MPs in Australia's most populous state were urged to halt prosecutions for drug possession and see drug use almost entirely through a health lens.
About one in 435 people are detained by police each year for drug possession.
Approaches to treatment and rehabilitation were discussed at the NSW Drug Summit. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)
"It is only reasonable that we give decriminalisation a proper chance to do what decades of prohibition has failed to do," Harm Reduction Australia executive director Annie Madden told the NSW Drug Summit.
"If we really want to undo the many harms of prohibition, we need to shift from the black market to a regulated market."
The message met with wide applause at the four-day forum aiming to build consensus for widescale changes to reduce drug-related harms.
But Health Minister Ryan Park wasn't clapping, later echoing his premier's earlier statements about the lack of a mandate to drop criminal penalties for small-scale drug possession.
"We don't feel that would be charting a responsible course," he told reporters.
He declined to commit to options to find a mandate, such as through a public vote as proposed by Libertarian MP John Ruddick for cannabis legalisation.
Health Minister Ryan Park tempered hopes of decriminalisation for certain drugs. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)
"(But) that does not mean that we can't progress significant reform, and I don't want people to think this has been a drug summit that's only focused on decriminalisation," Mr Park said.
A cross-section of MPs, justice officials and bureaucrats heard about long waiting lists for drug treatment centres, racial differences on drug diversion and the lingering stigma of drug use that forms a barrier to people seeking help.
"No-cost" options included allowing communities to replicate the life-saving Kings Cross medically supervised injecting centre in their suburb and town and repealing the criminal offence of self-administering an illicit drug.
Premier Chris Minns told attendees the summit's goal "must be reducing the number of Australians whose lives have been destroyed or diminished" by drugs.
"It doesn't matter where you live or who you vote for, drugs have scarred every Australian community in some way," he said.
The mayor of US city Portland warned of reducing legal barriers before adequate treatment services were in place.
Large numbers of children in NSW are impacted by parental drug use, welfare agencies say. (AAP PHOTOS)
Possession of all drugs was a fine-only matter in the city for three years, only to be wound back in April under the weight of escalating addiction and overdoses.
"In retrospect, it looks so obvious that if you don't have the treatment resources available, what's the point of even trying to incentivise people into detox," Mayor Ted Wheeler said via video link.
Despite the government's stance, summit co-chair and former Liberal leader John Brogden said he would not shy away from recommending decriminalisation.
"It is very clear that the summit will want the government to decriminalise drugs," he said.
Royal Australasian College of Physicians president Jennifer Martin said addressing drug use would require funding for treatment services, including for the trauma that could prompt people to start using drugs.
The peak body for NSW lawyers said at a miminum, cannabis diversion schemes had to be expanded, particularly for children and young people.
The drug summit continues on Thursday.
19°C