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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-06-05 Daily Xml
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Motions

Illicit Drug Use

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (11:05): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the state government’s strong focus on preventing the uptake of illicit drug use, reducing the harmful effects of licit and illicit drugs and offering pathways out of harmful drug use;

(b) supports the state government’s position against pill testing at events;

(c) notes that there is no pill testing regime that can test against the range of chemicals people might be ingesting;

(d) recognises that there are a range of alternative strategies that can improve safety and reduce health harms at public events;

(e) supports the safer music event guidelines to improve safety and reduce harms at events; and

(f) expresses its appreciation to emergency services, including SA Ambulance Service and SA Police, for their efforts to improve safety and reduce harms at events resulting from the harmful effects of licit and illicit drug use.

Illicit drug use is a scourge on our society. Its effects can be devastating not only for those who use them but for their friends and families, as well as those who tragically become a victim, in some way or another, of an illicit drug user who is completely unknown to them. There is no doubt in my mind that each and every person who campaigns for one strategy or another to combat the effects of illicit drug use does so with the very best intentions and with the ultimate goal of bringing to an end the deaths that occur as a result of illicit drug use.

In an ideal world, there would be nobody who even considered using illicit drugs. However, as we all know, the world is not perfect. In recognising the unfortunate truth that there are people who use illicit drugs, the government provides a number of initiatives that seek to reduce the harmful effects of illicit drug use in our community and offer pathways for users out of their drug use. What the government will not do, however, is support a pill testing regime which will see the government sending the wrong message about illicit drug use.

This motion is important because it reinforces the point that the Minister for Health and Wellbeing has repeatedly made. To support and arrange for the testing of illicit drugs not only sends the message that the use of illicit drugs is safe, inducing a false sense of security for mostly young people, but also sends a message that the government is prepared to step in to make illegal activities safer for those who choose to partake in them. This would represent a fundamental shift in the role of government in Australia.

The role of government is not and should not be to make it easier or safer for people to break the law. Imagine a circumstance whereby, as part of a young person's driving education, they were taught methods of safe speeding. The first issue with this scenario is that it is completely incongruous with the well-established and I think correct practice that the government should not facilitate the breaking of its own laws. The second issue with this scenario is that speeding is inherently unsafe. To induce a misunderstanding that driving above the speed limit could be performed safely is dangerously reckless. As with illicit drug use, the consequences of such a misapprehension can be deadly.

In addition to the legal issues that pill testing could invoke, particularly in terms of any liability that we found to exist between a user and a tester, as well as the government, the reality is that, just as speeding is never safe, taking illicit drugs is never safe. There is no pill testing regime that is able to test against the range of contaminants or toxic compounds that people may or could consume. In fact, on-site drug testing is not particularly accurate and even proper laboratory testing, with specialist training, could take many days and cannot test for potential high doses of substances such as ecstasy or methamphetamine that are often fatal on their own.

I have no reason to doubt those involved in pill testing in other jurisdictions who say that at no point during their testing process do they suggest to potential users that their pill is safe, but it is plain to see that an endorsement of pill testing is, at the very least, a passive message from government that it will not try that hard to prevent illicit drug use.

We often hear from advocates of pill testing that, after being made aware of some of the substances that make up their pill, young people, as the attendees of the types of music festivals where tragic deaths have occurred as the result of illicit drug use, often are more likely then not to consume the pill. This implies a sort of naivety on the part of the potential users and suggests that they were simply unaware of how dangerous illicit drug use is to themselves and others.

If we accept that naivety plays a key role here, then it should not be difficult to be concerned that a young person may naively believe that because the government is, in effect, facilitating their drug use it is therefore okay. If a person is so naive as to believe that illicit drug use is safe, despite the millions of dollars that are spent on awareness campaigns, they could surely be naive enough to believe that through endorsing pill testing the government is sending a message that taking illicit drugs is not as unsafe as it really is.

Conversely, where it might be said that naivety is not at play and that those who may consume illicit drugs have at least some knowledge that doing so is a risk to themselves and those around them, the question must be asked: what level of confirmation would they need to then decide not to consume their pill? If they have already made the decision to purchase a pill with the intention of consuming it, knowing that to do so could have a devastating effect, at what level of detail about their pill would they decide that it is too big a risk?

I hope not to be misunderstood. I am not arguing that those who consider using or, in fact, do use illicit drugs should simply be left to potentially destroy their lives and the lives of others. I encourage event organisers to follow the safer music event guidelines, developed through collaboration with Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia, South Australia Police and other stakeholders as a guide for event organisers to improve safety at their events.

