Category Archive

Whenever there are highly desirable restricted products within society, there will be people willing to produce, and sell “knock-offs” of the products. It doesn’t matter if it is a Gucci handbag, concert tickets, or a pill. Within the drug using community, it is becoming more common for the “People’s Choice” of benzos (Xanax) to be mimicked and sold by “bootleggers.”

21 July marks the date of International Drug Users Remembrance Day, a day observed by the International Network of People who use Drugs (INPUD) in conjunction with UNAIDS, to reflect upon the countless lives lost to drug related harm.

Whenever there are highly desirable restricted products within society, there will be people willing to produce, and sell “knock-offs” of the products. It doesn’t matter if it is a Gucci handbag, concert tickets, or a pill. Within the drug using community, it is becoming more common for the “People’s Choice” of benzos (Xanax) to be mimicked and sold by “bootleggers.”

Last month AIVL Staff attended ‘Is it time to legalise drugs?’ a discussion by Drug Policy Australia on Friday June 24. Presentations by Dr Alex Wodak, Dr Annie Madden AO, The Honourable Michael Kirby, The Honourable Bob Carr, Greg Chipp and Emma Maiden covered topics of the harms of illicit drug criminalisation, drug law reform, and the need for drug policies to be viewed within a public health lens, stating that our current drug policies are not assessed on merit but rather cultural and societal ‘norms’, characterised by moralistic righteousness against the backdrop of maintaining diplomatic ties through the established rhetoric of prohibition politics.

AIVL praises Freestone et al. for the ingenuity of their research that has shed light upon some of the lesser understood scenes associated with recreational drug use, and the role of harm reduction, peer networks and ever apparent need for education around overdose and BBV/STI risks surrounding chemsex.

Almost 1700 Australians die of illicit drug overdoses each year. These are peoples’ sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, neighbours, and friends.

The elimination of hepatitis C in a priority group, people who inject drugs, is the goal of a new campaign to be rolled out across Australia over the coming months.

AIVL has raised concerns about the statutory price reduction of slow-release buprenorphine and the potential impact this may have on people who choose MATOD treatment for Opioid Dependence.

With the public view on drug use shifting fast, AIVL would like the elected government in this federal election 2022 to take a more pragmatic and Peer consultative approach while creating policies that affect PWUD

AIVL has raised concerns about the statutory price reduction of slow-release buprenorphine and the potential impact this may have on people who choose MATOD treatment for Opioid Dependence.