COVID-19 has thrown forward some new buzzwords that until recently weren’t part of common vernacular. Words like “herd immunity”, “flattening the curve” and “roadmap to recovery” spring to mind. Now there’s a new buzzword to add to the list and you’re going to hear this a lot in the coming months, and that’s “rapid testing...
Latest Drugs and Alcohol News
Action on ICE urgent
In a Sydney Herald Sun article, Australia’s peak medical groups have warned that the NSW government needs to take greater action on the drug ICE, as it says drug and alcohol treatment services are struggling to cope with demand. Commissioner of a inquiry into ICE, Professor Dan Howard SC, says the NSW state government is...
Highlighting the NSW drug testing fake news
Here is a dramatised conversation of a real story involving roadside drug testing in NSW. A story that gets played out every day on our roads across Australia. “Sir, this preliminary drug testing shows that you are positive to an illicit drug,” say the NSW Police Officer to the driver. “A further sample will be...
Increased roadside drug testing in Victoria could help to save lives
Here’s news that will have some people rejoicing and others, including the people who think roadside drug testing Victoria is just revenue raising, even hotter under the collar. According to a recent article on 3aw.com.au, a road accident research centre has called for roadside drug testing in regional Victoria to be doubled. In addition (and...
Drug overdoses hide in plain sight
According to a report on ajp.com.au, of the 2,227 drug-induced deaths in Australia in 2019, over 1,600 were unintentional. The figure was highlighted by the The Penington Institute in Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2021, which examined all drug-induced deaths in Australia in 2019. According to the article on ajp.com.au, drug overdose is a leading cause...
We’re positive! Amazon workplace drug testing changes
In last week’s post we highlighted the dangers of cannabis in workplaces and on the roads, which may make a decision by one of the world’s leading brands seem a strange move. Retail giant Amazon has revised its workplace drug testing policy on cannabis. The revisions mean that people who have been previously sacked for...
Cannabis in the workplace and beyond
Cannabis is so widely used and sometimes trivialised that we may forget that it still is an illegal drug. In addition, cannabis in the workplace or on our roads can have devastating consequences. It’s also a drug that can have devastating effects on some users’ mental health. Cannabis is illegal There has been plenty of...
NSW bus drivers call for COVID-19 rapid testing
According to an article on the busnews.com.au website, bus drivers at a Western Sydney depot forced its closure for a safety stoppage recently because they want COVID-19 rapid testing to be implemented. The Transport Workers Union of NSW stated that the action at the Smithfield depot was due to the NSW Government and the operator’s...
New laws make drug and alcohol testing even more important
Early last year we published a post on new industrial manslaughter laws that were sweeping across the country, and what the laws meant for drug and alcohol management and testing in workplaces. Industrial manslaughter laws provide the means for states and territories to prosecute negligent conduct causing the death of a person to whom a...
Get back to life with COVID-19 rapid testing
With our two largest states in lockdown, businesses right across the nation are doing it tough and those that are still operating don’t have the luxury to wait for the end of COVID-19. As part of your business’ COVID-19 safe practices to curb the spread of the virus within your community, asymptomatic testing is essential...