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Australia - Why the New South Wales proposal to 'depenalise' drug possession has prompted such a vicious backlash

S.J.B.

S.J.B.

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Why the NSW proposal to 'depenalise' drug possession has prompted such a vicious backlash
Michael McGowan
The Guardian
December 4th, 2020
The New South Wales government is considering a proposal to dramatically decrease penalties for illicit drug possession in the state.

The policy, which is currently before cabinet, has been widely welcomed by health experts, drug policy reform groups and parents of young people who have died as a result of drug overdoses at music festivals.

But just days after it was first reported, the policy is facing a vicious backlash from members of the government’s conservative wing, as well as tabloid media and talkback radio.

...

Under the proposal before cabinet, a person caught with a small quantity of an illicit drug could be issued a warning, rather than a criminal charge. If the same person was caught a second or third time in the same 12-month period, they would be fined.

Only if the person was caught a fourth time in the same period would they be charged with an offence.
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Read the full story here.
 
Looks like it's tough to be a drug-policy reformer in Australia.
 
I don’t think the Liberal Party knows their constituency as well as they think they do. I’ve voted Liberal my whole life and even worked in NSW and Federal parliaments for Liberal ministers for a few years. But the experience of having my teenage son put through the court system for a single pill of a Schedule 8 pharmaceutical he didn’t have a script for really pissed me off. It costs thousands to get him off the charge on mental health grounds and in the process I came across lots of other middle class conservative parents who were in despair at their kids being criminalised over trifling amounts of drugs. Nothing to do with my own enthusiasms for drugs, for the way my kid was dealt with and nearly had his life ruined I’d never vote Liberal again.
 
Given how "pro-choice" most Australians are, I am flabberghasted at the opposition to such a fucking commonsense approach to drug policy.

If you want my personal opinion there should be no such thing as an illegal drug.
 
Why is Australia so hard on drugs and users? What cultural phenomenon causes this? I don't get it.

Like I always understood why Yanks had a problem with it.,...but even they've gone soft lately. Never understood Australians. Is it the same cultural reasons as the Yanks?
 
SunriseChampion said:
Why is Australia so hard on drugs and users? What cultural phenomenon causes this? I don't get it.

Like I always understood why Yanks had a problem with it.,...but even they've gone soft lately. Never understood Australians. Is it the same cultural reasons as the Yanks?
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My understanding is that the yanks basically strongarmed the whole world into being hard on drugs through the UN and other international organisations and treaties.
 
SunriseChampion said:
Never understood Australians. Is it the same cultural reasons as the Yanks?
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Because we mostly descended from the British. The UK is the only real part of the world that has the same culture regarding drugs and drug use. In fact, the UK is probably worse than Australia in that regard.
 
Atelier3 said:
My understanding is that the yanks basically strongarmed the whole world into being hard on drugs through the UN and other international organisations and treaties.
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Yeah, but those proscriptions have been applied to varying degrees. For example, Portugal. Uruguay and Canada with weed. Safe injection sites here and in Europe. Etc.

Flynnal said:
Because we mostly descended from the British. The UK is the only real part of the world that has the same culture regarding drugs and drug use. In fact, the UK is probably worse than Australia in that regard.
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We mostly descended from the British as well.....and before you start thinking that the heavy French presence here has anything to do with our more lax views, don't be so sure. Quebecois culture was until very recently much more conservative than French culture because of its isolation from France and social developments there after the British took the whole place.

Yeah, I guess you're right eh....the UK is pretty insanely draconian when it comes to drugs laws and enforcement.

But, for example, what explains the difference in attitude between Aussies and Kiwis?
 
Conservatives know they are outmoded, and are going one funeral at a time.
 
modocmodoc said:
Conservatives know they are outmoded, and are going one funeral at a time.
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I wish it were so. But those who claim they are progressive are really just wolves that look like sheep.

At least those who claim they are conservative are being honest.

One should never confuse "progressive" with new "modern" government styles. They are more modern for sure, with better surveillance. They'll fuck anyone they want to harder than a nun from the lost Covenant if they really want to.

One thing to look at is the recent upgrade with cannabis in the UK - it went from a "bad" drug to a "really bad" drug. Progressive? Yep, if you consider the more "modern" government to be progressive. I don't.

Aside from abortion rights (or the clarification thereof at least here in Australia), there really truly honestly isn't anything new on the table. And even then, all that's happened is clarification, it's already been effectively legal (as in not actively prosecuted under the law) for like decades.

Progressives need to try harder, and if they can't they need to suck rotten eggs.
 
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