A landmark report on drug decriminalisation, regulation, and harm prevention states Australia’s “current approach to illicit drugs is not working and is inadvertently exacerbating harm,” and presents thirteen recommendations for future action regarding the nation’s approach to the issue.
The Australia21 paper, released this morning, presents the argument to refocus the issue of illicit drugs as one of harm prevention instead of criminality, thereby enabling tangible assistance to drug users “when they make unwise choices.”
Other suggestions run through a series of interrelated proposals, including implementing a “white market” for drugs to counteract the pre-existing criminal element, and providing drug testing services to “help prevent avoidable deaths and overdoses.”
Overall, the paper calls for a distinction between commercial-grade trafficking and personal use; according to its findings, the former should be treated as a law enforcement matter, with the latter being an issue of “health and social” concern.
Purportedly, certain individuals could be assisted more readily without adding a criminal element to their drug usage. However, the paper is also conscious of the massive effect those changes may have, and proposes a gradual integration of its suggested policies.
As such, the Can Australia Respond To Drugs More Effectively And Safely? paper calls for its proposals to be tested within two pilot trials: one in a rural community, and one in an urban environment, both of which would provide feedback on the efficacy of the changes.
Former Victorian premier and noted harm reduction advocate Jeff Kennett was present at the launch of the paper this morning, and asked “where are the legislators today with the courage to try something different that might, in some way, bring about a change of direction in this particular area of pursuit?”
Former New South Wales premier Bob Carr, former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer, and other experts including a number of former high-ranking legal officials also stand behind the report.
You can read it, in full, right here.
Source: The Guardian / Australia21.
Photo: Universal History Archive / Getty.
Source: The Guardian / Australia21.
Photo: Universal History Archive / Getty.
