Midnight glass ban for 'problem' pubs

New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees says the state's most problematic licenced venues will be banned from using beer glasses after midnight and will face a mandatory 2:00am lockout.

Mr Rees also says no more 24-hour licences will issued as part of an overhaul of alcohol laws in New South Wales.

He says the measures are designed to tackle a drinking culture, which he has described as spiralling out of control.

"The 50 most problematic venues across the states [will] have tough new licensing conditions applied that will include a mandatory 2:00am lockout," he said.

"It will include the cessation of alcohol service 30 minutes before closing time, it will include the introduction of plastic glasses for use after midnight and it will include limits on drink purchases after midnight."

Mr Rees says the State Government wants the changes in place by this summer.

"[There are] 21,000 incidence of alcohol-related incidents each year and we want to drive that down," he said.

He says he has not spoken to pubs and clubs about the measures.

"The people of New South Wales are demanding we change the laws," he said.

Year long bans for party zone trouble makers

Victoria Police will be given the power to ban trouble makers from more entertainment precincts across the state.

Exclusion zones are already in effect in Melbourne's CBD and Prahran are already in effect.

However additional areas will be added to the ban, including party precincts in Fitzroy and St Kilda, as well as regional centres Geelong, Ballarat and Warrnambool.

Offenders could be banned for up to a year for more serious offences.

Updated: Tue 9:42am (AEST)

Drunks, criminals face crackdown

HOBART waterfront licensees and Tasmania Police are looking at tough new policies that might see troublemakers banned from the wharfside entertainment precinct.

Victoria Police will soon have the power to ban drunks and criminals from nightclub districts for up to a year and Tasmania Police and the Australian Hotels Association are already talking about a similar crackdown in Hobart.

AHA Tasmanian general manager Steve Old said licensees had been working with police for several weeks to work out ways of banning troublemakers from the waterfront, not just individual establishments.

"One of the things we are looking at is whether there could be a veto system introduced where a person can be banned from all venues," Mr Old said.

He said he would be talking to police again tomorrow.

"We are already looking at systems which have combated antisocial behaviour in other places like the UK to see how they might apply to the waterfront precinct," he said.

"A whole new approach could be taken in Hobart, but ultimately we still need to work out if new rules can be effectively policed. How will people be monitored, how will breaches be handled and how can a publican who bans an individual or group get the word out to other pubs and nightclubs?

"We all agree on one thing -- we need to combat anti-social behaviour right now and a precinct-wide crackdown could be the way to go."

In Victoria, new laws that come into effect later this week will ban people from being in an entertainment zone for periods ranging from 24 hours to one year. Five entertainment hotspots will be targeted and minor offences will attract 24-hour bans.

Police will be able to seek court orders to ban people from entertainment zones for up to a year for more serious offences.

Breaching the bans will carry hefty penalties.

One hundred and forty people have already been banned from areas in and around Melbourne.

Quote: Asking for trouble? Not easy to enforce! What about banning alcohol? Too expensive for the govt and corporations? What about warning labels on alcohol? Too expensive for govt and corporations? The virus is now spreading to Tasmania, why not call a curfew? Don't we live in a police state out here in minimum security? Can't put warning labels on alcohol? Prevention is better than cure.

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Govt to tackle violent crime increase
The Victorian Government says it will tackle the rising level of violent crime in the state. Leaked police data shows crimes committed against people are increasing, especially robberies, abductions and assaults.

Binge drinking teens: 'two deaths a week'
South Australia's Drug and Alcohol Service says there are about two deaths a week in Australia involving young people who have been binge-drinking.

Permanence urged for injecting room

The operators of Australia's only legal drug injecting room are appealing for the Sydney facility to be given permanent status after its director resigned in frustration.

The director, Dr Ingrid Van Beek, says the "ambivalent" New South Wales Government continues to keep the Kings Cross centre on a trial basis, despite eight years of successful operation.

Uniting Care has been the licensed operator since the centre opened in 2001. Its executive director, Reverend Harry Herbert, says political opposition was led by former prime minister John Howard.

Rev Herbert says it is time to recognise the centre as a legitimate institution.

"Now that he's gone, this is not a big political issue any longer," he said.

