The results of a landmark report drawing on 231 submissions, nine days of public hearings, and visits to other countries that have very different legal approaches to drug issues – including Portugal, where they no longer charge people for possession or consumption of drugs – has been tabled in Victorian Parliament. Some of the 50 recommendations will be considered by the Victorian Parliament and others will be referred to a proposed new expert Advisory Body for further investigation.
1. Portugal’s decriminalisation model is being considered
In 2001, Portugal removed criminal sanctions for the use and possession of all illicit drugs, and expanded its investment in drug treatment and harm reduction. The so-called Portuguese model is associated with reductions in drug-related HIV and AIDS, reductions in drug-related deaths, and other social and economic benefits. The report recommends that Victoria treat the offences of personal use and possession as a health issue rather than a criminal justice one.
2. A test for drug driving like the one we have for drink driving
At the moment, Victorians who test positive to drug driving can be charged with a criminal offence. This is regardless of when the drug was consumed, how much of the drug is in their system and whether they are actually impaired. There is no threshold test for drugs like there is for alcohol (the blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05) so the Advisory Board will consider introducing one. Two years ago, a NSW Magistrate threw out a charge against a man who had consumed cannabis nine days earlier.
3. Making it easy to get medicinal cannabis
The Committee heard evidence that the legal framework for accessing medicinal cannabis was overly complex and cumbersome. The report recommends that the Victorian and Commonwealth governments work together to improve access to medicinal cannabis and that the Advisory Body examine ways that General Practitioners might be better supported to provide patients with access.
4. Drug treatment instead of jail time
The report recommends moving away from treating drug use as a criminal law problem, and toward viewing it as a social and health policy matter. Several recommendations call for improved treatment options. One recommendation calls for more Drug Courts, which are specialist courts through which Magistrates order offenders to undergo drug treatment instead of going to jail.
5. Vending machines for sterile syringes
At present, people who inject drugs can access sterile needles and syringes through a network of Needle and Syringe Programs (NSPs). However, there are some barriers to access, whether through fear, stigma, lack of knowledge, or because some services are difficult to access. It is also currently illegal to access sterile needles through an NSP and pass them on to others who might need them – a practice know variously as ‘secondary supply’ or ‘peer distribution’. The Committee heard that this practice should be allowed, that hospitals should make sterile needles available, and that more after-hours services and automatic dispensing machines should be considered.
Associate Professor Kate Seear is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow (DE160100134) and Associate Professor of Law at Monash University. She is the Academic Director of the Springvale Monash Legal Service, and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute.
