Drugs decriminalisation is being debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly this afternoon. The amendments health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith made in June to her ACT Labor colleague Michael Pettersson’s motion are expected to pass. But the ACT Greens also want to make amendments, while the Canberra Liberals oppose the decriminalisation of hard drugs entirely.

Mr Pettersson’s Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Bill, introduced early last year, proposed that possession of small amounts of some illicit drugs – MDMA (ecstasy), amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, lysergic acid, LSD, methadone, methylamphetamine (ice), and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) – should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal one. Those caught in possession would pay a Simple Drug Offence Notice fine of $100 and be referred to a health professional, rather than go to prison for up to two years.

Ms Stephen-Smith’s amendments would offer an Illicit Drug Diversion program as an alternative to the fine. The reforms would include a 12-month implementation program to train police and review administration arrangements.

• ACT decriminalises small amounts of some illicit drugs (9 June 2022)
• Committee recommends passing Pettersson’s drug reform bill (November 2021)
• Pettersson introduces drug reform bill to the Assembly (February 2021)
• Pettersson: Hard drug use a public health, not criminal justice, issue (December 2020)

ACT Greens

Johnathan Davis, ACT Greens spokesperson for drug harm minimisation, wants to scrap the $100 fine.

Nearly half of all Canberrans have used drugs, according to an AIHW report, Mr Davis remarked. Most did not get in trouble with the law, he argued, because they were wealthy, white, or white-collar workers.

He believes the fine would disproportionately affect marginalised and disadvantaged Canberrans: poor people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, homeless people.

“People who have already had the boot of our economic and social system on their neck, who are already living life on the margins.”

A criminal conviction for drug use would make their lives even harder, whether getting a job or a driver’s licence, he argued.

“The people who most need a hand up are the people who serve to benefit from this reform.”

Mr Davis also wants an inbuilt review of the legislation within two years, similar to the process for the decriminalisation of use and possession of cannabis.

He said his approach to drugs was once “deeply conservative” – he had cared for a family member with a drug addiction – but had changed his mind, “a personal 180”, after listening to academics, clinicians, advocates, and drug users.

“Our current criminal justice framework for drug use has not reduced crime related to drug use,” he said.

“It hasn’t reduced possession; it hasn’t reduced trafficking; it hasn’t made the situation better. It’s made some people feel more comfortable. It’s provided a thin veil of security that practically doesn’t exist. We need a new approach if we seriously want to reduce harm from drug use and we want to protect all Canberrans by reducing crime and reducing the impact on our public health system.”

Because of the risk of criminalisation, Canberrans are not accessing healthcare services, Mr Davis said.

“It’s very important that we remove that impediment, we remove that barrier, and we make sure people who are really suffering on the margins in our community feel like they can confidently put their hand up in Canberra and say ‘I have a problem and I need help’, and we’re not going to throw the bars in front of them; we’re instead going to put them into a clinician’s office and provide them with care and support.”

Mr Davis wants the Assembly to crack down on drug traffickers, drug distributors, and drug makers – the people profiting from addiction.

Canberra Liberals

Jeremy Hanson, Shadow Minister for Police, believes the decriminalisation of hard drugs is “a radical reform” that will lead to increased amounts of meth and heroin use in Canberra. (Meth is less than 2 per cent of drug use in Australia, according to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report.)

“It’s dangerous. We’re not talking about legalising cannabis; we’re talking about meth and we’re talking about heroin,” Mr Hanson said.

“It wasn’t taken to the community; it’s going to lead to more crime, it’s going to lead to more carnage on our roads, it’s not going to change the number of people going through the criminal justice system, and it’s not going to fix the problem we’ve got now, which is not enough people being able to access treatment.”

Mr Hanson referred to the police and the ACT Law Society’s opposition to drug decriminalisation.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw stated earlier this year that decriminalising drugs would make it more dangerous for society and for police.

Similarly, the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) is concerned the new possession limits would provide an ‘instant defence’ for criminals, while they believe the ACT Government has not invested enough in health and rehabilitation to decriminalise the drugs in question.

Both the AFP and the AFPA predict road carnage as more people using meth drive on Canberra’s streets, Mr Hanson said.

• Police, Bill Stefaniak claim drug decriminalisation will increase crime (11 June)
• Police chief: Decriminalising drugs would make society ‘far more dangerous’ (17 February)

The Law Society argued that the Bill would have a minimal effect on diverting drug users from the criminal justice system.

“It is relatively uncommon for drug users to come before the courts charged only with drug possession,” their submission to the ACT Government inquiry stated. “Possession of a drug of dependence is typically charged alongside other criminal offences such as burglary, assault, or drug driving.”

Mr Hanson was also concerned decriminalising drugs would “overcrowd already broken drug treatment services”, which were overcrowded or had long waiting lists.

The Liberals believe the best approach is to keep current penalties, but for the government to resource more drug treatment and support for addicts. The current system is working, in Mr Hanson’s opinion; the police have transferred and diverted hundreds of people to treatment, he said. Without criminal sanctions attached to penalties, heroin and meth addicts would not willingly get treatment.

“You’re talking about people who are desperate, who are in a terrible state. Sometimes you need those powers in order to get people going to treatment.”

If the Canberra Liberals win the election in 2024, they will reverse the decriminalisation of hard drugs.

“We don’t want meth on our streets; we don’t want heroin on our streets,” Mr Hanson said.

And Mr Hanson wants the issue taken to the next election.

“At the last ACT election, Labor and the Greens didn’t go to the community saying we’re going to decriminalise heroin and we’re going to decriminalise meth. Put it to the community to see what they’ve got to say about it. For such a radical reform, it’s only fair that the community are advised of that reform and have their say.”

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