Labor has squandered a historic opportunity to save lives with Govt’s weak Drug Summit response
The Government’s weak response to the Drug Summit report proves that genuine reform was never on the agenda, with Labor squandering a historic opportunity to reduce the harm from drugs and save lives, says Greens MP and spokesperson for drug law reform Cate Faehrmann.
“The Drug Summit was meant to be a turning point for evidence-based drug reform in New South Wales. Instead, we’ve seen Labor squander this historic opportunity to reform our drug laws because of the Premier’s lack of ambition,” said Ms Faehrmann.
“Instead the government has cherry-picked the easy bits and rejected or delayed the reforms that would actually make a difference. Most of the recommendations that have been supported were uncontroversial and the government didn’t need a drug summit to arrive at them.
“The government’s refusal to support a key recommendation to end the use of drug detection dogs and strip searches for suspected personal drug possession at music festivals is particularly arrogant considering the ongoing class action against NSW Police. All the experts agree that these practices traumatise young people, destroy trust in police and drive riskier drug use.
Ms Faehrmann also criticised the government for failing to support the recommendation for the removal of legislative barriers to allow more medically supervised injecting centres across the state.
“The 1999 drug summit made the bold and courageous recommendation for a medically supervised injecting centre, and since then the Kings Cross clinic has saved thousands of lives.
“The Minns Government’s refusal to support new sites is a slap in the face to the health experts and frontline workers who have made the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre a world-leading example of best practice in harm reduction.
“It’s also incredibly frustrating to see the government continue to kick the can down the road in terms of strengthening existing drug diversion schemes.
“Diversion is about keeping people out of the criminal justice system and getting them the help they need. Data obtained from my office has exposed that existing diversion schemes aren’t working with the vast majority of people caught in possession of a small quantity of drugs still dragged through the courts instead of being offered treatment and support.
“It’s also unacceptable that the government had deferred legislating a medical defence for drivers using legally prescribed cannabis.
“Thousands of patients are being unfairly criminalised every year for using legally prescribed medicine. Other jurisdictions have managed to allow medicinal cannabis patients to drive but once again we see the Minns Government kicking off something it doesn’t want to deal with to a committee.
“The government’s response has confirmed what many stakeholders feared all along. That the Drug Summit was a pointless distraction and a massive missed opportunity which leaves the same failed system in place.