Jails are filling up with drug offenders but the government could reap $1 billion

Drugs are increasingly the reason people are being locked up behind bars in Queensland, as politicians continue to resist calls to declare a ceasefire in the war on drugs.

At the end of 2013, 6 per cent of Queensland prisoners had an illicit drug offence as their most serious charge, according to state government open data.

More than one in 10 Australians admit to having used cannabis in the past year.Credit: iStock

That doubled to 12 per cent at the end of last year.

But despite a landmark independent report recommending decriminalisation, the urging of grassroots party members and a surging prison population, the Palaszczuk government has resisted arguments to legalise cannabis or MDMA.

Meanwhile, amid resistance to widespread decriminalisation by governments, the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the psychedelic substances in magic mushrooms and MDMA for use by people with certain mental health conditions.

And medicinal cannabis was made legal in 2016, with Queensland accounting for more than half the prescriptions.

Greens MP Michael Berkman said the war on drugs had failed.

“At this point, drugs are winning,” he said. “We shouldn’t be locking anyone up for drug use or addiction.

“Labor has been in power for all but three of the last 20 years, during which time the proportion of people in prison for drug offences has doubled.”

Berkman called for state funding for pill-testing facilities, anti-overdose drugs such as naloxone, opioid substitution therapy and rehabilitation services.

“It’s high time (the state government) listened to the Queensland Productivity Commission’s recommendation to legalise lower-harm drugs like cannabis and MDMA, and reinvested funds into harm reduction and drug support services,” he said.

A Queensland Productivity Commission report in 2020 found a drug crackdown had caused prison overcrowding, while failing to stop people using or supplying.

The Productivity Commission recommended decriminalising and legalising the use of cannabis and MDMA, and removing jail as a sentencing option for the use or possession of higher harm drugs.

Fully legalising and regulating the supply of cannabis and MDMA could deliver $1.2 billion in benefits, the Commission said, and move about $4 billion out of illegal markets, significantly curtailing criminal activity.

But those suggestions were rejected by both Labor and the LNP.

Grassroots Labor members more recently urged the party’s MPs to legalise the possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use - with the push included in the latest state policy platform - but the state government said it had no intention of acting on any of the suggested reforms at this stage.

Despite the prohibitions, the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed 43 per cent of people aged 14 and older had illicitly used a drug in their life.

Cannabis was the most commonly used illicit drug in 2019, with 11.6 per cent of Australians using it in the previous 12 months.