FDS Insight Magazine Aug - Oct 2022

15 Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the ACT was leading the country by demonstrating that decriminalisation was a better way to protect the community’s well-being. She said the government continued to view illicit drugs as harmful and would work to stamp out their supply. However, it recognised that ‘the harm associated with drug use is a health issue’ and that treating drug use as a criminal matter did not help addicts. ‘It’s harmful to that individual and it doesn’t help to keep the community safe,’ Ms Stephen-Smith said. ‘We know from research and evidence around the world that criminalising drug users does not reduce drug use, and that treating drug addiction as a health issue improves outcomes for everyone in the community. ‘This legislation is part of our broader suite of policies developed in partnership with experts, people with lived experience and our alcohol and other drug sector to support those most in need to get the help and services they need when they need them.’ Ms Stephen-Smith added that the new approach would take pressure off the justice system. Only about 10 people a year were prosecuted for possessing small drug quantities in Canberra, she said. ‘That’s not a huge number, but all of that takes work – it takes preparation for the cases, it takes [legal] defence resources,’ she said. A survey last year found Canberrans ‘overwhelmingly’ supported further efforts to decriminalise drugs. Only one in 10 people supported imprisonment for possession offences. Liberals say proposed law will endanger police Liberal legal affairs spokesman Jeremy Hanson says the change is dangerous.(ABC News: Dharshini Sundran) The Legislative Assembly, controlled by the Labor-Green coalition, is certain to pass the bill as both governing parties have now indicated support for it. However, the Canberra Liberals have raised concerns. Peter Cain MLA, a member of the inquiry that examined the proposal last year, said the bill was in conflict with the Commonwealth Criminal Code, and this posed problems that remained unresolved. On Thursday, shadow attorney-general Jeremy Hanson said both the federal and New South Wales police commissioners had warned that the change would be dangerous. ‘I’m not going to support anything that’s going to make life more