Prior to the 2018 election, the Marshall Liberal government committed to a number of policies that seek to prevent and reduce harm from illicit drug use. I am pleased that the $580,000 trial of the PsychMed Matrix recovery program is underway in the Riverland for two years and will be followed by an independent review that will inform the state government as it considers extending the Matrix program to other areas in regional South Australia that have been identified as being in need of such a program.

I am also very pleased that over the next three years the Marshall Liberal government is delivering a $2.9 million drug and alcohol education package in South Australian schools. This is an important initiative that aims to ensure that young South Australians are aware of the risks associated with illicit drug use and the devastating impacts that can result if they ignore those risks.

These are the measures that the state government is implementing to combat illicit drug use. These measures are consistent with the principle that illicit drug use is dangerous and should therefore not be in any way facilitated by government. I thank our police and ambulance personnel, who work so hard to make sure that our community is safe and that the effects of illicit drug use are as minimal as possible. I am proud to be a member of a government that is resolute in its condemnation of illicit drug use and I hope all those opposite will concur. I commend this motion to the house.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (11:13): I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Newland in relation to illicit drug use in our community. Firstly, I will deal with paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e), then (f) and then I will come back for an extensive discussion of (a).

In relation to the first set of points that the member has raised in terms of pill testing, that is something we have not had a position of support on, both when we were in government and now in opposition. That is something on which we have obviously had advice from the police commissioner and that is why we did not bring that policy in when we were in government. I think one of the issues, obviously, is not just whether it sends the wrong message, even if the pill did pass through the process of being tested, but also whether or not it could cause damage or kill somebody if it were ingested by the person. That is obviously a serious concern. I have not seen any way in which that risk is alleviated. Obviously, we will see what the impact of trials being undertaken interstate are, but currently it is not something that we are contemplating.

In relation to paragraph (f), we also share with the member for Newland our appreciation for those emergency services workers who deal with the impact of illicit drug use in our community, whether they be police officers, whether they be ambulance paramedics and officers or whether they be any other emergency services personnel. I extend that appreciation to social services and to the people who work in DASA and other drug and alcohol service providers as well, all of whom do an excellent job in helping those people who are suffering from addiction to illicit substances. Of course, we also need to consider alcohol in this equation.

Obviously, those services are under the pump. We know of the impact this has on police in dealing with issues that they are seeing in the community, but there are also massive issues that our health services confront. They are not easy to deal with. They are very difficult to deal with, so we thank those emergency workers and other health workers who do an excellent job in combating this issue.

I want to spend some time talking about paragraph (a) of the member for Newland's motion, where he is basically giving the government a big pat on the back and saying what a great job they have done on illicit drugs. Let's look at the facts. Let's look at what this government proposed when they came to office. I recall that the now Premier, the member for Dunstan, said before the election that he was going to have a 'war on drugs'. He promised that there was going to be a war on drugs if he was the Premier of South Australia.

Mr Odenwalder: General Vickie.

Mr PICTON: General Vickie would be, presumably, marshalling the troops. We have heard nothing basically since then. We have had no action in terms of illicit drug use from this government. What we have had are some pretty wishy-washy proposals. We have had the Attorney-General coming in here and trying to increase penalties for simple cannabis possession charges, including potentially making those criminal penalties, which was denounced by the community at large, and they have had to completely walk away from their commitment to do that.

We have had the member for Morialta say that he is going to send in the sniffer dogs to search schools. I do not think there is any evidence that any of that has happened, and all the evidence is that that is actually going to make no difference whatsoever to anything.

Mr Odenwalder interjecting:

Mr PICTON: Of course. The member for Elizabeth reminds me that the police have always had the power to do that. The police have always had the power to search if they wish to anyway. Of course, the police might have had some stronger demands on those services than the member for Morialta has had in mind. Of course, what they were proposing was only to cover public schools anyway. In private schools, apparently, there is no issue; nothing to see there. I do not think there is any issue that has been solved by the government's policies in that regard.

We also have the Minister for Health in the other place bringing in a bill to supposedly bring in youth treatment orders, although the bill he has brought in—I think it was about eight or nine months ago now—has been sitting around because it was shabbily drafted with no proper consultation and not properly thought through on how this would work. No proper funding has been allocated to it. No model of care has been developed for how these services would work. Basically, there has been no action in relation to that bill whatsoever.

We have this sprinkling of thought bubbles that the government had, with no actual action and no listening to the experts on what the issue is. At the same time, we know that the scourge of ice in our community is very serious. When we were in government we treated that very seriously. When we were in government we established the Ice Taskforce.

