ACT avoids ‘debate, stigma’ by keeping drug reform quiet

ACT Health Minister says the Labor-Greens government decided to keep their intentions to decriminalise drugs quiet to avoid stigmatising drug-users through a ‘contentious debate’.

ACT Health Minister Rachel ­Stephen-Smith says the Labor-Greens government decided to keep its push to decriminalise drugs quiet to avoid stigmatising drug-users through a “contentious debate”.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the Barr government chose not to widely publicise its plans to implement the most radical drug ­reform in the country to spare drug users from the “harmful ­impact”, following revelations in The Australian she had boasted to Labor supporters about how it had “quietly” decriminalised drugs through a private member’s bill.

The ACT will become the first jurisdiction to decriminalise possession of a small portion of illegal drugs such as ice, heroin and ­cocaine from October, after the Legislative Assembly passed legislation last year.

“We went to the election with it in our health platform, and the only point I was making was that …. we didn’t shout it from the rooftops because we know that having these contentious debates actually can create more stigma for people who use drugs, and have a really harmful impact,” Ms Stephen-Smith told ABC radio.

She said a private member’s bill was a common strategy to enact “evidence-based reform”, including legalising abortion at a federal level, which was introduced as a “joint private members’ bill between women across parties”.

Australian Federal Police ­Association president Alex Caruana accused the ACT government of being motivated by “politics and vote-winning”, expressing concerns at the effect the policy would have on support services. “This timing aligns with the upcoming ACT election, and we’ll see how the next 12 months plays out,” he said. “There is an element of politics and vote-winning to this, the same as the cannabis bill that was passed a few years ago.”

Australian Federal Police ­Association president Alex Caruana. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Mr Caruana was concerned at Ms Stephen-Smith’s comments, captured at a fringe event at the ALP national conference, that the reforms had to be passed through a private member’s bill to avoid the government dealing with “risk aversion and complexity”.

“To have a minister state that a government would have to deal with risk aversion and complexity is concerning, regarding the decriminalisation of illicit substances such as heroin, ice and MDMA,” he said. “This significant change goes against commonwealth legislation and impacts the ACT community, so the ACT government should be transparent on this topic. It should be willing to commit to much consultation, risk aversion and complexity.”

ACT opposition police spokesman and deputy leader Jeremy Hanson said the bill had been passed by “deliberate deception”, with the government introducing it as a private member’s bill so it could be “rushed through and avoid normal government process”. He also criticised the bill’s sponsor, Michael Pettersson, for selling tote bags with the slogan “totes for drug law reform”.

“The only reason Labor was quiet about their radical drug reform before the election was to hide it from the electorate,” he said. The sponsor of the bill even went as far as selling merchandise to promote the drug reform as a Labor fundraising opportunity.”