Page 990 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2016
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the way on issues such as supervised injecting rooms, because that was the right way to get health outcomes, regardless of the controversy. Where is the ACT now? Other states move forward on medicinal cannabis schemes and we lag behind. Doctors and health professionals say we can save lives with pill testing and, like the Liberal government in New South Wales, we reject it in favour of the failed punitive approach. The experts prepared a candid declaration on illicit drugs to try to refocus governments on health outcomes and on sensible progressive discussions, and our government will not sign up.
The reforms I am advocating recognise that users of illicit drugs are people and members of society with families, just like everyone else. We should not accept these people dying, becoming ill, suffering or becoming hopeless and trapped in the criminal justice system when there are actions we can take to prevent this.
The reforms I am advocating are also supported by extensive evidence and by experts who work every day in relevant fields, such as the health and justice sectors. They are not even new or untested reforms; we can look to jurisdictions around the world where they have been implemented and where they have been successful.
My motion not only asks the government and the opposition to recognise the value of this policy shift, it also asks the government to sign the Canberra declaration on illicit drugs to indicate its commitment. The Canberra declaration on illicit drugs is a document produced by the parliamentary drug summit held on 2 March this year, only a handful of days ago, and attended by approximately 70 experts and representatives from academia, the health sector, the justice sector, NGOs representing drug users and families, the drug and alcohol sector, and politicians from all sides of politics. Indeed, the forum was convened by the Australian parliament’s cross-party group on drug policy and law reform, which is comprised of members from the Greens, the Liberal Party and the Labor Party.
The Canberra declaration reflects the health-focused approach to illicit drugs. It calls on governments to put health and community safety first by concentrating on proven health and social interventions. It recommends implementing and evaluating the health benefits of removing criminal sanctions for personal drug use, as demonstrated in international settings. It recognises that drug checking or pill testing presents a potentially valuable option for reducing harm at public events and asks governments to enable trials as a matter of priority. It also asks all stakeholders to pursue an open debate on more effective policies to prevent and reduce all harms relating to drug use and its control.
Drug policy is of course a vast and complex area. In the short time available, I would like to present the Assembly with some of the evidence that supports the policy shift I am advocating. I was pleased to hear Mr Corbell yesterday committing the government to an evidence-based approach to drug laws. This is exactly what I want as well. Unfortunately, I do not believe this is the approach governments are typically taking, including here in the ACT on occasion. It is my view that if the ACT government were to genuinely take an evidence-based approach to drugs it would support my motion, it would sign the Canberra declaration, it would support pill testing, it would support an examination of decriminalisation initiatives and, for the record, it would also support an ACT-based medicinal cannabis scheme.
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