‘Worst of both worlds’: The US city with a warning for Sydney about drugs

Wholesale decriminalisation of drug possession in the US state of Oregon overwhelmed emergency services and led to high-level dealers acting with impunity, the NSW government has been warned, as starkly different versions of drug reform clashed at a long-promised drug summit in Sydney.

Addressing the conference remotely, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler warned on Wednesday that Oregon’s decision to decriminalise drug possession without adequate rehabilitation services in place led to a “free for all” for drug dealers and users, resulting in the “worst of both worlds”.

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler addresses the first day of the NSW drug summit. Credit: AAP/Bianca De Marchi

“The public ... started to see drug dealers congregated in front of their libraries, their schools and their parks, in front of their grocery stores, and it really outraged people,” he said. “That’s not what they signed up for. They signed up for a rational system that balanced the carrot with the stick.”

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

Wheeler said the aim of decriminalising drug possession was to “de-emphasise law enforcement and elevate treatment”, but the change in fact put more pressure on police and emergency services dealing with low-level criminality and a “rapid and sharp spike” in overdose deaths.

Wheeler told the summit that decriminalisation had failed in his state because lawmakers had not properly funded and supported treatment services before relaxing laws.

“In retrospect, it looks so obvious,” he said. “What’s the point of even trying to incentivise people into detox or into sobering services if they don’t exist?”

The decision to invite Wheeler to speak at the conference angered some attendees who saw it as an effort by the government to head off calls for decriminalisation. But it also centred much of the public debate at the event on the issue, with summit co-chair John Brogden conceding it was “very clear that the summit will want the government to decriminalise drugs”.

Speaking to media on Wednesday afternoon, Health Minister Ryan Park reiterated Labor’s opposition to decriminalisation, saying the government had “made a decision at this stage that we won’t be going down that path”.

Graffiti in downtown Portland. Wheeler told the summit that decriminalisation had failed in his state of Oregon. Credit: NYT

The decision to rule out that change before the long-awaited summit has angered many attendees. Emma Maiden, the head of advocacy at Uniting, pointed out Premier Chris Minns had urged delegates to engage in “good faith” in his opening address.

“We are concerned to have the minister and the co-chairs stand outside the room and rule out some of the big reforms that there is a huge consensus for [at the summit],” she said.

Earlier, Harm Reduction Australia chief executive Annie Madden, a long-time advocate for drug law reform who spoke as a drug user at the 1999 summit, addressed Wheeler’s presence, saying there was “no one way” to do drug decriminalisation.

“Like anything, [decriminalisation] can be done well, and it can be done poorly,” Madden said in her address. “It is only reasonable that we give decriminalisation a proper chance to do what decades of prohibition has failed to do.”

Madden also called for a strong recommendation to bring in pill testing, and an end to police strip-searches.

“We simply cannot go through another summer festival season without access to pill testing,” she said.

The summit opened with Minns, who has previously ruled out enacting decriminalisation before an election, warning attendees they would not agree with every speaker. He pushed those present to find “points where we agree” to find “workable” policies.

“Nothing worthwhile ever comes out of an echo chamber,” Minns said. “Not everyone is going to agree on every point demonstrated or represented at the summit, and that’s OK.”

Among the summit’s attendees were Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Housing Minister Rose Jackson, two vocal advocates in the cabinet for drug law reform. Other ministers, including Arts and Roads Minister John Graham and Attorney-General Michael Daley, were also present.

The summit resumes in Sydney on Thursday, the fourth and final day of meetings before its co-conveners – Brogden and Carmel Tebbutt – begin compiling their report.

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