There is something very special about illicit drugs. If they don’t always make the drug user behave irrationally, they certainly cause many non-users to behave that way.—Harvard Professor of Psychiatry Lester Grinspoon
On Feb. 15, Four Corners program focused on party drugs and the policies Australia is implementing to combat their use. Not only is what we’re doing not working, we’re falling behind the rest of the world and what evidence says is best to ensure we have fewer deaths from illicit drugs.
Going back a few decades in global attitudes, drugs were bad, users were evil, and the deaths of consumers were proof of the inherent danger of drugs and an inevitable outcome if people continued to insist on breaking the law.
Now, if we look at the drug policies in place in other countries, medical and recreational cannabis are being embraced, as well as safe injecting and consumption rooms.
The European Union continues to roll out drug-checking programs (where party drugs are tested for strength at music festivals and other sites where they’re consumed). In April, the United Nations General Assembly special session on drugs policy is considering decriminalizing personal drug use.
