‘Watered down drug laws’: Small-time users avoid court with fines, phone counselling under new NSW laws

Under new two-strike laws enacted in February, the Minns government will allow illicit drug users caught with small amounts of drugs to escape the court system or any penalty by opting to listen to a health professional on the phone for an hour.

The Minns government has been accused of “watering down drug laws” by allowing people caught with up to a gram of cocaine, heroin and ice to escape criminal sanctions if they choose to “have a phone call with a health professional” or pay a $400 fine.

The lenient approach under the Early Drug Diversion Initiative, where health professionals from St Vincent’s Hospital counsel users on the phone for free, came into effect on February 29 with no fanfare by the Minns government.

The last public announcement about the laws was late last year when they passed parliament, with The Daily Telegraph revealing in January the date the laws would take effect.

In October, Attorney-General Michael Daley declared the new scheme would impose $400 fines for “possession of small quantities of drugs and for personal use, with the fine to be considered paid if the person completes a tailored alcohol and drug health intervention”.

Unconscious drug addict hands lying on grungy concrete floor with pills, syringe, cooked heroine. Dangers of drug addict and abuse concept. International Day against Drug Abuse.

However, the government made no mention of ice or heroin being covered by the scheme in the October announcement and it is now revealed the “tailored intervention” consists of a 60 minute phone call with a health professional, allowing users to avoid paying the fine, even on the second strike.

The government’s fact sheet on how the scheme works says “once a fine has been resolved by payment or completion of the health intervention, it will not appear on your criminal record”.

Drug users caught for the third time are not eligible for the scheme, nor is anyone convicted of serious drug crimes.

The Minns Government's Fact Sheet about the drug law changes tells illicit drug users they can choose to have a phone call with a health professional instead of paying a fine or going to court.

Senior police sources told The Daily Telegraph “this has the potential to be incredibly destructive for the community. We are on the road to totally decriminalising drugs.”

“How this can be seen as harm minimisation is beyond me, it’s just saying drugs are OK,” a source said.

“All the drug dealers out there will think this legislation is Christmas ... they will see it as increasing their market.”

One Nation MP Tania Mihailuk is concerned about any moves to decriminalise hard drugs without families, schools and communities having a say in the debate. Picture: Tim Hunter

One Nation MP Tania Mihailuk said Premier Chris Minns did not have “a mandate to water down our drug laws”.

“People rightly expect there to be consequences to both supplying and taking illicit drugs,” she said.

A spokesman for Mr Minns (below) said the government issued media statements when introducing the bill and after it passed parliament.

“Tania Mihailuk did not oppose the bill last year nor did she speak against it when it was debated in parliament,” he said. “It is still an offence to possess and use illicit drugs, and NSW Police retain the power to lay charges.”

Director of the Dalgarno Institute (Coalition Of Alcohol And Drug Educators) Shane Varcoe said “the ‘fining, catch and release’ mode unfortunately lends itself to … the idea of greater normalisation.”

“While the well-worn cliche – ‘we can’t arrest our way out of the drug problem’ may be true in a culture of shifting ‘unhealthy’ values, be rest assured we will not ‘treat our way out’ of it either.

Under the changes, ice possession under 1 gram will not mean automatic criminal sanctions for people who do not already have a serious conviction under a two strike rule

“Does the legislation reduce, remediate and/or facilitate recovery from substance use, or does it enable, equip and or endorse ongoing drug use?”

Greens spokeswoman for drug law reform Cate Faehrmann said at the time of the changes they were a “small step” to reduce drug harm but “it was a pity we are not seeing more ambitious reform”.

Eimear Lucey (left) and Ella McCoy. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Northbridge student Ella McCoy, 18, said it was a “smart idea” as drug possession in party scenes can be “common”.

“The current system seems like a very time consuming and difficult process for how little of a crime it is, it’s such a small amount of drugs and people sometimes just do it as a one off thing,” she said.

Eimear Lucey, 18, from Hunters Hill said the changes allowed people to learn from their mistakes rather than enforcing “harsh punishments”.

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