Published 2 June 201111 March 2014 · Politics / Culture Thanks for 50 years of prohibition … SJ Finn This year marks 50 years of drug prohibition. 50 years since the United Nations adopted the first international treaty to prohibit certain drugs. And, in the spirit of cordiality and a large amount of tongue and cheek, there are those who would like to send their thanks. From Igor, Russian heroin trader. From Azlan, Taliban Leader. There are some, with just as much cordiality but no tongue and cheek, asking – it would seem – trickier questions: But back to the thanks. From Marika, girlfriend of a drug kingpin. And from Pablo, cartel owner in Mexico City. SJ Finn SJ Finn is an Australian writer whose fiction and poetry has been widely published in literary magazines and Australian newspapers. Her latest novel is Down to the River. She can be found at sjfinn.com. More by SJ Finn › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 1 April 20262 April 2026 · Politics United in grief, divided in strategy: the limits of Australian Muslim political engagement Sara Cheikh Husain The invitation by the Lebanese Muslim Association, and the intense criticism it received, reveal that, despite a shared sense of collective grief, the Australian Muslim community currently lacks a unified strategy for interacting with a political system that continues to marginalises it. 16 February 202616 February 2026 · Health On the misuse of Cultural Safety Ruth De Souza Since its original formulation and application in the health sector in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1980s, Cultural Safety has been subject to wide reinterpretation. Its entry into institutional life more broadly has seen it turned it into a concept that allows it to be appropriated by the very powers that dominate the culture wars.
