laws and give users a “legal high”. But Western Australia banned the product earlier this month and…
Research Briefs (2)
Marijuana impairs memory
Independent of its effect on neurons, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory by affecting passive support…
Nicotine primes brain for cocaine use – now we know how
Cigarettes and alcohol serve as gateway drugs, which people use before progressing to the use of marijuana and then to cocaine…