Russell Brown
Auckland journalist and media commentator. He is the owner of the Public Address community of blogs,
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 willing to go on the record about how we got here.
Taking a reading of the pills
Journalist Russell Brown talks with those behind free drug checking, whose job is made all the more difficult for having to operate under the legal radar.
Hopes dashed and raised in NYC
After a big build up, the UN's global drug talks took place in April, with mixed results. Russell Brown was there.
Hepatitis C – new hope on the horizon
Pharmac has recently started funding new drugs that have amazing curative effects for more than half of people in New Zealand with hepatitis C.
Poor foundations – testing homes for meth gone awry
Russell Brown looks at a poorly informed phenomenon of near hysteria that is putting vulnerable people out onto the street.
UNGASS 2016: What prospect for change?
NGOs closest to the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem in April aren't expecting big change, but they see things moving in the right direction.
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 and presents the views of 4 Māori MPs.
The cruel 'C'
The outlook for those suffering from hepatitis C is pretty bleak. Russell Brown looks at the NZ situation and some encouraging developments overseas.
If it’s not true to label, then what are people taking?
People are taking illicit substances that are not what they expected, with alarming results. Russell Brown investigates what can be done about this
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.
History never repeats
New Zealand’s history of drugs and the laws to control them.
Our ‘psycho’ psychoactive substances legislation
New Zealand’s Psychoactive Substances Act has been described as world leading. But in 2014, public moral apoplexy and political disquiet resulted in a reversal of what the legislation was designed to achieve.