War on drugs

cannabis pipe

The US state of Maryland made history when it legalised cannabis in a constitutional referendum on July 1, last year. The state took a further step on June 17, pardoning 175,000 cannabis convictions, reports Malik Miah.

Book cover against images of drugs

Chris Slee reviews Benjamin Fong's book, Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge, which examines the history of drug use and prohibition in the United States.

Gustavo Petro

Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced climate inaction and called for an end to the war on drugs in his impassioned speech to the United Nations general assembly on September 20, reports Ana Zorita.

At the United Nations General Assembly, Bolivian President Luis Arce聽outlined his ambitious vision for changing the global capitalist system.聽Ben Norton聽reports.

Filipino-Australian community groups聽have launched a petition to demand the Australian government stop military aid to the Philippine, reports聽Patricia Arcilla.

The campaign for justice and compensation for the victims of the fake 鈥渨ar on drugs鈥 is growing. Rachel Evans reports.

This year has been the most violent year on record for Mexico, with almost intentional homicides between January and September.

Canada鈥檚 historic vote in June to legalise cannabis is yet another nail in the coffin of the so-called War on Drugs, conceived in the 1970s by聽then US-president Richard Nixon, writes Natalie Sharples.

鈥淪o called鈥 because it was deliberately conceived to obscure what it really was: not a war on substances at all, but on Black people and the anti-war left.

In its first year in operation, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 鈥榳ar on drugs鈥 has taken more than 13,000 lives and left the country mired in a human rights crisis.

One of the organisations at the forefront of opposing Duterte鈥檚 war is In Defence of Human Rights and Dignity Movement, iDefend, a coalition of more than 50 human rights and grassroots organisations.

The federal government has proposed a drug testing trial for new welfare recipients.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the proposed policy as being 鈥渁ll about love鈥, saying: 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got a friend who is on drugs, what do you want to do? You desperately want to get them off it.鈥

This needs to be examined.

A new campaign, , spearheaded by Dr Alex Wodak and GetUp!, has been launched in response to the federal government鈥檚 decision to deny income support payments to those who test positive to certain drugs.

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 annual State of the Nation (SONA) address on July 24 reflected his government鈥檚 increasing trajectory towards dictatorship. Outside, protest marches converged on the parliamentary complex at Batasan, reflecting the growing grassroots opposition to the worsening dictatorial trend.