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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

New Drug Laws in NT

tranquilo

tranquilo

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 1, 2000
Messages
1,077
Would like to draw everyones attention to the recently passed drugs laws up in the Northern Territory. If this has already been commented on then my apologies but a search came up zero.
This legislation is based upon a zero tolerence attitude with a bottom up approach to the eradication of both usage and supply; it therefore targets cannabis users and growers as its starting point. No doubt all you sophisticated city types will have a few 'country bumpkin' jokes but if successful (ie there is enough 'centre ground' political gain) these policies could find there way to a state government near you. And if you think that sniffer dogs in Sydney or property confiscation in WA are draconian then get a load of this:
Police can apply for a Drug Premises Order (DPO) if they believe or suspect that drugs are being supplied from a house. Belief or suspicion can be garnered not only from the usual sources (eg surveillance, warranted searches) but even from reports of 'high numbers of visitors to a premises'....so don't have too many friends dropping by.
Once a DPO has been issued then:
a 100 cm by 50 fluorescent green sign is placed in front of the house warning that "these premises are Drugs Premises under the misuse of drugs act"
This then authorises police to:
search the premises at any time and without a warrant
conduct an internal search of any persons on the premises
charge any person in the premise with possesion if substances are found anywhere on the premises
demand the name and address of any person within 200 metres of a DPO premise
This is in addition to new laws to confiscate property as in WA.
It all sounds too stupid to actually be either legal or effective but please think "thin end of the wedge".
I'd like to add that this raft of rather dubious legialation has been passed by a labour state government....if it appeals to voters other labour administrations (eg Bracks, Gallop) may well copy it.
But hopefully it will go the way of 'mandatory sentencing' and die a swift, ignominious death. I'm sure any Bluelighter support would be of great use and should be direct towards http://napnt.tripod.com
 
^ Thanks for the heads up Tranquilo - this sounds preposterous but I can see in my mind the kinds of people who would support this legislation, and they're not altogether rare...
BigTrancer :)
 
That is insane! The cops in perth (not sure about anywhere in NT) have so much more important things to worry about then some guy dealing to his mates.
On a seperate note: I have a friend (really), and we always go to his house for some reason. Ever since we finished school we have smoked, drunk and whatever there, but he is not a dealer. If he were to get in trouble becuase one of us had a a some weed on us, that would be quite severely fucked.
Incidentally, the speed cameras in WA are fucking ridiculous as well, so all the cops reading this, get your act together, you're the only thieves here.
 
This then authorises police to:
search the premises at any time and without a warrant
conduct an internal search of any persons on the premises
charge any person in the premise with possesion if substances are found anywhere on the premises
demand the name and address of any person within 200 metres of a DPO premise
bend any person over within 200 metres of the house
spank or pound the ass of said person
My lord this is rediculous
----------------------------
Barts dinner is getting all cold and eaten
Click to expand...
 
another way this further makes anythign possible for our lovely police is tht they can pull and search any they plz, just pull them ova neafr these housses, convienly located...
it's a shame, when they start trying toi control very aspect of ppl's lifes they invite a new breed of lawbreakers, turned and throuyghly pissed off ppl, take sum of the older wogs guys for instance, they do a lot of shit and dun't really care caught or not.
*tyoo early in the morning *goes baq to bed*
 
*i'll just keep bumping this until it makes 60 minutes and you all then get outraged*
 
That's ludicrous...
If they're gonna raid people's houses based on observing 'high numbers' of visitors coing & going, I think they're gonna waste a lot of time raiding houses pointlessly. But that's what I want to see ;)
Call me naive, but I didn't know that there was much of a drug problem in the NT? Also, I didn't think they had the man power in the police force to be concentrating on drugs like this... Or maybe that's why they're making these changes - it'll take less time & man power to catch dealers & users if the cops have more rights... /end thinking out loud.
:)
 
Well I'm fairly new up here but it seems from the folk I've spoken to up that smoking dope is somewhat widespread lets say, cutting across social and economic boundaries. Infact, you could say its acceptable...which obviously pisses all those lovely politicians off. The mechanics and logistics of such legislation are pretty inefficient and from what I read in the local propaganda sheet seem to be fairly ineffective so far.
Meanwhile, kids pissed up on alco pops wander the suburbs setting light to palm trees (honest)...can we start a campaign to ban vodka cruisers perhaps?
 