The now Leader of the Opposition (member for Croydon) was police minister and then health minister, and he was in charge of the Ice Taskforce. It spent a great deal of time consulting with communities across the state, in the city and in regional areas. It talked to police, providers and families about what needed to be done. Out of that, we delivered some very meaningful projects that helped police and drug and alcohol services in the community. Importantly, it also helped families who were affected by the scourge of ice.

In terms of the programs that were outlined, we announced an extra $3.6 million for outpatient counselling appointments; residential rehabilitation beds in the Riverland, Whyalla and Mount Gambier; $1 million for SAPOL to conduct covert investigations to go after the people spreading ice in our community; and $549,000 for two new police sniffer dogs, which commenced training at the beginning of last year. I believe that they are now in service. One of the great privileges of being a police minister is that you get to meet the sniffer dogs. They are fantastic, and they do a great job.

There was $560,000 to double the number of state government-funded family drug support group sessions because we know that, if a family member is addicted to ice, the impact is not just on that one person; it affects the whole family. That is the role that the government should be playing—to step in to assist them. An amount of $200,000 was also announced for a six-month Crime Stoppers campaign to stop the scourge of ice. Of course, we then followed that up with additional and ongoing funding for Crime Stoppers, which sadly this government has cut in its entirety.

There was $287,000 to roll out mobile drug-testing kits for regional police officers. When I was police minister, I got to see these mobile drug-testing kits in operation, and they are fantastic devices. They will help police, particularly in regional communities, to undertake faster analysis of drugs that they obtain in the community and hence faster police work in terms of dealing with the people who are sadly selling and manufacturing those drugs.

We had the previous government taking action, consulting, putting in funding, helping the police to take on this issue, helping community providers with the rehabilitation that needs to happen to stop people after they have become addicted to ice and also helping the family members. It was a comprehensive package that was devised when we were in government. What have we had since then, in the 15 months since this government has been in place? Absolutely nothing. There have been thought bubbles about cannabis and chucking people in prison for having a joint, as well as sniffer dogs in public high schools, but no actual action on the big issue that the community is concerned about.

When the member for Newland says to this house that the state government 'acknowledges the state government's strong focus on preventing the uptake of illicit drug use; reducing the harmful effects of licit and illicit drugs; and offering pathways out of harmful drug use', show us where that is happening. Show us where there is any actual action being taken by this government in that regard, because we cannot find it.

We cannot see any evidence that the Premier is serious about his supposed war on drugs that he was so triumphant and almost Reaganesque about when he was leader of the opposition. It has basically fallen by the wayside and it has been replaced by these thought bubbles, when there are families out in the community who seriously want help for themselves to deal with not only the impact it has had on their families but also the people who are affected. This government needs to take this issue seriously and we want to see some actual serious action on this front.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (11:23): I would like to commend the work of the member for Newland in introducing this motion:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the state government’s strong focus on preventing the uptake of illicit drug use, reducing the harmful effects of licit and illicit drugs and offering pathways out of harmful drug use;

(b) supports the state government’s position against pill testing at events;

(c) notes that there is no pill testing regime that can test against the range of chemicals people might be ingesting;

(d) recognises that there are a range of alternative strategies that can improve safety and reduce health harms at public events;

(e) supports the safer music event guidelines to improve safety and reduce harms at events; and

(f) expresses its appreciation to emergency services, including SA Ambulance Service and SA Police, for their efforts to improve safety and reduce harms at events resulting from the harmful effects of licit and illicit drug use.

Again, I commend the member for Newland for his work on this. He has done an outstanding job. I know it is a big issue in his community, as it is in mine. We know that illicit drugs have a devastating effect on communities right across South Australia and that this flows on to families, friends and all people who are impacted by this very wide-reaching net when people are drawn into illicit drug addiction.

Our front-line SAPOL officers do a great job tackling illicit drug use in the community and the issues involving drugs across South Australia. The Marshall Liberal government and SAPOL are very committed to this battle against drugs, and I am proud that this state government has delivered some very strong action in its first 12 months or so. In fact, this was initiated in the first 100 days to give authorities the upper hand in the battle against drugs.

In my portfolio area, we know that criminals now find it harder to smuggle drugs into our prisons after new laws came into effect in March this year. We have given correctional officers the powers they need to disrupt the flow of drugs into South Australian prisons, and this was a very important part of the very strong stance that we took to the election and that we now have in government. We know that bikie gangs and criminal organisations use our prisons to recruit new members. They do this by trying to lure people into their nets and they then go out and reoffend and put the community at risk when they leave the prison system.

