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After 'The Wire'

Popular TV show The Wire is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of an American city ravaged by violence, corruption and a thriving drugs trad......

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The world watches

To legalise, or not to legalise: that is the question. Colorado, Washington and Uruguay have decided to go ahead with allowing the recreatio......

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A Kiwi in the land of legal cannabis

The Drug Foundation's Stephen Blyth visits US states where it's legal to possess, use and sell cannabis...

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USA drug policy in the early days of Trump

We’re just a few months into the new Trump-led America, and while some of his initial appointments are troubling, there’s no clear indicatio......

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Where now for opponents of cannabis law reform?

Steve Rolles considers how recent cannabis law reform victories are reshaping the landscape of the oldest debate in drug policy....

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Q&A: Beau Kilmer

Before Beau Kilmer gave a keynote address at the Australasian Drug and Alcohol Strategy Conference in Brisbane, we invited the RAND Corporat......

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Voting for change was the easy part

As state regulation of cannabis moves forward in several US states, it’s too early to say how the legalisative experiments will turn out. Pr......

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US Elections bring big win on cannabis ballots

Amidst the media storm about the election of Donald Trump to President of the United States it was easy to miss the other big news on 8 Nove......

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Viewpoints: The Brownfield Doctrine

With global drug policy coming under the spotlight in the lead up the UNGASS 2016, we take a look one part of a playing field on the move....

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HR17: Harm reduction from the users' perspective

Crucial lessons for New Zealand: Last month two Drug Foundation staff, Samuel Andrews and Gilbert Taurua travelled to Montreal, the architec......

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Mythbusters: New Zealand has the highest drug use in the world

Do we really? Or is it just that our bean counters are better at counting beans than others. Find out!...

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Helen Clark joins global drug policy commission

Former Prime Minister Rt Hon Helen Clark as the 25th member of the highly respected Global Commission on Drug Policy. The appointment is a w......

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When drugs and music overlap

Recent research from Berkeley suggests there may be some truth to stereotypical associations between drugs and music people choose....

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Unequal treatment before the law

Kelly van Gaalen is a stand-up New Zealander 
– a real good sort. Right now though, she’s in prison....

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Shifting to healthy drug law by 2020: 2017 Speaker and Soup

Following our July symposium, we’re keeping up the momentum with a new Speaker and Soup series to show people what Whakawātea te Huarahi is ......

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Bringing the perils of drug driving to the Wellington waterfront

Visiting Wellington this week is a public education campaign which challenges drivers who think driving after smoking cannabis is okay....

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Mythbusters: The current drug control system works to reduce availability, increase prices and mitigate risks from drugs.

A paper by United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Executive Director Yury Fedotov last year makes the bold claim that the current “drug co......

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A small triumph

Getting your fix of thought-provoking ideas about addiction recovery and drug policy is hard in a media that saturates us with stigma-laden ......

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About a drug: Cocaine

Portrayed as one of the most glamorous drugs, cocaine has made a huge splash in pop culture and left a huge scar on South America....

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We should have known

The recent extraordinary spate of 20 deaths linked with synthetic cannabinoid use could have been avoided. Russell Brown talked with those w......

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Ups and downs with Painkiller prescriptions

Over-prescription of opioid painkillers: How bad is it in NZ?...

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Clearing the smoke

Cannabis is now widely accepted as a medical treatment, but does it have the evidential backing of other medicines? From herbal remedies to ......

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Speaking of drugs, eradication and development

Eradication attacks on Colombian drug crops have been hailed by many (including the White House) as a success. David Young looks at the loca......

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P: New Zealand’s P history

Redmer Yska traces the development of amphetamine manufacture and its history of use in New Zealand...

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Mythbusters: Is alcohol cheaper than bottled water?

New Zealand research got tounges wagging around the world by claiming some alcohol costs less than bottled water. Surely that can't be true,......

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Half-arsed febfast heats up fundraising

With fourteen days gone and fourteen to go there is still time to do a half-arsed febfast, febfast coordinator Jackson Wood said today....

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Press pause on booze for Feb

For the third year running, New Zealanders are being challenged to give up alcohol for the month of February to raise money to support young......

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UNGASS 2016: Hopeful global voices

What can the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem achieve? In this feature, we share perspectives from ......

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Opinion: Lore and Leadership: Changing the smoking culture of Māori

Shane Bradbrook is passionate about shifting New Zealand's smoking culture, especially amongst Māori. With strong Māori tikanga and leadersh......

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New Zealand Government must step up efforts to end the death penalty

Australian death penalty experts to visit New Zealand – Monday 21 September 2015...

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About a drug: powdered alcohol

We may not have heard much about it before, but powdered alcohol (just add water) is nothing new....

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Drug law reform - A global snapshot

In light of the Law Commission's review Sanji Gunasekara looks at recent efforts in other jurisdictions to reform drug law....

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International drug reform is happening – just not as we expected

Reform of international drug policy seems inevitable, but questions remain. “How broad will the reforms be and how long before a new stable ......

