Radical Changes To The Greens’ Drug Policies Could Lead To Legalisation Of Cannabis And More Pill Testing

Greens leader Richard Di Natale hopes changes to their drugs policy may reignite the decriminalisation debate and promote legalisation of recreational drugs like cannabis.

Reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the Greens have officially ditched its blanket opposition to the legalisation of illicit drugs from its policy platform.

Senator Di Natale, a former drug and alcohol doctor, said the global “war on drugs” simply hasn’t worked. He insists we need a dramatically different approach and says his party is ready to lead the way.

“I think it’s about time Australia had this conversation because it’s killing our kids,” he told Fairfax Media.

“It’s time to recognise this is a health problem, not a law and order one. We have to have an open, honest conversation about this and stop pretending we’re winning this war – we’re losing and losing fast.”

It's time to treat drug dependence like the health issue it is. Talking @Greens
new #drugs policy with @702sydney https://t.co/3aVfoNOMei

— Richard Di Natale (@RichardDiNatale) November 27, 2016

The Greens’ new policy platform reads, “the current punitive approach to drug use has failed to stop illicit drug use… education is a vital tool in reducing both harm from and demand for drugs, including legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.”

They want to set up an independent national regulatory body, who would be tasked with assessing drugs on a case-by-case basis. It would deliberate how harmful particular drugs are and consider ways of re-mediating those problems.

The process would likely legalise drugs such as cannabis, however, Senator Di Natale says harder drugs like ice and heroin would not be legalised under this model.

Other items on the agenda include: more pill testing, medically supervised injecting facilities and needle exchange programs in prisons.

“We have to recognise that locking up people who use drugs is totally counter-productive. What it does is it creates an environment where people who want to seek help don’t do it because they have to admit to doing an illegal activity,” Senator Di Natale said.

“It channels people through the criminal justice system when they should be seeing a doctor of a health professional.”

Photo: Facebook (@Australian.Greens)