We are very conscious of cutting this off at the pass, and that is why we took some very firm action with new legislation that has made it more difficult for criminal organisations to get involved in the illegal drug trade. We took this very firm action to the election and then acted very swiftly when we came into government. However, the battle against illicit drugs is not one that can be fixed overnight, but the state government has a very strong focus on this battle in the short and long term to make sure that we do all we can to keep the community as safe as possible.

SAPOL conducts numerous operations throughout the year targeting illicit drugs in our community, and this includes stamping them out at recreational events, which is what the member for Newland has brought to the attention of the house. The notion of pill testing is fundamentally flawed because it essentially gives the green light to criminal organisations that are involved in the drug trade to continue pushing illicit drugs into the community. The concept of pill testing would normalise an illegal activity, and this is the wrong message to be sending to festival-goers and the wider community.

The prevalence of drug use at music festivals should not merely be considered as a lifestyle choice. SAPOL and the police commissioner himself have spoken about this. We always want to keep our young people as safe as possible whenever and wherever they go but, as the commissioner and SAPOL have rightly pointed out, testing a pill with the technology that is being discussed can only tell you what ingredients are potentially in there. Pill testing cannot tell you the levels or the impact it might have, and the pill then goes back to the person to make the choice.

If there are elements in the pill that could be damaging or, dare I say, fatal, without knowing the quantities and without knowing the details it is really hard to say. As the commissioner says, there is no way to safely test a pill. That is the flaw that is before us and that is why the member for Newland has moved this motion. It is something that we must be very aware of. To say that there is a safe amount of illegal drug that you can take really is dangerous, and this is something we are very conscious of and want to bring to the attention of this house.

There are alternative strategies to improve safety and reduce health harms at public events: targeted education campaigns and enforcement measures are capable of changing behaviour. We think that education and understanding the dangers around drugs are really important messages to put out to the community. For example, the most drastic rate of decline in smoking in Australia coincided with a targeted education campaign. That is how well these campaigns can work and the cultural change they can make. To have the mindset that taking illicit drugs is a norm I think is a very wrong message to be sending. I know some of those on the opposite side of the chamber feel that that is acceptable, but I am not so sure that it is.

At public events, the presence of police officers, often as a deterrent to antisocial activity and illegal activity, is a very strong move. Again, I notice in this motion that the member for Newland talked about the safer music events guidelines to improve safety and reduce harm at events, and that is something that we are very focused on. When we talk about the user-pays model that we are moving forward, we know that some of these people running these events where there are potentially illicit drugs that will be used call on police to come and do that cover for them.

Police will always be there in their regular manner but, going forward, these event organisers will now have the ability to work with police to make sure that they have the right coverage that they need. They will be asked to pay for the extra services to have more police there. We do not want to take police, as happens now, away from the general public where they are doing their general duties and drag them towards these festivals and events because of the increased concern, just to help the event organisers. If they are putting on these events and need services over and above, they will be asked to pay for those services. It is something that we think is very important going forward.

Far too often, we have police officers at events, particularly rave festivals in recent years, and they have had to respond to incidents of distress caused by illicit drugs. Our emergency services personnel, including ambulance workers on the front line, know too well the devastating effects of illicit drugs and the negative outcomes they cause. I think all of the community is very much aware of this and that is why as a government we are making some very strong stands on this.

I know the member for Kaurna pointed out some of the things that the previous government did and that is fantastic. With a lot of our outputs we want to really now look at the outcomes and work out how we are getting the best outcomes to make sure that we are attacking this issue. We know it is out there in society and we need to be doing all we can, both in this city and in the regions. We need to make sure that we are addressing this right across our state.

SA Ambulance Service and SAPOL must be commended for their efforts. As I said, they do an outstanding job. They are normally on the front line and they need to deal with this. We know that in their capacity they improve safety at events and reduce harm caused by the distribution of illicit drugs. This drug use has a very antisocial outcome and these emergency services workers on the front line are truly to be commended.

The state government will continue to have a strong focus on preventing the distribution and use of drugs within South Australia and work in collaboration with SAPOL to stamp out this type of activity. Again, I want to take the opportunity to thank all the people at SAPOL. I know they work tirelessly, making sure that they do everything in their power to stamp out the use of illicit drugs. As a parent of young children, it is not something that you want to see.

I mention again the work that we are doing to keep bikie gangs and criminal organisations out of prisons, where we know a lot of the drug movement is perpetrated. The thought of people pushing drugs upon young people is one of the most abhorrent things we can think about. I stress again the point of making sure that we have that education, making sure we do not flower this up and say to people that taking illicit drugs is okay. It is not okay. It is not something that we want in our society. Again, I commend the member for Newland for the motion and for bringing it to the house.

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