Greens Drugs Policy: The Facts
The Greens' "Drugs, Substance Abuse and Addiction Policy" is designed to save lives and reduce crime. According to the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia, the Greens are the only party to have a comprehensive alcohol and other drugs policy in this election. Our policy echoes the opinions of medical and police experts in the field.
In an ideal world Australians, and in particular young Australians, would not endanger their health by taking illegal drugs. All the evidence shows, however, that some do, and that drug abuse is not going to go away. Tragically, hundreds of Australians die every year as a result of illegal drug use. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology in the decade to 2002, Australia averaged 638 deaths per year from opiate-based drugs.
The Greens believe that, in the face of this tragic loss of life, it's no longer good enough to put this issue on the backburner. Our society needs to start looking at better ways of approaching this problem. Our policy is an attempt to explore some alternative approaches, and to reduce the harm that illegal drug use causes to both drug users and our society at large.
So what is the Greens' policy on illegal drugs?
For starters, we propose that the personal use of drugs should not be a crime. Selling, trafficking and distributing drugs would still be a crime, just as now, but personal use would not be. This is based on the belief that punishing individual drug users actually does more harm than good. People use illegal drugs for complex reasons, and the widespread use of illegal drugs indicates that the criminal law is not acting as a deterrent.
The Greens want to help addicts get off drugs. But when personal drug use is a crime, it acts as a disincentive for addicts to seek the help that they need. The best way to help addicts get off drugs is to treat their addiction as a health problem, not a crime. Addicts need a helping hand - medical help, counselling, help with getting a job or dealing with their problems - but if they're scared of the police, they are less likely to seek the help that might just keep them alive.
Heroin is a particularly dangerous and addictive drug which has destroyed the lives of many Australians. The Greens believe that we need to look at special programs to help heroin addicts quit. Our policy supports pilot programs to see whether or not supplying heroin to registered addicts from special clinics would be an effective means of helping heroin addicts quit.
What would that mean in practice?
Well, the details would have to be worked out by health experts. But it might be something like this:
A doctor could certify that an individual is a heroin addict. With that certification, the addict could attend a special clinic, run by a government health department or hospital, where that addict would enter into a rehabilitation program. The program would involve counselling on how to quit heroin. As part of the program, the addict might be dispensed a measured dose of heroin, reducing over time as part of the rehabilitation process, or maybe changing to methadone at a later stage. At the end of the program, the addict would have quit heroin, and have been equipped with new information and skills to enable him or her to stay clean.
All the medical evidence shows that it is unrealistic to expect heroin addicts to be able to quit heroin easily. It is a powerfully addictive drug. When addicts buy heroin on the street, it is often cut with other substances that are very damaging to the addict's health. It is also possible that the addict could catch a disease, such as HIV or Hepatitis, by sharing needles. Dispensing the drug to certified addicts would help to keep addicts alive.
Such programs could also help to reduce crime. At present, heroin addicts often steal to fund their drug addiction. If they could enter into rehabilitation programs that included being provided with a controlled and reducing amount of the drug, they would not have the incentive to steal. Crime would be reduced.
Of course, heroin isn't the only harmful drug. Other drugs, such as amphetamines, damage the health of users and can cause death. Once again, our policy is to investigate options to reduce the harm they cause, including looking at whether or not making those drugs available under strictly controlled conditions, and in concert with health advice, would be an effective means of making them less harmful.
Of course it would be better if no-one took illegal drugs in the first place. The Greens strongly support education programs to make young Australians fully aware of the health dangers of illegal drugs. But for whatever reason, people do continue to use illegal drugs and we can't kid ourselves that it will stop any time soon. We have to recognise the sad reality of drug use, and do what we can to reduce the harm to all concerned - to save lives, reduce crime and help drug addicts quit.