Canberra Liberals MLA Jeremy Hanson, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Police, will call on the ACT Government to delay decriminalising possession of hard drugs until after the next election.
The Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Act, passed last year, is scheduled to come into effect at the end of October. Those caught in possession of small amounts of illicit drugs – including heroin and ice – might pay a Simple Drug Offence Notice fine of $100 or attend an assessment and harm reduction session, rather than face a two-year prison sentence. The government says treating drug use as a health issue, rather a criminal offence, will make it easier for drug users to access health support.
But the Canberra Liberals argue that recent revelations that the Labor government deliberately went ‘quietly’ with proposed radical drug laws, and new concerns raised by ACT police, interstate police, the Australian Border Force, and local GPs means the proposed changes to drug laws should be pushed back to at least after the election.
- Read: Will drug decriminalisation in the ACT reduce harm? (10 September)
“This was always terrible policy,” Mr Hanson said. “It is reckless, it is dangerous, and it should never have been pushed through without the support of the community and the stakeholders.
“Now, we have heard secret recordings of the Health Minister boasting about how they ‘quietly’ snuck it through, then used dodgy process in the Assembly to avoid scrutiny and comment.
“Even more concerning are the comments from police saying that, when they once would intervene if they witnessed someone using drugs, they wouldn’t be doing that now.
“We have both the AFP and Border Force saying they prefer a staged, co-ordinated process. And we have a GP who has openly said:
‘At the coal face, we have absolutely no chance of getting these people into programs. That is where the system will let these people down.’
“The fact is the government does not have a mandate for this policy, and does not have support from major stakeholders.
“There is no pressing need to ram these laws through, except to avoid public scrutiny. But there is every reason to delay and get a mandate from the people, and to ensure that stakeholders are prepared.”
