Small Quantities of Hard Drugs Decriminalized in Australia

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The Australian Capital Territory, which includes Canberra and surrounding areas, Saturday became Australia’s first jurisdiction to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illegal drugs.

The Australian Capital Territory, or ACT, now considers illegal drug use a health, not criminal, issue. While the ACT government has promised to remain tough on dealers and traffickers, it wants low-level cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine users to receive treatment, a police caution or a fine rather than going to court. Drugs will be confiscated.

The law was passed in 2022 by the ACT Legislative Assembly. Hard drugs, including LSD, cocaine and methamphetime, remain illegal.

Welfare and health campaigners welcomed the new measures, saying they will lead to more drug users getting help rather than being treated as criminals.

Alice Salomon, the Head of Media and Advocacy at Uniting ACT, a community services organization, said in a statement Thursday that "a shift to a focus on health-based and community responses for drug use and dependency rather than seeing the police and the courts as the place where we seek to address this is long overdue but warmly welcomed."

Senior police officials say they fear the changes could encourage people to take illicit substances for the first time.

ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the new laws are too permissive.