Page 2109 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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The Standing Committee on Education, Employment and Youth Affairs even recognised this, and recommendation 46 of the report into youth mental health in the ACT was to consider further criminal justice diversion for young drug users by investigating a simple drug offence notice. This is not a majority Labor committee. In fact, I am the one Labor member on it. This is a majority Liberal committee. It is obvious to me that when you take the partisan politics out of it, when you talk to families experiencing crisis, everyone can see that our current drug laws do not do what we want them to do. We know that the “just say no” approach does not work. It does not deter people from using drugs, nor does it do anything to tackle the often serious and complex reasons behind why a person consumes drugs in the first place.
In 2017-18, 609 Canberrans were arrested for possession of illicit drugs. That is 609 community members who, instead of receiving physical or mental health support were shamed for their behaviour by the criminal justice system. Compare that to the 88 drug provider arrests. I think most people would agree that the drug provider arrest number needs to be higher and the drug possession arrest number should be zero.
I am not saying decriminalisation is a perfect model in and of itself. Drugs still pose incredible health risks to users, ranging from temporary illness to overdose and lifelong health effects, and this is magnified by the supply chain that exists through organised criminal gangs and drug dealers. It is difficult to quality control these drugs. At Groovin’ the Moo last year, through pill testing, at least seven pills were found to contain potentially deadly additive substances. Pill testing will help, but it will not stop every bad pill in a decriminalisation model.
The harm minimisation approach acknowledges and responds sensibly to these risks. A hard minimisation approach advocates for implementing a holistic drug rehabilitation system that prioritises the welfare of the individual. If a person is addicted to alcohol or tobacco we send them to a doctor, not to the police. Other drugs of dependence should be treated no differently.
If a community member is struggling with addiction, our response as a progressive government should be to find out how to help them, rather than put them through the criminal justice system. As seen previously with cannabis decriminalisation in the ACT, a simple offence notice system can strike a balance between sending a message that the consumption of drugs is dangerous but not shaming an individual for the reason they consume drugs, which is sometimes out of their control.
The Assembly has come a long way in recent times. I think we have learned a lot about the views of everyone in this place when it comes to drug use. We have all seen the media articles about the historical use of drugs by ACT politicians. The one I have enjoyed the most over the past year or so has been watching the Canberra Liberals extol the virtues of cannabis decriminalisation. It seems to me that we might be able to find common ground and all agree that a simple offence notice for illicit drugs in the territory is not only a sensible suggestion but the right thing to do. This motion is not about virtual signalling. This government has showed in the past that it can get things done, and this motion seeks to continue that for the benefit of all Canberrans. So let’s get this done.
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