Nobody’s
Children Inquiry
Submission of Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform
to the Inquiry into the Early Intervention and Care of
Vulnerable Infants in the Act
by the Standing Committee on Health and Disability of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory
"Politicians have the capacity to set policy which prescribes measures
that servants of government implement. At the very least, this engages the responsibility of politicians to give open minded consideration to a
serious possibility that a policy that is within their capacity to change actually harms."
An
open letter to the Prime Minister seeking evidence based drug policies.
Dear Prime Minister,
A number of days ago you said that you were preparing to make an
announcement on illicit drugs. You have also said that you are determined
to tackle homelessness, mental health, education, child protection, and
other social problems and that you would bring evidence to bear in
policies of your government.
Evidence shows that drugs are a potent factor in a high percentage of
all these social problems. No substantial headway in removing the social
problems that you have so clearly identified will ever be made unless drug
policy is seriously examined. Priority must be given to improving
functionality of people with drug problems. But should not necessarily be
making them drug free nor attempting to rid Australia of all drugs.
It is these latter issues that has formed the core of thinking about
and the implementation of Australia’s drug policy.
The outcome of that policy has been somewhat different from that which
was expected.........more
Submission
of Families and Friends for Drug Law
Reform to the inquiry of the House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Family
and Human Services into the impact of illicit drug use on families.
Families and Friends for Drug Law
Reform. believes that the starting point of the Committee’s inquiry
should be acknowledgment of the moral compass that it intends to use in
guiding its deliberations. We urge the committee to take to itself two
principles:
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That the overriding
objective should be to safeguard life and promote the physical and
mental well-being and social functionality of all; and
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That in seeking to forward
this objective they should be open to truth.
Legislative
Assembly Standing Committee on Health and Disability – Inquiry into the
use of crystal methamphetamine read the submission here and read the supplementary
submission here.
In examining the question of methamphetamine use it is necessary to take a
broad historical perspective and to examine objectively the circumstances
that has lead the ACT, and Australia, to the point where it is now asking
how did we arrive at this point.
It
is not possible to examine crystal methamphetamine in isolation. The use
of that drug has come by way of changing trends in drug use, changing
preferences or fashions, availability and marketing of the drug, perhaps
coupled with reduced availability of another preferred drug, and the ease
with which the drug can be manufactured in or smuggled into the country.
While
the Committee’s terms of reference relate only to crystal
methamphetamine, the use of that drug is currently fashionable and at some
point in time will fall out of fashion and be replaced by another drug.
Thus the Committee should in its recommendations adopt a broad approach
and be forward looking, else the problems currently being experienced with
crystal methamphetamine will simply transfer to the next most fashionable
drug. And it is entirely possible that the next most fashionable drug
will be more concentrated and bring with it a whole new set of problems,
including as with methamphetamines an unpreparedness of suitable
responses.
The
supplementary submission
corrects some errors in the charts included in that submission, takes
account of information that has become available since or addresses issues
that have assumed prominence, such as the banning of ice pipes.
FFDLR views on
Australia’s mutual assistance arrangements
FFDLR's submission finds serious deficiencies in the arrangements and
recomends:
The Mutual Assistance Act needs to be amended to broaden
the scope of assistance to which the safeguards of the Act apply. In
particular, Australia should not provide assistance where a person may be
convicted for an offence carrying the death penalty unless the requesting
State gives an undertaking that the death penalty will not be imposed or
if imposed will not be carried out:
1. In civil law countries where evidence is
being gathered or may be provided that could result in the death penalty.
2. Where assistance may be provided on an
officer level or any other level, irrespective of whether a request is or
is not made.
Submission
to the Parliamentary Joint Committee Review on the Australian Crime
Commission Act 2002. In
its review of the Australian Crime
Commission Act
Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform asks that the Committee consider
the seven recommendations the group made in its submission
dated 14 April 2005 on the 2003-2004
annual report of the Australian Crime Commission. In
the present submission Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform makes just
one further recommendation. It is that:
The Australian Crime Commission should apply drug market indicators
in performance criteria that assess the effectiveness of law enforcement
in reducing the supply of illicit drugs to the Australian community.
Inquiry
of the Senate Legal
and Constitutional Affairs
Committee into the provisions of the Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Serious
Drug Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2005. This submission
focuses on those aspects of the Bill that deal with drugs and in
particular with those affecting drug users.
The Bill is misnamed. It is far from confined to serious drug offences by
large scale suppliers. It is a radical extension of Commonwealth
legislative authority into the criminal law of drugs with potential
application to every drug user in the country. Moreover, it does this in a
heavy handed way. Actions that in plain language would not be regarded as
‘serious crimes’ will be labelled as serious drug offences to which
draconian penalties will apply.
Submission
of Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform to the inquiry of the senate
select committee on mental health into the provision of mental health
services in Australia
Families
and Friends for Drug Law Reform has just one plea to make to the
Committee. That is for it to recognise that the response in Australia to
illicit drugs contributes to the worsening crisis in mental health far
beyond the adverse effects of the drugs themselves. In particular, we call
on the Committee to reject the current disempowering mindset that insists
first and foremost that people should overcome their addiction before
addressing other problems in their life.
Submission
to the enquiry of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian
Crime Commission. FFDLR made 7 recommendation to the PJC.
Inquiry of The Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Mental Health Council of
Australia into the human rights of people affected by mental illness
including the need for better mental health care.
Tougher Drug Laws make
Serious Criminals of Our kids
Draft legislation is being presented to
legislatures across Australia to implement uniform "model" drug
laws. The proposal is deceptive. It is labeled as a criminal code on
"serious drug offences". In fact it extends to much of the
ordinary conduct of drug users. The Bill transforms minor players in the
drug trade and users into "serious criminals".
Before the 2004 election, the Senate Legal and Constitutional
Legislation Committee rejected a Government proposal to amend the Disability
Discrimination Amendment Bill 2003 that would have removed
protection against discrimination of those addicted to illicit drugs. The
report is here.
Nearly all the 118 submissions made to the Senate inquiry objected to this
proposal. The submission list is here.
FFDLR's submission pointed out that the legislation would further
entrench the stigmatisation and marginalisation of those suffering from
addiction to certain drugs but not others and that the legitimate
interests of employers and other was already protected by the legislation
as it stood. It was revealed during the Senate inquiry that the Government
had not even consulted its own drug advisory body, the Australian
National Council on Drugs. It is possible that the Government will
resubmit the legislation during the new Parliament. The submissions by FFDLR
and its members, Mr A Benson and Ms
B Barnard are, therefore, still relevant.
Commentary of Families and
Friends for Drug Law Reform on the Issues Paper: Restorative Justice for
the ACT
Inquiry into support services for
families of people in custody by the
Standing Committee on Community Services and Social Equity
of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory
Sentencing Review - Families and
Friends for Drug Law Reform’s response to the ACT Government's Issues
Paper which called for comment
Inquiry into Crime in the
Community: Victims, Offenders, and Fear of crime by the House of
Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.
This submission addresses the relationship between illicit drugs and those
crimes that closely affect the community.
Submission to inquiry into the Australian
Crime Commission Establishment Bill 2002
Submission
to Inquiry into Substance Abuse in Australian Communities by the House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs
Submission to the ACT Standing Committee on Health and Community Care inquiry
into cannabis use.
Enquiry of the Justice
and Community Safety Committee into Prisons in the A.C.T.
Prisoner
Welfare - Principles for
the operation of a prison in the Australian Capital Territory
Submission
on ACT Education
Policy
Submission on WA
Community Drug Summit