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Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform


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Alternatives to ProhibitionAlternatives to Prohibition

Australia21 has released its second report "Alternatives to prohibition- Illicit drugs:how can we stop killing and criminalising young Australians".

This second report on Illicit Drugs was launched by Dr Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, on Sunday 9 September, at the Adelaide Convention Centre, on the eve of the 2012 Population Health Congress. The Report focuses on what Australia can learn from the experiences of three countries (Portugal, Switzerland and the Netherlands) which have liberalised their drug regimes in some way, and one country (Sweden) which has followed a strict law enforcement policy.

The report can be found here >>, and the Australia21 media release can be found here>>.

An edited version of Dr Horton's remarks at the launch was published on the opionion page of the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 10 September - access it here>>.

Media release by FFDLR:

Australia21 report can save young lives

Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform congratulates and welcomes the second report from Australia21 entitled "Alternatives to prohibition - Illicit drugs: How we can stop killing and criminalising young Australians".
"Australia21 is one of the few organisations that has had the courage to speak publicly on the grave consequences that is visited on young people and their families because of our prohibition drug laws," said Brian McConnell, President of Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform.
"Prohibition has been an experiment that has failed. Even though the United Nations recognised this in 1988, it and the rest of the world persisted, thinking that if they tried even harder it might just work. "
In its 1988 convention on drugs the UN, among other things, said that it was "Deeply concerned also by the steadily increasing inroads into various social groups made by illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and particularly by the fact that children are used in many parts of the world as an illicit drug consumers market and for purposes of illicit roduction,
distribution and trade in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which entails a danger of incalculable gravity."
And yet it continued with the same failed policies with no evaluation and it even believed that it could achieve a drug free world by 2008.
"Australia21 has examined the prohibition policy and has identified some of the possible options for consideration. In short Australia21 has thrown the gauntlet down and challenged Australian governments to discuss the alternatives," said McConnell.
"It is telling that Australia21 has focused on the fact that the drug laws are killing our young people as this report is released just one day after the 20th anniversary of the overdose death of my oldest son. If the use of drugs had not been driven underground by the prohibition laws and if it had been treated just as a health problem, we would not have been in the dark about his drug use and we might have been able to save his life........" Read full media release here>>>

ACT Election Campaign

FFDLR is raising awareness amongst ACT voters about the need to have an informed debate Votingabout drug policies.

You can help! Click on the above image to download a copy of the poster, print it and post it on your notice board

 

Prisons

Prisons and Needle and Syringe programs

Chief Minister Statement about new ACT prison

Link to ACT Prison

NSP

Return on Investment for NSP programs - Report

Return on Investment for NSP programs - Summary

 

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