2018-03-27
The Victorian Greens have welcomed several recommendations from the inquiry into Drug Law Reform in Victoria that support the party’s long-held commitment to treat drug use as a health matter, but believe several measures do not go far enough - especially concerning voluntary pill testing for the general public.
Several of the report’s recommendations reflect long held Greens policies focused on harm minimisation including:
A review of the harms and benefits of sniffer dogs at events, real-time warnings to alert people to illicit drugs of particular concern and a focus on rehabilitation rather than criminal charges for personal use.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens spokesperson for Health, Nina Springle.
“The tough-on-drugs stance has proven to be completely ineffective in reducing incidents of overdose and addiction, now is the time for an alternative approach.
“It’s extremely frustrating to see the Andrews Government consistently resist the Greens’ plan for pill testing at festivals that would see people voluntarily choosing to test drugs. We will not see a decline in overdoses until we put harm minimisation measures like this into action.
“How many more people need to overdose before the Labor Government understands the current approach is not working?”
The Victorian Greens have a bill before Parliament that would exempt medical and forensic experts from criminal charges to conduct lab-grade pill testing at major events.
Under the Greens’ proposed laws, people getting their drugs tests would also be exempt from criminal charges, and experts conducting the pill testing would be required to provide all data to Victoria Police and the Department of Health and Human Services for the purposes of harm minimisation.