FDS Insight Magazine Nov - Dec 2022

8 The ACT has had on the books a decriminalisation framework called the Simple Cannabis Offence Notice scheme for 30 years. In recent years, we made reforms to that scheme, which moved adult users of cannabis out of it and towards legal possession. The bill that I brought forward amended the SCDN scheme and made it a Simple Drug Offence Notice scheme. This involves qualities laid out in the framework for eligible substances, so if individuals are found in possession of those quantities, they’ll have those substances confiscated and then the police officer will choose to either issue a fine and confiscate the substance or divert them to a drug service, whilst also confiscating the drug. I’ve seen people suggesting on social media that what’s been passed isn’t true decriminalisation because fines and prison time still applies for possession. Can you explain why penalties of prison time and steeper fines still appear in the Act in relation to drug possession, while small quantities of illegal drugs don’t result in drastic fines or any gaol time? There is a pretty ferocious discourse within the drug law reform community, as to the different definitions of legal, illegal, and where decriminalisation sits in relation to that. To me it’s a spectrum. So, while the ACT has had the Simple Cannabis Offence Notice in place for nearly three decades, I haven’t seen anyone saying that it was not decriminalisation. So, I’m somewhat confused by people from interstate who are trying to classify these reforms as not being decriminalisation. Now, they don’t go as far as some advocates want them to go, but this is a sensible step forward that will do a lot of good in our community. So, although some people have asserted that prison time and hefty fines could still be applied for possession of a personal, or small, amount of a listed illicit substance, this isn’t the case? There are a few different thresholds, and we’ve changed the response for those thresholds. For those small quantities of certain substances within the decriminalisation framework you can be eligible for a fine or the diversion program. If you’re found in possession of larger quantities than the decriminalisation threshold, but below the traffickable threshold, the maximum penalty will no longer be two years in prison, but six months. But I do also want to suggest that ACT drug diversion, as well as the possibility of proceeding through a drug court and not a traditional criminal court, will remain an option for those individuals. So, for the small quantities involved in the decriminalisation framework, prison time is no longer an option. And what about the fine that applies?