FDS Insight Magazine Nov - Dec 2022

10 effect that their advocates say that they do. Our drug laws have not been able to stop the use of drugs, and they do not stop people from using drugs. The one thing that will reduce the harm that drugs cause in our community, is to treat the issue as a public health problem, and by removing the possession of these substances from criminal law, we make it easier for people to access the health services they need in an appropriate manner. Australia’s first fixed-site pill testing or drug checking service opened in Canberra on 14 July. By all accounts, it’s been a success. This is currently a trial, but so was the Kings Cross medically supervised injecting centre when it first opened its doors in 2001. How would you say having drug decriminalisation and a drug-checking service both running in the same jurisdiction is going to complement each other? They do complement each other. In a decriminalisation model, the illicit recreational drugs that people consume are concocted in some of the worst circumstances. Organised criminal gangs do not have the same safety checks in their production and processes that more reputable pharmaceutical companies do. So, there will always be a question mark hanging over the substances that people are consuming. Drug checking is one way that you can go about reducing that harm by providing more accurate information to people that have already made the choice that they want to consume those drugs. And lastly, Michael, the move to drug decriminalisation has been the want of a wide range of people for decades now. This isn’t just people who use drugs, but it’s medical experts, ex- police commissioners, lawyers, judges, former DPPs, and families. You introduced this bill about a year after your cannabis laws made it legal to grow a small number of plants at home for personal use. So, how does it feel to be the instigator of such monumental reforms in this country that could spread to other jurisdictions, and will reduce a variety of harms and save people’s lives? And more so, how were you able to get this across the line? The honest answer is I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. This is an area of public policy that I’ve got very strong opinions about and have clearly been very active on in public life. But I’ve got too much else on to really sit back and pat myself on the back. So, I always find it somewhat jarring, when people talk about the historic nature of it, because here in the ACT, it’s not really that big a deal. Overwhelmingly, the community is in favour of these reforms. So, it doesn’t seem like this landmark accomplishment here in the ACT. Do I think this will flow through to other jurisdictions? Maybe, maybe not.