"It's operated for more than seven years quite successfully. It's been evaluated continually and all the evaluations have been successful, so it really ought to now be regarded as a mainstream health facility...

"I appreciate there was some nervousness about creating a political issue around the centre, but we're well beyond that now."

Drug sniffer dogs for SA nightclubs

Drug sniffer dogs will soon be allowed into nightclubs and other venues in SA.

A South Australian Government bill to allow police to use drug sniffer dogs in nightclubs and entertainment areas has passed the Upper House.

The legislation will now go to the Lower House for approval.

A person will be able to be searched if a sniffer dog gives police a reasonable suspicion that illegal drugs are being carried.

Upper House Democrats MP Sandra Kanck opposed the bill.

She said in New South Wales sniffer dogs had led to people being falsely accused.

"The New South Wales ombudsman, in looking at their legislation, queried whether it even ought to be in existence, that's how bad it is," she said.

"I can't believe that we are going to put this very, very flimsy tool in the hands of our police to effectively bail-up innocent citizens."

Ms Kanck says the error rate in NSW has been high, at 75 per cent.

"It gets it right 25 per cent of the time - we're picking up users, we're not actually getting to pick up the drug traffickers," she said.

"So, as is often the case with this government, it's picking on the wrong people."

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Tough new laws for SA bikie gangs
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Drug paraphernalia sales outlawed in SA
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MP backs off on sex 'contracts'
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Murder prompts police complaints review
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MP's push to scrap Police Complaints Authority
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Call for ICAC in SA
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Compensation for SA sex abuse victims
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Bond for officer who spat on driver
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SA row over smacking children
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School drug leaflet 'not anti-education'

Drug leaflet: Advises young people on the use of drugs like ecstasy. (Get Image)

The Sydney West Area Health Service has denied a leaflet it has published encourages young people to take drugs.

The controversial leaflet is titled "Choosing to use but wanna keep your head together", and advises teenagers on what to do if they choose to take substances like ecstasy and cannabis.

It is being distributed at schools and community facilities, and includes advice for students to wait until they turn 18 before experimenting with drugs, and then to "use only small amounts and not too often".

The director of drug and alcohol services, Kevin Hedge, says the leaflet does not encourage young people to take drugs.

Mr Hedge says the leaflet clearly states that there is no safe drug use, but its advice is based on the realistic view that most young people experiment.

"Our materials were designed originally to be distributed amongst agencies that deal with marginalised young people, homeless young people and people at high risk of drug use," he said.

"From that perspective, the materials are a genuine public health approach to preventing harm."

But Jo Baxter from Drug Free Australia says the leaflet will confuse young people who are looking for guidance from drug use specialists.

"They want to know whether or not these drugs are going to harm them," she said.

"A message like that gives a sort of unintended message that they would condone the use and there is such a thing as safe use, when in actual fact we don't believe there is a safe use of illicit drugs."

Education 'necessary'

Tony Trimmingham lost his son to a heroin overdose 11 years ago and has since founded Family Drug Support.

He supports the leaflet and says people have to be realistic about the common use of drugs and alcohol in society.

"They grow up in a world where drugs are prevalent and every single person in Sydney, and in fact the whole of Australia, will in some point encounter drugs and will be faced with the dilemma of whether to use or not," he said.

"We can't evade that and I believe they do need education on how to deal with those occurrences."

Quote: There is a safe use of illicit drugs with the only difference being that they are illegal by state law. That does not mean that they cannot be experimented and used safely or safer. Under the headings of Moderation, Balance, Limit and Lethal all indulgence must be understood. Why? Because it is there...



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Doctors to trial pain relief with cannabis
DOCTORS will prescribe cannabis-based drugs to cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS patients in a planned NSW Government trial.

Govt unveils cannabis research centre
As is the case with nicotine and caffeine, THC in Cannabis, it seems, is to protect the plant from herbivores or pathogens. THC occurs mainly as tetrahydrocannabinol. THC has analgesic effects that, even at low doses, cause a high, thus leading to the fact that medical cannabis can be used to treat pain.

