The drug decriminalisation debate may have died last week, but national outreach workers and drug campaign managers say that our mindsets, not just laws, may be changing on illicit substances. The “war on drugs” may be lost, but Australians could be more sympathetic to drug usage than previously thought.
Think tank Australia21’s report on drug decriminalisation last week asserted “Prohibition of Illicit Drugs is Killing and Criminalising Our Children”, citing “large numbers” of young people who have recorded unfair criminal convictions for minor drug use. This sparked a short-lived debate in which politicians and community leaders weighed in on the moral and legal implications of consuming illicit substances.
Crikey contacted several front-line workers in drug and alcohol services, several of whom were reluctant to have their endorsement of drug legalisation placed on the record. Many did agree, however, that aside from legislative change on the issue, we should consider the increasingly informed community’s views and their curiosity and changing ideas about punishment over drug use.
This can be seen in the canvassing of community opinion and current legal practices in place to divert those on minor drug charges away from incarceration penalties. Structures such as Drug Court (in operation in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia) already aim to divert drug users away from potential jail sentences for minor drug offences and into treatment. As the Drug Court of NSW describes in its statement of objective:
“Reducing a person’s dependency on drugs should reduce the person’s need to resort to criminal activity to support that dependency, and should also increase the person’s ability to function as a law-abiding citizen.”
Greg Denham, of the North Yarra Drug and Health Forum, told Crikey last week that we needed to reconceptualise addiction in order to understand how drug use affects the whole community. “One of the major challenges is that [those who come for treatment] bring a whole lifestyle with them. Then that person goes back to their community, which is often a drug-user community,” he said.
When considering whether to be lenient on minor drug use on a legislative level, the person who uses illicit substances should be taken into account. “They have habits, routines and lifestyles that you can’t necessarily just leave behind,” Denham said.
Key players in drug and alcohol services also claimed that the community is curious about how these issues play out, and that giving people honest information about it is paramount. The federal government’s 2010 National Drug Strategy Household report suggests not only that our usage of drugs has increased; overall acceptance of illicit drugs, cannabis in particular, has increased since 2007. Australia21 also cited occasional use of cannabis as the most prevalent illicit drug for young people, with up to 15% having smoked in the past 12 months.
While Australians still rank heroin and amphetamines as a higher danger to the community, occasional cannabis use seems to be the driving force behind the increasing acceptance of illicit substances since 2007.
The Australian Drug Foundation was one of the first groups to publicly support decriminalisation, claiming that Australia spends twice as much on law enforcement than prevention and support. Spokesperson Renee Lustman said that they experienced a flood of support on Twitter regarding this, explaining that it’s common for people, especially youth, to come searching for information online.
“We get lots of people comment on key issues online that we can take offline and say, ‘Have you seen this report on the issue’?” she said.
It’s this same acceptance of our curiosity that has led the ADF to its reliance on social media. The organisation curates and moderates several websites, webcasts and online content for young people, with these forums accepting of those wanting credible information. The use of the internet and smart phones are viewed by the ADF as one of the biggest potential game changers for seekers of drug treatment and information in the future.
The ADF’s somazone website contains fact sheets on the effects of major drug groups, legal information for younger than 18s, and stories from young people about their use of substances, some of whom are unapologetic for trying or continuing use of substances such as cannabis.
“We’re beyond the age of scaring people, I think, and beyond telling young people what to do,” Lustman said. “We’re supportive of wanting people to know more about it; that can only be a bonus.”
Denham agreed that aside from legislative change, we need to report accurately on the effects of drug use: “It’s about allowing people to make an informed decision.”
The Australia21 report prompted short-term debate, but those on the ground claim that managing the war on drugs is an issue of legislation and attitude. If more Australians are searching out info or even softening their views on minor drug use, law changes might be catching up to public opinion rather than changing it.
Duhhh… and the BS continues. There are too many vested interests in prohibition for rationality to have owt to do with it.
The War on Drugs is lost…time to rethink the strategy.
The War on drugs was a war on the most vunerable the moswt abused in our society ,What really gets my goat is all the morallist bleating particularly by Parents of dead teenage addicts ,oh my johnny or sarah died ,well I think when that tradgic event takes place the Parents should be investigated for acts of child abuse,domestic violence which are the primary sources of drug addiction particularly opiates.
they bleat oh my poor child ,well if they were not sexually abused ,or phyisically emotionally crippled by their parents usally then guess what they wouldn’t turn to drugs.To escape the reality of their existance ,happy people don’t turn to drugs to solve their problems.
War on drugs ,why not a War on child abuse.
Oh ,and as far as which drugs do the most damage to society ,well its clearly Cigaretts and Alcohol,by light yuears. The legal ones .
Deaths due to all illicit drugs a couple of hundred compared to a couple of 100 000’s with the legal ones.
I have never been bashed by a Pot head ,have been by a drunk .
Why don’t Crikey or New Matilda or ABC The Drum ask me for my opinion.
I have been addicted to meth. I have been around junkies. I have a Masters in Qualitative Systems Analysis. I have a blog of 8 years covering policy, much of which has been implemented.
I predicted the fall of both John Howard and Kevin Rudd.
I comment ferociously on all forums. but no one replies. No one has anything intelligent to say. Just braying mules, one side of the argument or the other. No one has taken drugs apart from pot, but thinks they know all about meth addiction. No one cares to think more deeply than their lazy assumptions based upon being conservative or liberal.
I know what I am talking about. I can construct policy better than anyone. Why does no one ever, ever ask me.
You want this debate to change, you need a cogent policy based upon definitive rationale. Not bias, assumption or belief.
Until you deliver that, the public won’t listen, and why should they?
I hate to think what the capitalist system would do with legalised drugs, just look at alcohol consumption in this country. We are safer with them being illegal.