Dope: Some good news, some bad

4 August 2005, Herald Sun
Recent use of cannabis among 14 to 19-year-old Australians has almost halved from 1998 to 2004. The challenge is to ensure that the harm from drugs like cannabis, just as with tobacco and alcohol, is reduced to an absolute minimum.

Melbourne 2050: A sad place to live

7 July 2005, Herald Sun
If we look at trends in the health of our community it's clear some things have improved, but there are three key problems we must tackle now: our sense of connectedness and belonging; the decline in our incidental activity; and the growing inequality between the haves and the have-nots.

Kids are walking for their lives

19 May 2005, Herald Sun
As the inaugural Walking School Bus Symposium kicks off, Rob outlines the importance of changing our current travel patterns and encouraging kids to walk to school.

How the condom police cost lives

27 April 2005, Herald Sun
Rob Moodie argues the importance of condoms in controlling HIV infection rates, and that the evidence does not support the assertion that promoting condoms leads to promiscuity.

Marketing a more healthy lifestyle? Fat chance

28 March 2005, The Age
Obesity is a ‘market success’, related to the heavy marketing of junk food, passive entertainment options, and labour-saving devices. If we are to even flatten out our rates of increasing overweight and obesity, we either have to sell a lot more products that encourage us to be active and eat and drink healthily, or we have to intervene in the market. A fat tax, an oil tax, a congestion tax?

A sudden attack of the fats

11 March 2005, Herald Sun
Rob proposes some counter-measures in the fight against obesity, including a ‘fat tax’.

Treaty to tame tobacco kings

1 March 2005, Herald Sun
This article highlights the importance of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control passing into international law as the line in the sand in the struggle against tobacco companies.

When our young ooze booze, the drink needs a serious rethink

In a piece highlighting the Thinking Drinking Conference held in Melbourne on this day, Rob Moodie argues for a rethink on the deregulated alcohol industry and for the consideration of measures such as increased taxes, enforcing responsible serving of alcohol and limiting alcohol licences.

Sensible solution to abortion

Commonsense would suggest that in relation to the abortion issue, prevention is indeed better than cure. Rob argues that the middle gound in the abortion debate is minimising the need for abortion by virtue of increasing affordability and availability of contraceptive services, and improving the effectiveness and availability of sexual and reproductive health education.

The campaign that just can’t quit

24 January 2005, The Age
Celebrating 20 years of the Quit campaign and acknowledging that tobacco control is a great investment, contributing to 17,000 premature deaths being averted every year in Australia.