High Time by Desmond Manderson

A unique look at Australia’s treatment of illegal drugs from the 1980s to the present.

How did the nation change its mind about drugs? Australia’s repressive treatment of illicit drugs began with racist anti-Chinese laws around 1900. Until the mid-1980s, prohibition seemed absolute and unalterable, supported by local police forces, state and federal agencies and international law.

This book tells the surprising story of what happened next- the turn to a ‘harm minimisation’ approach. Compelled by the AIDS crisis and medical professionals agitating for change, Australian governments began to consider whether thousands of lives could be saved – not by preventing the use of drugs, but by reducing the risks associated with their use. Along the way, what began as a pragmatic response to a health crisis morphed into something more- a moral argument for compassion and respect.

Examining such controversial issues as teenage vaping, pill testing, injecting rooms, medicinal cannabis and the opioid crisis, High Time traces the efforts, often faltering and provisional, to forge a new path forwards. Written with clarity and elegance by one of Australia’s leading authorities on drug policy and history, it presents the story of Australian drug law as one that remains unfinished but is moving in a hopeful direction.

About the Author: Desmond Manderson is director of the Centre for Law Arts and the Humanities at Australia National University and the author of several books, including Mr Sin to Mr Big- A History of Australian Drug Laws.

22 Apr 2026
 

High Time: How Australia Changed Its Mind About Illegal Drug Use by Desmond Manderson ISBN 9781760646028