Join the call for compassionate drug laws

Fair Treatment, led by Uniting, has today launched an email campaign to support changing the law in NSW regarding small quantities of drugs.

The State Government is set to decide on 14 December whether a new three-strikes diversion system will apply to all drugs and replace the current caution scheme that only applies to cannabis.

The Fair Treatment campaign supports the change because it says drug use should be treated as a health and social issue.

You can tell your MP you support a change in drug laws, find out more here.

Drug laws deal regions a double blow

The campaign launch comes as the Moderator of the Synod of the Uniting Church NSW.ACT Simon Hansford explains how we will save lives in regional Australia by treating drug use as a health issue, not a criminal one.

“Drug dependence is often misunderstood as a predominately urban issue,” The Moderator said in the opinion piece published by the Guardian today. “The reality is regional and rural areas of our country suffer a double blow on this issue.”

“If the medical help you need is linked to drug dependency, then rural people are consistently told that the nearest support is hundreds of kilometres and a long waiting list away,” the Moderator said.

“I have heard countless stories from parents and families, about their despair at our current approach to drugs and the lack of services for the people they love, who are asking for help – now.”

Too many people who use drugs are made to live in the shadows and don’t seek help because of our current drug laws, the Moderator said.

Ashley Donnelly