FDS Insight Magazine Nov - Dec 2022

6 Redirecting resources away from the criminal justice system toward the health and education sectors, as Portugal did 20 years ago, has proven successful. Portugal now has one of the lowest overdose rates in Europe. Harm reduction programs such as supervised injecting sites, providing heroin on prescription and free access to treatments such as methadone will help avert a potential crisis. Overdose reversal drugs such as naloxone need to be distributed now to all emergency workers, including police. But while increased health-focused responses are essential and will help stem the tide, tough questions also need to be asked about our policies and laws that perpetuate the myth that the war on drugs is winnable through prohibition. State governments, such as those in New South Wales and Victoria, need to act on the recommendations from experts and inquiries which they consistently choose to ignore because of their continued commitment to drug prohibition and veiled acceptance that drug users are necessary collateral damage in the war on drugs. It is time Australia had a serious conversation about the decriminalisation of all drugs. On 31 August each year, International Overdose Awareness Day remembers those who have lost their battle with addiction, and the impacts that has on families and friends. Let’s hope next year we are not faced with many more experiencing this loss through fentanyl. Greg Denham is a retired senior sergeant of Victoria police and the Australian representative for the US-based agency Law Enforcement Action Partnership ACT decriminalises drug possession: Labor MP M. Pettersson on forging reform Paul Gregoire, mondaq (31/10/22) hat the century-old system of drug prohibition is a failure is well-established in legal circles, amongst medical experts, those who partake in illicit substances, families who’ve lost loved ones to the use of them, and a growing cross section of the community. And just like moves towards legalising cannabis, when it comes to measures that serve to reduce the harms that illicit substances cause, the global trend is towards decriminalisation: the removal of criminal sanctions related to the personal possession and use of unlawful drugs. The nation of Portugal did this in 2001, whilst it was in the grips of a heroin crisis, and two decades later, the resulting reduction in drug-related harms is globally renowned. While the US state of Oregon moved to a decriminalisation model early last year, with other US jurisdictions set to follow. And now ACT Labor MLA Michael Pettersson has done the seemingly T