Australian Illicit Drug Policy
AUSTRAILIA’S ILLICIT DRUG POLICY: A COMPLETE ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION
JESSICA PRICE
JARED ROSS
POL-222
TASK 4: A RESEARCH REPORT
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 23, October 2012
Table of Contents
Abbreviated Terms 4
Executive Summary 5
Australia’s Illicit Drug Policy: Past, Present, & Future 7
A Closer Look at Recommendations and Approaches 11
Appendix A 15
Appendix B 18 Works Cited 21
ABBREVIATED TERMS
ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACS Australian Customs Service
ADCA Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia
AFP Australian Federal Police
AIDR Australian Illicit Drug Report
AIHW Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
ANCD Australian National Council on Drugs
BCR Benefit-cost ratio
COAG Council of Australian Governments
DUCO Drug Use Careers of Offenders
DUMA Drug Use Monitoring in Australia
IGCD Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs
MCDS Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy
MSIC Medically supervised injecting centre
NDRI National Drug Research Institute
NDS National Drug Strategy
NDSHS National Drug Strategy Household Survey
NIDC National Illicit Drugs Campaign
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Illicit drug policy has not been a priority on the political agenda, but it is a policy that affects 6,902,527 Australians directly and has incurred a cost of billions of dollars to Australian society. The first paper in this report analyses the presence of illicit drugs in society, the costs of the drugs to society, and past and current policies. The second paper presents our recommendations and approaches to create an Illicit drug policy that is proactive and effective in minimising the harms of illicit drug use to the user and to society as a whole.
Australia’s illicit drug policy is a newer policy; the first policy was created in 1985 due to international pressures. The founding principle
JESSICA PRICE
JARED ROSS
POL-222
TASK 4: A RESEARCH REPORT
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 23, October 2012
Table of Contents
Abbreviated Terms 4
Executive Summary 5
Australia’s Illicit Drug Policy: Past, Present, & Future 7
A Closer Look at Recommendations and Approaches 11
Appendix A 15
Appendix B 18 Works Cited 21
ABBREVIATED TERMS
ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACS Australian Customs Service
ADCA Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia
AFP Australian Federal Police
AIDR Australian Illicit Drug Report
AIHW Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
ANCD Australian National Council on Drugs
BCR Benefit-cost ratio
COAG Council of Australian Governments
DUCO Drug Use Careers of Offenders
DUMA Drug Use Monitoring in Australia
IGCD Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs
MCDS Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy
MSIC Medically supervised injecting centre
NDRI National Drug Research Institute
NDS National Drug Strategy
NDSHS National Drug Strategy Household Survey
NIDC National Illicit Drugs Campaign
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Illicit drug policy has not been a priority on the political agenda, but it is a policy that affects 6,902,527 Australians directly and has incurred a cost of billions of dollars to Australian society. The first paper in this report analyses the presence of illicit drugs in society, the costs of the drugs to society, and past and current policies. The second paper presents our recommendations and approaches to create an Illicit drug policy that is proactive and effective in minimising the harms of illicit drug use to the user and to society as a whole.
Australia’s illicit drug policy is a newer policy; the first policy was created in 1985 due to international pressures. The founding principle