Drug Prohibition

After 69 years of banning cannabis and 42 years of banning heroin in Australia, it is clear that prohibition has been a resounding and expensive failure. Regulating cannabis sales in the first instance and providing heroin through clinics to selected long-term users will take the profit out of the black market, reduce deaths and disease, lessen crime and corruption and save the community a fortune. The latest in the controversial Frontlines pamphlet series from UNSW Press, this book, by a doctor who works with drug users and a policy adviser to politicians, argues that we are nearing the end of the prohibition era. Stressing that we must live in the world as it is rather than the world as we would like it to be, the authors explain why we should change our drug laws and describe some possible reforms. They also correct popular misconceptions about illicit drugs and answer some frequently asked questions.