Jeremy Hanson MLA CSC is Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow Attorney-General.

Two years ago, Labor and the Greens introduced massive changes to decriminalise hard drugs, including heroin, ice and cocaine.

As you might imagine, I fought tooth and nail against these changes. As you might also imagine, Labor and the Greens argued the laws were vital ‘harm minimisation’ tools.

Two years on, the results are in, and they are very clear – this experiment has failed. Utterly.

Drug usage has gone up.

Drug overdoses have gone up.

Drug driving charges have gone up.

Drug Emergency Department presentations have gone up.

We have the highest rate of drugs overdoses of any capital city in the country.

These figures are undeniable and unacceptable.

The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program shows sharp increases in illicit drug consumption since October 2023.

Cocaine use has risen about 70 per cent, heroin 30 per cent, and meth 40 per cent.

The 2025 Illicit Drug Reporting System’s survey paints the same picture: cocaine use in Canberra has nearly doubled, heroin use is the equal highest in the nation, and Canberra has the highest non-fatal overdose rate in the country.

Thirty per cent of Canberra respondents to the survey reported an overdose in the past six months — more than double Adelaide’s rate.

From January to September this year, there have been 16 suspected overdose deaths.

Drug-induced deaths rose from 26 in 2023 to 38 in 2024. Drug-related emergency department presentations also jumped 13 per cent in 2024–25 to 1,166.

Rather than solving a health problem, decriminalisation has made the problem worse. Drug users are now turning up to hospital in larger numbers, stretching already overworked nurses and doctors.

ACT Policing has reported 423 drug-driving charges from January to September this year, already exceeding last year’s total by 20 per cent.

Civic is becoming increasingly unsafe. A business owner described the impact of hard drugs on antisocial behaviour with one man “shooting up with needles out in the open” causing violent chaos and being hit by a car.

When these changes were introduced, we were told it was to ‘reduce harm’, that too many people were being criminalised for possession. But in the year before decriminalisation, Minister [for Health, Rachel] Stephen-Smith’s office confirmed just eight people were convicted of drug possession as a standalone offence.

The government went soft on drugs to fix eight cases — and in doing so, unleashed far broader harm across the community.

As road safety advocate Tom McLuckie has put it: “We have had more increases in deaths due to overdoses than the whole [eight] persons the year previous who were being ‘criminalised’ by being charged and convicted with drug possession offences.”

We were also told police would shift their focus to dealers and traffickers. Instead, reported deal and supply offences have halved.

In 2020–21, there were 85 such offences reported. In 2024–25, there were only 36 — despite surging drug use, overdoses, and deaths.

On every measure, every indicator shows that these laws have not created less harm, they have made our city less safe.

Hard drug use is increasing.

Overdoses are increasing.

Drug deaths are increasing.

Drug-driving is increasing.

Disorder is increasing.

Hospitalisations are increasing.

These changes have been a legal, social and policy failure on every measure the government set when introducing these laws.

We need to repeal these dangerous changes to our drug laws before more harm is done.