Article: An assessment of illicit drug policy in Australia (1985-2010)

[Conscious21]

Hi guys,

I came across this National Drug and Alcohol Research Council article today. It's a bit academic and quite long, but I was encouraged by the analysis they did of what proportion of Australia's drug policy money goes to each sector (prevention, harm minimisation, law enforcement and treatment, starting on p33). It's another government voice starting to realise that maybe drug law/policy reform is needed.

The full article is here: http://www.dpmp.unsw.edu.au/DPMPWeb.nsf/resources/monograph1.pdf/$file/DPMP+MONO+21.pdf

This bit is copied from the conclusion for those who are interested:

After ‘leading the way’ for some decades as advocates for harm minimisation, it appears that Australia is now standing still on the international stage. Champions of drug policy reform are now appearing internationally and although Australian research continues to make a significant contribution to these discussions, where we were once at the forefront of policy innovation we are now falling behind (Penington, 2010). This can be seen across a number of drug policy domains including decriminalisation of drug use/possession, heroin maintenance, provision of peer-administered naloxone, supervised injecting facilities, better prison-based treatments and needle syringe program coverage.

It has been suggested that there is a need to mobilise both sides of Australian politics to recognise that realism on alcohol and other drugs is essential, and that while drug use remains ‘criminalised’ current policies are unlikely to be able to fully address the spectrum of drug-related harm (Penington, 2010). The challenge remains to think through models by which illicit drugs could be regulated if we step away from a zero tolerance prohibition model. Perhaps, as Boyum and Reuter (2005) suggest, the burden of proof should be also placed on those who advocate for the status quo, rather than solely upon those who advocate for reform.

 

[MilliVanilli]

Gazed over some of it, looks like quite a comprehensive report. Will definitely be giving it a read. Thanks for sharing!

 

[herm1t]

Thanks for linking this, will read in full soon.