Doctors and lawyers are calling for people who use drugs to be given a health care appointment instead of a court date.
A mayor with a front-row seat to the most liberal drug decriminalization policies in the US will join experts and legal figures at a forum to consider how drug use and its related harms will be managed.
Representatives from almost 300 organizations and dozens of politicians will be attending the Sydney leg of the NSW Drug Summit on Wednesday.
Jennifer Martin, president of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, said decriminalizing drugs would require taxpayers to provide more treatment services, including addressing the trauma that drives some people to use drugs.
She said reducing the stigma around use would make it easier for people in need of treatment to seek help and get involved with prisons and criminal elements.
“There is no one silver bullet that will solve the problem… a health-oriented approach requires a comprehensive understanding of interconnected problems,” Professor Martin said.
Reform advocates have urged NSW to decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use and wanted more spending on rehabilitation services.
Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, is expected to outline his city’s serious problems arising from the decriminalization of drugs.
Drug addicts are pictured skyrocketing in Melbourne. They do it without caring who walks past
Drug dealers ply their dirty trade on the streets of Melbourne
The mayor said addiction and overdose rates in Portland skyrocketed after possession for personal use was decriminalized in 2020.
Instead of being sent to court or jail, people caught with a small amount of illegal drugs were fined up to $100.
The state reversed course in April when Portland became notorious for public places overrun by often unstable drug users.
“Decriminalizing drug use before you actually had treatment services in place was clearly a big mistake,” Wheeler told the New York Times at the time.
The summit is also expected to discuss holistic approaches to rehabilitation, including catering for families.
“There are clearly large numbers of children in NSW affected by parental drug use,” the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies said in a submission to the summit.
‘However, there are very few services that can provide support for the whole family, and even fewer residential rehabilitation and withdrawal management services that allow parents to take their children with them.’
Input is also expected from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, public authorities, people with experience of drug use and those involved in the 1999 drug summit.
Drug addicted people sit on the sidewalk outside a busy supermarket
The drug trade takes place in broad daylight in and around the city of Melbourne
Data published by the summit suggested the number of people passed through the justice system for drug use and drug possession incidents in NSW was declining – to around 22,800 in 2023.
About half were for cannabis, although one in three of these users were diverted.
Brett McGrath, president of the Law Society of NSW, said cannabis warnings and diversions were a positive step towards a health-based approach to drug reform, and he supported further investment in rehabilitation services.
“Investments in rehabilitation services, particularly in regional, rural and remote areas of NSW, together with criminal justice reform, will help improve community safety and relieve pressure on police and the courts,” he said.
The association also supports the re-establishment of a youth drug and alcohol court and the expansion to the existing children’s court of the Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment programme, both products of the previous drugs summit.