ACT Policing concerned by ACT government's drug decriminalisation plans

Should the personal possession of illicit drugs decriminalisation legislation proceed as it is currently framed, ACT police, who are all members of the Australian Federal Police and effectively contractors paid by the ACT government, would be again be operating in conflict with Commonwealth drug laws.

As the police highlighted in their submission to the original inquiry into this legislation, possession of the substances [drugs] listed in the bill "would remain illegal in the ACT by effect of Commonwealth law".

To ease the tension between the two conflicting sets of laws on cannabis, ACT police have always deferred to the ACT laws.

But what remains unclear is what happens when a person who is known to police and has an established record as an illicit drug trafficker, is apprehended and found in possession of two grams of amphetamine, a quantity police know can be "cut" and on-sold.

Pragmatic as to the likely passing of the proposed bill, ACT's chief police officer Neil Gaughan's goal now is to achieve what is seen as "a sensible amount of personal possession, not for supply or on-selling".

Police know that drug use - and in particular methamphetamine - is a driver of crime and violence; there is ample evidence of it every day in the court lists. Recent research by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that users reported their use played a contributing role in their offending.

There are also potentially huge issues for road safety with the decriminalisation of illicit drugs such as cocaine which cannot be detected through roadside testing of drivers.

The body which represents police members says an independent body, such as those set up when Portugal decriminalised hard drugs in July 2001, should be set up to assess repeat offenders.

The head of the Australian Federal Police Association, Alex Caruana, said blanket decriminalisation without the proper education, processes and health support for people with hard drug issues was "nonsensical".

Mr Caruana said a tribunal or similar body was required for police to refer people who are found on multiple occasions in possession of hard drugs.

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He also said increased availability would lead to increased consumption.

"When community members are drug addled or using drugs we know that the rate of domestic violence goes up, rates of child exploitation and those sorts of crimes go up, and we know that violence - general violence - goes up," he said.

"Also 1.2 grams or 2 grams of a substance is not a small amount. These [quantities] are barely less than a [currently] traffickable amount."

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