‘Demonstrate leadership': Labor under pressure to respond to drug summit
The Minns government is being urged to move faster on overhauling drug policy in NSW, with MPs from across the political spectrum backing cannabis law reform and peak welfare groups calling for Labor to implement recommendations from the NSW 2024 Drug Summit.
After last week's budget failed to include funding aimed at addressing the 56 recommendations from the summit, a coalition of peak services including NCOSS and the Wayside Chapel have urged Labor to 'demonstrate leadership' and push ahead with drug reform.
'The families and communities impacted by this issue across NSW have waited too long for change,' the joint statement, which was also signed by Uniting, the Salvation Army, Wesley Mission and the St Vincent de Paul Society read.
'We see the ongoing impact that stigma has on people who use drugs and experience drug dependency and the difficulty in accessing support.'
It has been almost three months since the co-chairs of the drug summit, Carmel Tebbutt and John Brogden, handed the government its final report including 56 recommendations, among them calls for Labor to 'significantly increase' funding for drug and alcohol services.
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While the summit stopped short of recommending decriminalisation, it called for changes ranging from the introduction of a medical defence for driving while using medically prescribed cannabis, to cutting penalties for minor drug possession.
The government has yet to respond to the summit's recommendations, but in a statement, Health Minister Ryan Park said it would do so 'in the next six months as requested by the co-chairs'. Park said the government had moved to introduce a pill testing trial in the interim, and that it had announced a $235 million package for drug and alcohol services before the summit.
'The funding is focused on meeting the unique needs of priority population groups including Aboriginal people, pregnant women, people with mental health conditions, young people and people involved in the criminal justice system,' he said.
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