Twenty Years plus since Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

The Twenty Years project is a collaboration between Afghan artists, journalists and a number of Australians, including me, about the legacy of the US-led war in Afghanistan. There was recently a major exhibition at Blacktown Arts gallery in Sydney, Australia featuring Afghan artists Khadim Ali, Elyas Alavi, Orna Kazimi, Najiba Noori, Melbourne-based artist Tia Kass…

The never-ending gold rush in Afghanistan

My latest investigation is a joint piece for Declassified Australia and Declassified UK on the rush to exploit Afghan resources (mostly since 9/11): The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August last year has caused the country to implode. It was already on life support after more than 40 years of war but the swift removal…

The war on drugs from a Slovakian view

My book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, was recently released in a Slovakian edition. It’s been reviewed in Slovakia’s biggest newspaper, SME, by Lubomir Jasko, and it’s very positive. Here’s the Google Translate version: Anti-drug campaign or war against people? Antony Loewenstein, The War on Drugs, translated by Samuel Marec,…

The countless ways to punish drug users

A key theme in my latest book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, is the absurdity of governments continuing to push futile drug war policies. This week I was interviewed by the UK Telegraph about a new British policy that aims to punish drug users with the threat of losing their…

Britain and Australia’s secretive relationship

The recent launch of Declassified Australia coincides with the first piece by journalist Peter Cronau and me for the great news organisation Declassified UK on the often sordid and secretive relationship between Australia and the UK. Some highlights (but read the whole thing): Australia’s independence from Britain has been contested ground since the nation’s birth in…

Investigating the War on Drugs: recommendations for the future

Here’s my keynote lecture at the 2021 Australian & New Zealand Addiction Conference on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. I spoke around my 2019 book, “Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs“. The Australian & New Zealand Addiction Conference was hosted by the Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Association, a non-government,…

The dark underbelly of Newcastle, Britain

In my recent book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, I spend time across the UK, including the city of Newcastle, documenting the often brutal ways that the state mishandles drug users and addiction. The UK Sun newspaper commissioned me recently to write about my experiences in Newcastle. It’s not a…

Bring Julian Assange home

I’ve been a supporter of Wikileaks since its inception in 2006. It’s been a wild ride, full of challenges and exhilaration. Right now, the life of founder Julian Assange is in danger so I’m happy to have signed a letter, alongside other prominent Australian writers and journalists, asking Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne to take…

War on drugs will continue long after Covid-19 is done

What’s happening to the drug war during Covid-19 and where will it lead once it’s over? My essay/analysis for British outlet Unherd: The image was startling in its brazenness and simplicity. The convicted Mexican drug cartel head Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is in a maximum security prison in the US, but his daughter, Alejandrina Guzmán,…

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