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Below:On April 2, 2012, Sky News ran a report on the recommendations of the think tank Australia 21, calling for debate around a more liberal approach to drug regulation in Australia.
Below: On April 2, 2012, ABC news ran an interview with Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, expressing support for the decriminalisation of drugs. . Below: On April 4, Sun News ran an interview with Jerry Agar about the war on drugs, and why Canada should end prohibition. This interview was taken from Ezra Levant's The Source. . Below: A Sky news report of April 3, 2012, featuring Bob Carr's comments and reaction to them, including from Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. |
 Web links, documents |
In 2004, the Australian Department of Health and Ageing issued a report titled 'The Prevention of Substance Use, Risk and Harm in Australia: a Review of the Evidence'. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-pubhlth-publicat-document-mono_prevention-cnt.htm/$FILE/prevention_summary.pdf
In 2008, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued a report titled 'Drug Policy and Results in Australia'. The report gives a detailed account of drug policy and its effects over the last four decades.
The full text of this report can be found at http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Drug_Policy_Australia_Oct2008.pdf
On April 3, 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald published a news report titled, 'PM, Carr disagree on decriminalising drugs' which outlines the different opinions of the foreign minister, Bob Carr and the prime minister, Julia Gillard, on the question of drug decriminalisation.
The full text of this report can be found at http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/pm-carr-disagree-on-decriminalising-drugs-20120403-1w981.html
On April 3, 2012, the Australia 21 2012 report on Australia's drug policy titled 'The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are all letting it happen' was released. It can be accessed at http://www.australia21.org.au//publications/press_releases/Australia21_Illicit_Drug_Policy_Report.pdf
On April 5, 2012, The Conversation published an opinion piece by Julian Savulescu,
Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor at Monash University, and Bennett Foddy, Junior research fellow at University of Oxford. The opinion piece is titled, 'A moral argument against the war on drugs 'and can be accessed at http://theconversation.edu.au/a-moral-argument-against-the-war-on-drugs-6304
On April 5, 2012, Medical Cannabis Australia republished an opinion piece originally published in The Herald Sun by commentator Andre Bolt. The piece is titled, 'Legal drugs push is a smokescreen' and it opposes the decriminalisation or legalisation of drugs in Australia. The full text of the opinion piece can be found at http://www.medicalmarijuana.com.au/cannabis-news/227-legal-drugs-push-is-a-smokescreen.html
On May 15, 2012, Your View Org. published a set of arguments from each side of the drug decriminalisation question.
The full text of these arguments can be accessed at http://yourview.org.au/issues/10-Should-illicit-drugs-be-legalised-in-Australia
On May 20, 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald published a series of letters giving a wide range of opinions on the decriminalisation of drugs.
These letters can be read at http://m.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/should-the-government-decriminalise-drugs-20120519-1yxf1.html
On May 23, 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald published a news report titled, 'Accord paves way for opposing groups to talk'.
The report refers to the establishment of an international accord on illicit drug policy that has opened the way for dialogue between opponents and supporters of decriminalisation in Australia.
Officials from five countries, including the United States and Britain, have agreed to a ''balanced'' approach to illicit drugs, which would combine ''effective enforcement'' with measures to support the recovery of addicts.
The full text of this news report can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/accord-paves-way-for-opposing-groups-to-talk-20120522-1z3ag.html?skin=text-only
