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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-24 Daily Xml
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ILLICIT DRUG USE

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:24): Does the minister accept that the government's response yesterday claiming that the prevalence of drug use in our community has decreased is at odds with the best data available from 2009 which states that it has actually increased?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (15:24): I believe I addressed that in my answer, which was to say that, obviously, I do not have the information to hand about what the measures are that the honourable member is referring to, and that is one of the things, I am sure, my colleagues in the other place will examine, that is, what the data is that the honourable member is referring to that was quoted by an honourable member from the government side last night and how that squares up with the other data that the honourable member is referring to. Again, I think what is most important is the approach that we are taking overall to combating illicit drug use. We all know that the drug trade—the scene, if you like—comes and goes—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: The scene; are you part of the scene?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: Certainly not—in relation to the particular drugs that are most commonly available and the price at which they are sold on the illicit drug market. We know that supply factors can be very important in terms of particularly some of the harder drugs like heroin, cocaine and so on in relation to events that are happening, the places that they come from and the measures that other jurisdictions are taking to try to stop them being exported and all of those factors.

What is most important is that we do not accept the drug trade, as I put it, as in any way legitimate or licit. The people who sell illicit drugs to individuals in our community, particularly young people, are very much to be condemned. They are people who prey on the vulnerable and who play a role in destroying people's lives. There is absolutely no doubt about that. There is no doubt that the government is very much committed to doing whatever we can to reduce the use of illicit drugs, and that there are a number of mechanisms, as I said, that are used to combat them. Some of those will involve the supply side and trying to ensure that drugs do not make it into the country, or across borders, or from wherever they are being made.

One of the challenges that we face in relation to illicit drug use, as we know, is the ability to manufacture methamphetamine or some other products such as MDMA, ecstasy tablets and so on. Some of those drugs are a lot easier to manufacture and can be done so in unsafe places relatively easily compared obviously to heroin and cocaine, because there is a certain amount of difficulty in producing them because they come from natural plants and so on that have to be processed.

It is very important on a number of levels to try to stop those drugs making it to Australia or making it into the community. Now, that might mean targeting what is going on in Colombia or in Afghanistan, or it might mean targeting those who are producing methamphetamine in suburban areas in illegal drug labs, but what the government does is combat illicit drug use across the board relevant to what is happening at that time. If there are particular spikes or particular changes in how those things work, then the government needs to respond to those, and particularly law enforcement, at the time.

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