‘No magic solution’: Premier Minns hints that drug decriminalisation is not the answer

The NSW Drug Summit has heard of Oregon’s failed decriminalisation experiment amid expert calls for decriminalisation in the state.

NSW Premier Chris Minns during the opening remarks of the NSW Drug Summit on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

NSW Premier Chris Minns says there is “no magic solution” to drug abuse as an eagerly awaited but contentious summit heard a US mayor warn that his city’s experiment with decriminalisation had ended in a “free for all” for drug dealers.

Opening the penultimate day of the landmark but delayed NSW Drug Summit, Mr Minns – who has previously ruled out enacting decriminalisation before an election – said the issue required a bipartisan approach to find “genuine answers”.

“Drugs exist and will continue to exist after this summit has wrapped up,” he told Sydney’s Convention & Exhibition Centre on Wednesday.

“Our goal must be reducing the number of Australians whose lives have been destroyed or diminished ... (and) a recognition that society has not got there yet and more needs to be done.”

Conceding that the summit would not be a “culmination” of any future state drug policy, Mr Minns said it was a “significant movement”.

The Premier has been lukewarm on possible decriminalisation of certain low-level drugs, despite left-faction ministers Jo Haylen and Rose Jackson being vocal reform advocates.

Mr Minns has previously been criticised by advocates for delays in setting a summit date and a perceived disinterest in it, with many believing that prosecution of low-level use had failed to act as a deterrent.

On Wednesday, Portland mayor Ted Wheeler told of the challenges with his US state Oregon’s “experiment with decrim­in­alisation”, saying it over­whelmed emergency services, resulted in a spike of overdose deaths and led to dealers acting with impunity.

“The public ... started to see drug dealers congregating in front of libraries, schools, parks and grocery stores, and it really outraged people,” he said via an audiovisual link from the US.

“That’s not what they signed up for. They signed up for a rational system that balanced the carrot with the stick.”

A person lies on the street in the Old Town Chinatown neighbourhood following the decriminalisation of all drugs in downtown Portland, Oregon. Picture: AFP

Mr Wheeler said Oregon’s decision to decriminalise drug possession without adequate rehabilitation services led to a “free for all” for drug dealers and users, resulting in the “worst of both worlds”.

In 2020, Oregon became the first US state to decriminalise possessing small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs. The policy was reversed this year after public outcry over a rise in homelessness and overdose deaths.