4.      It will demonise drug users and force drug users further underground

The drug house legislation will target specific houses and venues such as nightclubs. While the drug trade in Darwin has been fairly centralised, the drug house legislation will force the trade to move from home to home, as individual locations are closed down or targeted by the police. This will add to the constant demonisation of illicit drug use and will help to maintain a climate of fear for drug users, making them less likely to access health or other services (or if they do they will not disclose their drug use). This will inevitably increase the risk of the transmission of Hepatitis C and HIV.

5.      Criminalising drug use is not the answer

The War on Drugs, as it is called, has forced the criminalisation of some substances for over 5 decades; surely we should have won the war by now. Over and over again we see governments running with the “Tough on Drugs” approach that has really been an abject failure. Simply criminalising drug use and building more and more prisons is not the answer to problematic drug use. We need to see a massive increase in the range of options open to dependent users, including more pharmacotherapies (in particular heroin), improved detoxification and rehabilitation services, diversified needle and syringe programs, reality based education for our young people and the community. An important myth that needs to be smashed is the myth that dependent drug users are inadequate members of society.

6.      It will discriminate against young people and indigenous people

Although the government is arguing that this legislation is part of a crackdown on drug dealing and distribution, they fail to recognise that young people and members of the indigenous community will occupy most of the houses they will target. There is ample evidence that zero tolerance policing is overwhelmingly directed at the least powerful and most vulnerable groups in society. This kind of intervention will impact in a particularly negative way on young people, the unemployed and the indigenous community. It will increase the already high level of street-based contact between the police and these groups of people.

7.      It massively increases police powers

Just like the juvenile diversion and illicit drug diversion initiatives that have been condemned by social justice activists and organisations like the Top End Users’ Forum, the proposed drug house legislation will dramatically increase police powers. By allowing police to have houses declared “drug houses”, they will be able to attend the premises, enter and search without a warrant. In NSW, the drug house legislation allows a person to be charged with “being at a drug house”, even if there are no drugs present. This is a gross violation of human rights.

8.      It is a massive waste of taxpayers money

The USA is a perfect example of a country that spends an inordinate amount of money on the war on drugs. This failure to realise that we have lost the war on drugs is a constant drain on the resources of our government. By legalising drug use, funds could be diverted from the repressive and punitive systems of the state – the courts and the jails – to positive community responses for problematic drug users.

9.      The Labor Government isn’t increasing treatment
options at the same time

If the Labor Government was really committed to improving the health and well-being of users of illicit substances, they would implement a range of positive strategies, rather than implementing punitive legislation such as the "drug house" laws. Treatment options for dependent users could be massively increased, a heroin trial could be looked at, a safe injecting room opened, needle exchange options increased, but instead, Labor wants to double the size of the drug squad and give them a new law to play with.

10.  Fails to address the real issues behind problematic substance use

Massive unemployment, family conflict, financial and work stress, prohibition: these are some of the reasons behind problematic drug use and these issues are not being effectively addressed by our society. Problematic drug use is a symptom of a whole wide range of societal ills that can only really be addressed by structural change. Blaming certain substances for societal ills is a favourite tactic of Australian and other Western Governments.

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