FDS Insight Magazine Aug - Oct 2022

19 Canada’s drug experiment could work here: This is why N. Lee, Sydney Morning Herald (5/6/22) he Canadian government’s announcement that it will trial decriminalisation of drugs in British Columbia for three years may seem radical to some outside observers, but for those of us in the alcohol and other drug field it’s been a long time coming. I’ve worked in the alcohol and other drug sector for 32 years and I’ve yet to meet a person in treatment who was deterred from using drugs because they were illegal. The criminalisation of drugs creates stigma towards people who use them. I have seen firsthand how the criminalisation of drugs creates stigma towards people who use them, which then becomes a barrier to seeking help. A criminal record can follow someone for the rest of their life, so they can never get a fair go, even after they stop using. Australia’s official national drug policy is aimed at reducing harms from legal and illegal drugs. But it’s hard to reduce harms from illegal drugs while possession and use is a criminal offence. In fact, most drugs are illegal for purely historical reasons and they are more dangerous because they are illegal, not the other way around. Much of the work of police, courts and prisons is currently occupied by drug- related offences, even though there are no measurable benefits from criminalisation of illicit drugs. Decriminalisation significantly reduces the involvement of the justice system and allows existing resources to be better spent to support treatment for people who need it, or to focus justice system efforts elsewhere. Former Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Palmer noted that ‘drug law enforcement had had little impact on the Australian drug market’. Criminalisation has not reduced use, harm or the amount of drug circulating in the community. In fact, it has contributed to a huge number of new drugs coming on to the market in an attempt to bypass current laws. As of December 2021, more than 1100 ‘new psychoactive substances’ have been reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which monitors drug trends globally. The most effective way to decrease drug use and harm is to ensure people can access treatment when they need it. Yet government funding is disproportionately spent on law enforcement, with around two thirds of all drug-related funding going to reducing supply, while the drug T