Drug law reform advocates have broadly endorsed New South Wales Labor's plan to introduce a pre-court diversion scheme for personal drug use, though many argue the proposed changes do not go nearly far enough.
The legislation, set to be introduced to parliament this week, would give adults caught carrying small amounts of illicit substances — including ice, cocaine and MDMA — the choice of paying a fine or engaging with health programs instead of facing criminal prosecution.
Under the scheme, police could issue up to two A$400 fines to adults found with small drug quantities consistent with a possession offence. Those fines would be waived upon completion of a "tailored drug and alcohol intervention".
Health minister Ryan Park described the proposals as a direct response to Professor Dan Howard's Special Commission of Inquiry into ice, which in 2020 called for the full decriminalisation of drug possession in the state, along with the introduction of pill testing at music festivals and an end to drug dog operations.
Greens MP and drug law reform spokesperson Cate Faehrmann warned that retaining police discretion in the new scheme would reproduce the same racial disparities seen in the existing Cannabis Cautioning Scheme.
"The Ice Inquiry Commissioner specifically recommended that police discretion be removed from the process," she said.
"This is because evidence from the existing Cannabis Cautioning Scheme shows that only one in 10 First Nations adults were diverted from court under the scheme, compared to more than one in four non-Aboriginal adults."
Faehrmann acknowledged the proposal as a "very small step" toward "ensuring drug use is treated as a health issue… rather than a criminal one," but maintained the changes are insufficient on their own.
"This new, expanded scheme must be matched with a scaling back of police operations which deliberately target individuals on the suspicion they may be carrying drugs for personal use," she said.
"This means scrapping sniffer dog operations at train stations, in pubs, clubs, on the streets and at music festivals.
"The Greens will continue to push for the removal of all penalties, including fines, for personal drug use and possession.
"We will continue to push the government to introduce a taxed and regulated market for cannabis, like many other jurisdictions around the world are doing, and to reform our unfair drug-driving laws that discriminate against people who use medicinal cannabis."