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Pissing in the wind

Hollywood holds a seemingly ambivalent attitude to its portrayal of drug use. For every movie that paints a realistic picture, there are a h......

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About a drug: Psilocybin

The Aztecs called them teonanácatl, scientists call them Psilocybe, rappers refer to them as shrooms. No matter what you call them, magic mu......

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Opinion: Myths and moderate drinking

Economist Eric Crampton on why maybe a drink a day does keep the doctor away....

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The UNGASS 2016 primer

The next UNGASS on drugs has been brought forward from 2019 to 2016. That's still a year away, but at a UN level, this amounts to blisterin......

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About a drug: LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide (or LSD) has many street names including yellow sunshine, window pane and Microdot but it is most commonly known ......

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It’s going to take more than a referendum to sort out NZ’s drugs issues

In a new policy briefing sent to MPs, the Drug Foundation lays out drug policy priorities for the next three years....

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Mythbusters: Coming clean on meth

It's widely held that methamphetamine addiction can't be treated. Mythbusters look at what providers are doing to check whether this is true......

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Don't hesitate

Why do some people hesitate to call for help in a life-and-death situation? Elle Hunt investigates emergency responses to overdoses in New Z......

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Taking the pulse of Māori public health

Restoring equality and addressing health outcomes for Māori come with many challenges. Matt Calman talks with four figures from the sector a......

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Crime and punishment:

Russia’s treatment of its addicted citizens is characterised by cruelty, writes Max Daly. They are denied life-saving medicine. They are bea......

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Future drugs

All around the world, things are rapidly changing. There are signs the War on Drugs may be running out of steam, new technologies promise ne......

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Q&A: Kofi Annan

United Nations Secretary-General and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Kofi Annan took time to answer questions from Matters of Substance a......

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Kiwis join drug policy hui in Washington, November 2015

A delegation of Drug Foundation staff joined 1500 other people from 70 countries at the 2015 International Drug Policy Reform Conference, he......

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A remarkable lifetime achievement

Tihi Puanaki – a driving force behind award-winning kapa haka group Te Kotahitanga for more than four decades – has just won a Lifetime Achi......

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Needles and NIMBYs

The cry “Not in my back yard!” is often heard when communities are confronted by a social solution they don’t fully understand. But when imp......

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Playing Russian roulette

Seems the inventor of the psychoactive chemicals found in synthetic cannabis products has little nice to say about the profiteering purveyor......

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Smoking bans in prisons - do they work?

Midway through next year, there will be a ban on smoking behind bars, but there is considerable debate over how effective this will be and o......

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The myth: Methamphetamine and minors

The statistics say it, the kids say it, health workers say it – “So why won’t society believe that meth dependence among Kiwi kids is rare?”......

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Sounding the drug war retreat

There are clear signs that the global consensus on drugs is becoming increasingly fractured, writes Ann Fordham....

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A school's core business

This is the second in our Whole School Series, which look into new approaches to protecting young people from drug-related harm being adopte......

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What to do with 'high' school students

For many teenagers, alcohol and other drugs are part of everyday life. But is kicking drug taking kids out of school the best solution we've......

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When grandparents must step up

Wide-ranging research has laid bare the experiences of grandparents stepping up to raise grandchildren due to their own child’s battle with ......

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Doing LAPs

With few Local Alcohol Plans (LAPs) in place, communities are forced into being reactive when faced with new applications for liquor licence......

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Needle exchange comes of age

Neeedle exchange New Zealand has come a long way since its humble and controversial beginning. It's now turned 21, and congratulations are i......

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Growing alternatives

The United Nations has been encouraging development of alternative crops in poorer drug-producing countries for more than a decade and a hal......

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Getting the measure of meth

With a host of agencies diligently working together to tackle New Zealand’s meth problem over the last six years, it’s timely to ask how thi......

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Gangs trial new ways

Police, researchers, politicians and even gang members themselves will tell you that gangs play a significant role in the drug trade in this......

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Wet in Wellington

Rob Zorn talks to Downtown Community Ministry about the plight of Wellington’s addicted and homeless and why the principle of ‘housing first......

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Māori MPs reconsider drug law

A succession of reports show that Māori are affected significantly more than Pākehā by our drug laws. Russell Brown looks into the issues an......

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Shifting to drug law that works for Māori: Kaikohe Hui Report

Concerns at worrying levels of drug use within some communities in Northland underpinned calls for action at a hui run by the Drug Foundatio......

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Not what the doctor ordered

A full understanding of the seriousness of our prescription drug misuse problem is only now beginning to emerge. It seems the 'drug seeker' ......

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Let's talk about pot: Black Market forces

At $1 billion, New Zealand's cannabis black market would equate to one quarter the size of New Zealand's entire legal horticulture industry.......

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Through the maze - healthy drug law reform

The Law Commission's review of the Misuse of Drugs Act cannot come soon enough. The Drug Foundation has some ideas about how a new Act shoul......

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War and Drugs

Today, more than ever, armies around the world are dealing with serious substance abuse problems and the mental health issues that result. N......

