Police Criticise Move to Decriminalise Cocaine, Heroin, and Ice in Canberra

A police officer guards a haul of drugs that are on display at an Australian Federal Police office in Sydney, Australia on Dec. 29, 2016. AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

A decision by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government to decriminalise the use of illicit drugs, including heroin and ice, has sparked alarm from authorities.

From October 2023, heroin, meth, and cocaine will be decriminalised in the ACT, but authorities are warning the move could promote drug-fuelled culture in Australia’s capital territory.

Decriminalisation involves the removal of a criminal penalty for using or possessing small amounts of drugs. It differs from legalisation, where drugs are regulated and allowed to be sold and bought according to government rules.

Laws were passed in the Territory’s Parliament in December 2022 after the ACT’s Labor-Greens majority government introduced the legislation, making the ACT the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise small amounts of illicit drugs.

Under the new laws, people caught with 1.5 grams of cocaine, meth or MDMA, or one gram of heroin, will be slapped with just a $100 fine.

Former Liberal Party Vice President Teena McQueen said the “dangerous and ”shocking” move was hazardous for young people and teenagers in ACT, while National Drug Research Institute Dr. Nicole Lee said the move transformed drug use from a criminal issue to a health one.

“The drugs are being decriminalised, so they’re still illegal, and they still attract a penalty, but it’s not a criminal penalty, so they won’t get jail time,” Dr. Lee said.

She said there was no academic evidence to show that decriminalisation would lead to a “honey pot effect.”

Police Concerned About Decriminalisation

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) were concerned about the practical realities of the impacts of this decriminalisation model on the community.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan said he was worried the changes would lure recreational drug users into Canberra and increase drug-related deaths.

“It would be naive not to think people won’t come down, even for a weekend, to get on the coke and not worry about the cops,” Mr. Gaughan said.

“Meth is highly addictive, so the worry is people will go on four or five-day meth benders, go out and drive and kill someone.

“Last year, we had 18 people die, a 300 percent increase on the rolling average, and most of those people had meth or cannabis in their system.”

AFP Commissioner Neil Gaughan speaks to the media in Canberra, Australia, on Jun. 6, 2019. Photo by Getty Images

When asked about the risks of decriminalising drugs and its impact on frontline workers, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said, “It would be a far more dangerous environment to police. It would become a more dangerous society, and it wouldn’t be as safe as we enjoy today. For me, it would lead to chaos.”

“Of course, we’re always open to different strategies, but so far, the evidence is not stacking up that decriminalisation necessarily leads to less crime,” Mr. Kershaw said.

The AFP unsuccessfully sought to exclude methamphetamine (‘ice’) from the legislation.

“Methamphetamine, in our view, is the most dangerous drug in the community. We see it as a violent drug. We very rarely come across people affected by ice who aren’t involved in some other sort of criminality,” Mr. Gaughan said.

“I’m worried we’re almost enabling addiction and the criminality that’s often behind that.”

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw speaks to the media in Sydney, Australia, on June 08, 2021. Mark Evans/Getty Images

The AFPA called for legislative amendments to empower police to immediately suspend the licences of drivers suspected of being drug impaired until the results of a drug test are known and to limit the circumstances where bail is allowed for drug-affected people charged with serious offences.

However, AFPA also raised concerns that reliable and affordable technology to rapidly test road users for the presence of some of the decriminalised drugs doesn’t currently exist as of December 2022.

Opposition Says Changes Will Create Crime Gateway

Meanwhile, ACT Liberal Party deputy leader Jeremy Hanson criticised the decision.

“It’s not going to change the number of people going into the criminal justice system, and it’s not going to fix the problem that we have now, which is not enough people being able to access treatment. It’s going to lead to more crime—it’s going to lead to more carnage on our roads,” Mr. Hanson said.

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government was able to make the change quickly through a private members bill.

“If the government had tried to do it, it would have taken two years to develop the legislation,” Ms. Stephen-Smith said.

“We cannot hold everything up to make it perfect. We have to give it a go, we have to build an evidence base, and then we have to take the next step,” she said.

However, premiers in other Australian states, such as New South Wales (NSW) said they would not follow ACT’s decision.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said NSW would not follow the decriminalisation model and that the consequences of introducing one were, he believed, severe.