UnitingCare Australia Position on Drug Policy

Background

UnitingCare Australia is committed to supporting public discussion of health, social and welfare policy that is driven by evidence. We represent a network of agencies that have providedaccessible, evidence based and effective care for marginalised peoplefor over 45 years, and this includesa number of alcohol and other drug treatment services. As such we recognise the capacity of drug policy to contribute to improvements in public health, social justice and wellbeing across Australian communities.

While Australians are right to be concerned about the impacts of alcohol and other drug use within our communities, it is important to note that most illicit drug use does not result in significant harm. Global data indicates that only 10% of people who have used illicit drugs experience dependent or otherwise problematic use (WHO, 2014). However, theharm experienced by the small proportion of people affected by dependent or other problematic use is acute and typically associated with a wide range of other factors affecting individuals, families and the wider community.

In Australia the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse has improved the general public’s understanding about the impact of early childhood trauma and the subsequent development of both mental health issues and drug and alcohol problems.Histories of trauma and/or sexual abuse, economic vulnerability and social marginalisation are commonly associated with substance use. They contribute to the mental health and complex array of related issues affecting people experiencing the highest levels of alcohol and other drug related harm.

UnitingCare Australia believes that health and social welfare services are ideally placed to reduce harm and support sustainable change for those within our communities affected by problematic use of illicit drugs. Evidence shows these services, rather than police and prisons, are better able to deal with their complex needs, better able to reduce immediate and long term harm, better able to support sustainable change, and represent a better economic investment by Australian taxpayers.

Current Drug Policy and options for reform

Australia has a longstanding national drug strategy based on the model of Harm Minimisation. This bipartisan policy is comprised of three pillars: Supply Reduction (e.g. legislation, customs and law enforcement – measures often collectively described as the ‘war on drugs’), Demand Reduction (e.g. treatment services) and Harm Reduction (e.g. Needle and Syringe Programs, Medically Supervised Injecting Centres).

There is abundant evidence for the ineffectiveness of law enforcement measures in preventing the production, supply and use of illicit drugs (McDonald, 2012[MJ1]). Treatment and harm reduction measures, by comparison,are more effective, more cost-effective and do not carry risk of increasing harm (Hughes, 2016; NIDA, 2012[MJ2]).

There is widespread recognition that the ‘war on drugs’, in practice, amounts to a war on people who use drugs. It does not reduce or stop those profiting from illicit markets (GCDP, 2011). Of the more than 400,000 Australians charged with drug related offences in 2014/15, 66% were charged only with personal possession or use, and this number is increasing (ABS, 2016). Yet national data indicates that overall levels of illicit drug use are relatively stable (AIHW, 2013).So theimpacts of increasing law enforcement measures in Australia and internationally are most strongly felt by some of the most disadvantaged people within our communities (UN Human Rights Council, 2015; GCDP, 2015).

Recent reviews of the allocation of Commonwealth funding within Australia’s Harm Minimisation model have highlighted the disproportionate funding for those measures which are the least effective. Specifically, law enforcement measures receiveover 70% of our national drug budgetand there is an ongoing paucity of funding for evidence based treatment (21%) harm reduction initiatives (2%) (Ritter, McLeod & Shanahan, 2013).

The 2015 National Ice Taskforce report highlighted longstanding concerns about the accessibility of specialist treatment and support services, particularly in rural and regional areas. It also drew attention to the need for increased availability of culturally appropriate services for Indigenous Australians and people from CALD communities.

In keeping with international policy developments, Australian Commonwealth and State Governments have made significant changes to cannabis policy, legalising authorised medicinal cannabis production and use. The recent national drug policy summit (hosted by the cross-party parliamentary drug policy group)recognised the need for policy makers to be guided by evidence and emphasised two key areas for reform:

  1. Moving the emphasis on Government drug policy funding from law enforcement to treatment and harm reduction programs; &
  2. Removing criminal penalties for possession and use of small quantities of illicit drugs.

UnitingCare Australia position on drug policy

As a first step, UnitingCare Australia calls for a commitment from Federal and State Governments to address the imbalance in drug policy funding. This means that treatment services and harm reduction services should receive an increased proportion of the overall drug policy budgetwithout requiring an overall increase in spending. This could ensure all Australian have access to the services they need within their communities.

In addition, UnitingCare Australiasupports:

  • Continued funding on supply reduction, but a re-focusing law enforcement resources and practice on disrupting drug trafficking, production and supply networks, rather than detecting individual use;
  • Expansion of UnitingMedically Supervised Injecting Centre model to other states and territories;
  • Funding of services to support families (such as FDS) and funding for organisations representing the affected community (such as AIVL)
  • Expansion of access to Needle and Syringe Programs, opioid replacement therapy, Hepatitis screening and treatment for Australians living in regional and remote areas;
  • Expansion of culturally appropriate services for Indigenous Australians and those from CALD communities;

Going forward, UnitingCare Australia recommends that future consideration be given toalternative policy measures, such as moving away from the dominant paradigm of criminality as a response to drug use.

UnitingCare Australia recognises that, in order to achieve full health, social and economic benefits associated with the above measures, they must be implemented as part of a comprehensive package of reform to address the social determinants of health and disadvantage.

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[MJ1]Could add Strang, Babor et al ‘drug policy and the public good: evidence for effective interventions’ Lancet Vol 379, 2012.

[MJ2]We may also be able to put links into text without listing references if that helps reduce word count and makes it easier to read?