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NSW government rejects recommendations to address ‘serious’ drug problem
NSW has a “serious and complex” problem with drug usage, leading to a number of young deaths at music festivals and a severe dependency from vulnerable communities – and yet, despite promising to address the issue, the state’s government has rejected major recommendations from its own inquiry.
Naomi Neilson
The Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug “Ice” made 109 recommendations for strengthening the NSW government’s response to amphetamine-based drugs, which include crystal meth or ice. As it stands, NSW’s drug and alcohol policies have become “stagnated”, so much so that it has no formal drug policy plan in place.
The state’s Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the government would not consider the major recommendations, but that it would consider the remaining recommendations in the report and will prepare a final response before the end of the year.
“The government wishes to acknowledge all those with lived experiences, the families and friends, along with the broad range of experts, health practitioners and the service providers who contributed to the special commission,” Mr Hazzard said.
This comes as a major blow, with many criticising the government for its lack of action on preventing a drug epidemic at festivals and the related deaths. Drug detection dogs in particular frighten young people into a “panic injection”, which leads to them taking dangerous drugs in excess and at once, according to deputy coroner Harriet Grahame.
Commissioner Dan Howard, who wrote the report, called for decriminalisation of drugs and to put a stop to – or at least limit – the excessive strip searches at festivals.
“The state of NSW faces a serious and complex problem due to the significant health and social harms caused by the illicit drug crystal methamphetamine commonly known as ‘ice’ and other amphetamine-type stimulates,” Mr Howard said in the report.
“Australia has the highest rate of amphetamine dependence in the world and, of all the world’s regions, Australasia has, by a substantial margin, the highest rate of all-cause deaths associated with amphetamine dependence.”
He noted the last NSW Health Drug and Alcohol Plan expired a decade ago and, in its absence, NSW has been “ill-prepared” to meet the challenges of drug usage. As such, its responses to the deaths by overdose have been “piecemeal and inadequate”.
“The current stance of our criminal law towards use and possession of drugs has failed to have any significant impact on the prevalence of illicit drug use in NSW,” he said.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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