2016: The year in drugs
A timeline of the biggest drug stories this year
January 4: Sydney politician suggests banning music festivals to stop drug overdoses
Sydney politician Mike Baird kick-started the year in truly hard-headed fashion, proposing music festivals be banned to curb drug overdoses. With Baird already at the helm of the Australian city’s unpopular lockout laws, the MP was rightfully shouted down. Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale summed it up when he said, “banning drugs hasn’t stopped people taking them, and I doubt banning music festivals will either.”
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January 4: The first pill warning of 2016 is issued
The first of what would become a disturbing 2016 trend, nine warnings were issued about different batches of super strength or counterfeit pills over the course of the year. The rise in the use of PMA this year was a main reason for the rise in warnings. While drug support services like The Loop were quick to issue warnings about these high-dosage pills, the police often only intervened when people had been hospitalised or killed after taking the drug.
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