Unsafe corporations, unsafe sex, drugs, binge drinking 'normal' for teens: study

Researchers say the tax on alcopops will do little to curb binge drinking which is seen as 'normal' (Get Images)

A university study has found binge drinking is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to teenage risk-taking behaviour.

Education researchers at the University of Tasmania surveyed 1,000 parents and 1,000 high school students over five years about their perception of risky behaviours.

Thirteen per cent of students surveyed said they got "blind drunk" regularly while 43 per cent said they did so occasionally.

Education researcher, Professor Joan Abbott-Chapman, says she was surprised to find that many young people do not regard binge drinking as high-risk.

"Teenagers seem to think that normal teenage behaviour includes drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and to a certain degree smoking marijuana and also to a lesser extent unsafe sex," she said.

Professor Abbott-Chapman says parental involvement in setting standards can reduce teenage risk-taking behaviour.

"And it's the teenagers who rely only on peer groups for support or feel isolated and have no one to turn to these are the ones that tend to drink more and we also found that school engagement was also involved," she said.

Alcopop tax little use [to corporations]


The Federal Government's tax on so called 'alcopops' is likely to have only a minimal impact on teenage binge drinking according the researchers [from the business association?]

Taxes on pre-mixed alcoholic drinks have increased by around 70 per cent, making them to $1.30 more expensive, in a bid to curb binge drinking.

Professor Abbott-Chapman says more needs to be done to address the problem.

"The effects are likely to be marginal unless they are linked to a widespread range of community and family programs which tackle some of the problems of social and educational engagement or disengagement rather," she said.

Updaedt 350:pm (AEST)

Greens want alco-pops tax revenue spent on alcohol education

Greens leader Bob Brown says his party will not be inclined to support the Government's increased tax on pre-mixed drinks unless the money is put aside to combat alcohol abuse.

The Coalition says it will block the legislation to approve the 70 per cent tax increase, which is expected to give the government $3 billion in revenue.

Senator Brown says the Greens do support the tax and believe it will reduce consumption of so-called alco-pops.

But he says the revenue raised must be spent on education and health programs.

"We're not inclined to support this legislation unless there's a program for re-mediating the impact of alcohol abuse goes with it, in other words unless a sizeable part of this money goes to tackling the big problem of alcohol abuse in our communities" he said.

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Balmain hotels fill as young mourn pub mates
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Coroner finds non-sniffable petrol caused boy's death

The Northern Territory coroner has found the low aromatic Opal fuel was behind the death of a 12-year-old boy at the Aboriginal community of Hermannsburg, 130 kilometres west of Alice Springs.

In his findings handed down today, coroner Greg Cavanagh found the boy died in April last year when he suffocated from sniffing Opal fuel.

Mr Cavanagh found the promotion of Opal fuel as non-sniffable to be misleading.

He has recommended the Northern Territory and Federal Governments and the fuel's manufacturer, BP Australia, ensure the fuel is not promoted as a harmless substance because it can lead to death from ingesting or sniffing.

It's the first known death linked to Opal.

Govt unveils cannabis research centre

As is the case with nicotine and caffeine, THC in Cannabis, it seems, is to protect the plant from herbivores or pathogens. THC occurs mainly as tetrahydrocannabinol. THC has analgesic effects that, even at low doses, cause a high, thus leading to the fact that medical cannabis can be used to treat pain.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has launched a new cannabis research centre, saying young Australians are more likely to have used marijuana than tobacco.

The Federal Government is spending $14 million on the new National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, based at the University of New South Wales.

The latest figures show cannabis is the most widely-used illicit drug in Australia, although the numbers are falling.

Ms Roxon says it is worrying that about one in five 18-year-olds have smoked cannabis in the past year.

"There is growing evidence that for vulnerable people cannabis can cause physical, psychological and social damage," she said.

The centre will conduct research in Australia and analyse overseas studies, as well as offering a hotline to provide information to members of the public.


Cannabis researchers get $14m Fed Govt boon

The latest figures show young Australians are more likely to have tried marijuana than cigarettes, although the numbers are falling.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon says cannabis is still the most widely-used illicit drug.

"We know that the damage that can be caused includes a higher risk of respiratory diseases associated with smoking like cancer, poor short-term memory, affected learning ability, reduced motivation in study and work, and dependence," she said.