Tranquilo: You mean "the new deadly intoxicating date-rape Cruisers containing a potentially dangerous combination of organic chemicals"...?
BigTrancer :)
 
"al qaeda funded military-style semi-automatic dangerous deadly attack-dog vodka dance-drug cruisers..."
 
Once a DPO has been issued then:
a 100 cm by 50 fluorescent green sign is placed in front of the house warning that "these premises are Drugs Premises under the misuse of drugs act"
I found that quite hilarious actually, but yes overall the new drug laws in NT are simply rather stupid!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
Omg, 100cm neon signs? What do they expect to do, catch all the trippers that will come up and stare dumbfounded at them?
This is the most stupid proposal (or actual) law i've ever heard of...
 
Some further updates from the social experiment which is the NT. The following is from the guys at NAP.
NT Police Minister refuses pig head platter 22 August 2002
Activists from the Network Against Prohibition today presented NT Police Minister Syd Stirling with a platter containing 2 pigs heads. Other activists had pigs heads mounted on sticks. The action was taken to demonstrate against the pig-headed approach to policing being taken by the NT Government.
NAP activists are also angry that Stirling defaced an NAP petition at the Mayday rally earlier this year.
http://napnt.tripod.com/pages/Articles_6.htm#article1
Stirling, refusing the platter and faced by a supportive public and Channel 8 cameras retreated back into the Darwin Central Hotel, where he had just opened the NT Police Association Conference.
Has the NT become a Police State?
NAP, the Network Against Prohibition was formed in March 2002 as a result of community concern around the nature of policing in the NT. NAP is particularly concerned with the state of new drug laws, zero tolerance policing which is rampant in the NT and the level of control in governance of the NT by the police service.
Some examples that suggest that the NT is now a Police State?
* NT Police have been involved in drafting legislation to be passed by the NT Legislative Assembly.
The CLP's Public Order and Anti-Social Conduct Act (2001), since repealed by the ALP was virtually written by the NT Police with the assistance of the NT Department of Justice. Labor's "drug house" legislation and asset confiscation legislation were also drafted and altered by the NT Police Service.
Both pieces of legislation massively increased the powers of the NT Police.
http://napnt.tripod.com/pages/Articles_14.htm
Juvenile and illicit drug diversion initiatives, funded by the Federal Government to the tune of $5M have massively increased the powers of NT
Police Officers.
Drug users and young people lose their right to silence and the police officers decide on the penalty faced by the person. People must confess to participate in the program. Even after you confess, the police may choose to send you to court rather than participate in an "approved" progra. Many youth agencies and alcohol and drug agencies are now dependent on this program for funding, placing them under the auspices of the NT Police Service.
What else is going wrong?
* Police just received $900,000 for a new phone tapping system and $2,500,000 for 10 new drug squad officers.
* Per capita, the NT has more Police than any other State or Territory of Australia.
* NT Police are the highest paid in the country and they also receive subsidised rental accommodation from the NT Government.
* NT Police control the Government's Summary Prosecutions branch. This situation
is unique to the NT.
* NT Police are exempt from the NT Anti-discrimination Act.
* The Ombudsman has exonerated NT police for their brutal attack on peaceful protesters at the 1st Community Smoke-in in Raintree Park.
http://napnt.tripod.com/pages/Articles_1.htm#art1
Madness. HELP!!
[ 24 August 2002: Message edited by: tranquilo ]
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I'd actually be intrested in seeing a photo at one of those signs, because I still can't believe that the NT government would think of something so ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
It saddens me to read that such incredibly fascist laws could be past in this country. The idea that police are to be granted the power to erect a sign that not only allows them to impose upon a person’s property and search them, including internally but the very act of erecting the sign is to the owner/occupant of the house a public shaming. This disgrace is also achieved even if the occupant isn’t in fact dealing/using or in possession of drugs. The very fact that the police can flag such properties, purely based on their observation of ‘many visitors’ is to me a great concern, how I ask do they define this? Has there been a number associated to ‘many’? I hope this issue and it’s associated laws, as previously said ends up in the scrap heap.
 
The Network Against Prohibition activists are wondefully gutsy - coming out as a drug user activist takes a toll, and doing it publicly, radically, and in a small city, is much harder still.
One of the things that drug users around the country will be working on in coalition with NAP is International Drug Users' Day - November 1st. There will be demos in a number of cities, and probably an email campaign around issues of national importance.
get involved! http://groups.yahoo.com/melbournedrugusers is operating as a de facto organising list.
 
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