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Guest editorial: Compulsory treatment Dutch style

Treatment boss Robert Steenhuisen takes a firsthand look at a compulsory treatment facility in the Netherlands and makes some comparisions w......

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We're on your side

The death of a close friend made Black Power member Denis O'Reilly re-evaluate his own methamphetamine use. This is the story of one man's f......

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Statement to the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem

New Zealand Drug Foundation civil society statement to the plenary of the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem...

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East Coast community action

A number of CAYAD initiatives are helping East Coast youth to get on with it, instead of just getting out of it....

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Viewpoints: Straight edge: the discipline

The non-stop rock ’n’ roll party lifestyle often overshadows the music itself. Yet one musical genre explicitly rejects these excesses and o......

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Cracking good prevention

Fences at the top of cliffs are preferable to ambulances at the bottom. We know cannabis can cause harm, so how do we prevent people from us......

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Where there is life, there is hope

Harm reduction is about saving lives and treating people with respect. While we led the world with the first government sanctioned needle ex......

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Little by little

Sex addicts are comic gold, coffee addicts are the epitome of urban cool, but drug addicts? Media coverage always needs two sides, so when t......

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Q&A: Tariana Turia

Māori Party Co-leader Hon. Tariana Turia has mounted a personal crusade against smoking and has been a staunch advocate for Māori health and......

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A defence of death

Big Tobacco has launched a massive campaign to try and stymie the New Zealand Government’s plans to follow Australia in plain packaging of t......

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No longer the healthy option

20 years on from the New Zealand Drug Foundation’s first cannabis and health conference, Keri Welham takes a look at Aotearoa’s most widely ......

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What’s going on in the smoke filled rooms?

Around the world, tobacco giants are making it known that plain packaging legislation will meet with forceful litigation in international co......

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Leading New Zealanders join global letter calling for end to 'drug war'

Aotearoa New Zealand Leaders Join Over 1,000 Worldwide Calling for End to "Disastrous" Drug War Ahead of UN Special Session...

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It’s not about the drugs

A new report has reignited the call for an even hand in the policing of drugs, citing figures that show the glare of police scrutiny is disp......

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Erowid et al

Politics, the law and logistics make it difficult for official resources to provide frank, up-to-date information on psychoactive drugs. Tha......

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History never repeats

New Zealand’s history of drugs and the laws to control them....

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Most people with addiction simply grow out of it: why is this widely denied?

The idea that addiction is typically a chronic, progressive disease that requires treatment is false, the evidence shows. Yet the ‘ageing ou......

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Our ‘psycho’ psychoactive substances legislation

New Zealand’s Psychoactive Substances Act has been described as world leading and incredibly innovative. But during 2014, public moral apopl......

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Opinion: A brave, new drug policy

The National Drug Policy 2015-2020 is finally out. How does it stack up? Drug Foundation Principal Policy Advisor Andrew Zielinski looks at ......

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The snowball and the avalanche: medical cannabis in Australia

Stories of personal suffering are appearing more frequently in the Australian news, and that's paved the way for medical cannabis. Andrew Mc......

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UNGASS 2016: What prospect for change?

The NGOs closest to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem in April aren't expecting dramati......

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The victims of Russia's war on methadone

Up to 100 users of opioid substitution therapy drugs have died in Crimea since Russia seized the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 and banned thei......

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Moving to a healthy drug law by 2020

NZ Drug Foundation has developed a new model drug law based on evidence and experience. We believe it makes a lot of sense and would go a lo......

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Viewpoints: Is the jury still out on e-cigarettes?

Short of a pill that will magically take addiction away, are e-cigarettes the best smoking cessation device since the humble patch?...

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How Duterte’s drug war taps into the Philippines’ zeitgeist

The violence and mayhem being unleashed in a brutal War on Drugs in the Philippines shows no sign of abating. Mark R Thompson outlines what ......

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Local Alcohol Policies: Has the new Act delivered?

Local Alcohol Policies promised more community participation. Has the new Act delivered?...

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Forty thousand febfast thanks

By pushing pause on booze for February hundreds of New Zealanders have helped raise over $40,000 to support young people with alcohol and ot......

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Putting anti-drug rhetoric on ice

There has been a proliferation of anti-meth approaches across the Antipodes based more on fear than facts. Nicole Lee uncovers some of the f......

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Mythbusters: Drinking like the French

The fact that the French encourage their kids to drink wine has led to a rosy utopia of sensible alcohol consumption. We read that on the In......

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Mythbusters: There is no such thing as cannabis withdrawal

Cannabis doesn't have the physical symptoms of withdrawl that other drugs have, but it does have it....

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Muddled thinking behind drug policy criticism

Wellington coroner Garry Evans has ignored best practice and a wealth of international evidence in his criticism of New Zealand’s harm-minim......

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Awesome New Zealanders give up booze for Feb

A star-studded line up of awesome New Zealanders are supporting febfast by giving up booze during February....

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Big tobacco hires whaling guy to astroturf

Is the Association of Community Retailers really a grass roots group of mum and dad corner dairy owners? Or is there some 'jiggery-smokery' ......

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