Ms Roxon says it is worrying that about one in five 18-year-olds have smoked cannabis in the past year.

"There is growing evidence that for vulnerable people, cannabis can cause physical, psychological and social damage," she said.

Quote: Is Nicola Roxon taking too much cocaine? If the latest figures show that quote: "young Australians' are more likely to have used marijuana than tobacco" unquote. Then I don't see the figures? Then she says, quote: "growing evidence". Does that mean more people are growing the herb opposed to buying it? Perhaps not paying government tax revenue on the substance? And what about handing out some medical assistance to these people who are all trying to give cannabis up? How come cannabis doesn't have patches for people to give up the drug like that legal drug tobacco? Why discriminate? Wouldn't that help those poor victimes get off the illicit drug? I mean if it is more widely used than tobacco then we owe it to those Australians' to provide medical assistance to them..

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Australia's cocaine use up, smoking down
AUSTRALIANS are smoking fewer cigarettes and less cannabis but using more cocaine, a report shows. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare survey found that from 2004 to 2007, the proportion of people aged 14 and more who smoked daily fell from 17.4 to 16.6 per cent. Recent cannabis use dropped from just more than 11 per cent to just more than 9 per cent.

Tetrahydrocannabinol dummies guide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, Δ9-THC, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), Δ1-tetrahydrocannabinol (using an older numbering scheme), or dronabinol, is the main psychoactive substance found in the Cannabis plant. It was isolated by Raphael Mechoulam, Yechiel Gaoni, and Habib Edery from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel in 1964. In pure form, it is a glassy solid when cold, and becomes viscous and sticky if warmed. An aromatic terpenoid, THC has a very low solubility in water, but good solubility in most organic solvents such as butane or hexane. As is the case with nicotine and caffeine, the role of THC in Cannabis, it seems, is to protect the plant from herbivores or pathogens. [2] THC also possesses high UV-B (280-315 nm) absorption properties, protecting the plant from harmful radiation.

AMA to release damning 'ice' report

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says it will lobby state and federal governments for new funding to overhaul the way the health system deals with methamphetamine users.

A paper to be released by the AMA today reveals that more than three quarters of methamphetamine users suffer from mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and aggression.

AMA president Rosanna Capolingua says drugs like speed and ice are putting a huge strain on the nation's emergency departments, and she has called for increased funding for both the prevention and treatment of methamphetamine use.

"These people present with violence and aggression so that if they are brought into an emergency department they are very difficult to manage," she said.

"They're threatening to the staff in the hospital that's trying to look after them and very threatening to other people in the hospital, other patients that are there.

"The AMA very much wants to deal with supporting and providing infrastructure and funding for services to treat those patients and people that are already methamphetamine dependant.

"At the same time we have to have community program awareness, prevention, so that we don't have the continuing take-up of methamphetamine use.

"This is serious and it has an impact on the individual and those trying to manage or look after them."

Drug paraphernalia sales outlawed in SA

The South Australia Parliament has passed legislation outlawing the sale of drug paraphernalia.

The legislation makes it an offence to sell items such as bongs, ice pipes, and hookahs.

People caught breaking the law face fines of up to $50,000 or two years in jail.

The Attorney-General, Michael Atkinson, says one shop in Hindley Street which sells drug equipment has already decided to close because of the ban.

The legislation was introduced by Independent MP Anne Bressington, who lost her daughter to a drug overdose.

Police pursuit: repeat offender jailed over fatal smash

A man has been jailed for at least five years for killing a State Emergency Service volunteer in a fatal road smash at Wingfield in Adelaide a year ago.

The offender was in a stolen car and being chased by police when the crash happened.

Denis Vlado Dundovic, of Renown Park, was driving at more than 160 kilometres per hour, more than double the speed limit.

There were two young women passengers in the car and it had no headlights on when Dundovic ploughed into the car of 30-year-old Peter Godfrey, who died at the scene.

Dundovic was under the influence of methylamphetamines.

He was on parole after being in jail three times in the previous three years - once for almost killing a car load of people during another police chase.

District Court Judge Steven Millsteed said it was not a momentary or impulsive crime and he described Dundovic's actions as outrageous.