The cultivation and use of natural and synthetic substances – or drugs - is as old as humanity. Different types of drugs have been used in countless cultures for medicinal, religious and recreational purposes for centuries. The prosecution of certain drug users, cultivators and traffickers is a moderately recent legal and political phenomenon. The Australian Sex Party supports a person’s right to use drugs responsibly. In adopting this approach, the Australian Sex Party recognises the concept, consistent with human rights, of ‘cognitive liberty’ – a person’s right to their own mind, thoughts and beliefs. Regulation and Taxation of the Supply of Cannabis Remove any criminal and civil sanctions for the possession, use and cultivation for personal use of cannabis by persons aged 18 and over; Allow for the licensing and taxation of farmers, wholesalers and retailers; Establish a system of hard-to-get and easy-to-lose licences for the large scale cultivation, wholesale and retail sale of cannabis; Cannabis packages must include health warnings, consumer protection information and information for consumers seeking assistance to cut down or stop consumption; Proof of age restrictions in line with requirements for alcohol; Retail outlets to be age restricted and be subject to zoning regulations (minimum distances from schools, etc). Licensing will include consumption ‘on-premises’ plus take-out as well as retail only; Work with Victoria Police and appropriate academics on forming maximum THC-blood level content for driving; Unlicensed commercial levels of production and distribution to attract heavy penalties; Tax excise to be collected and directed towards education, harm reduction, alcohol and other drug support services and covering costs of industry regulation. Decriminalisation Remove criminal sanctions for the purchase, possession and consumption of all drugs for personal use, such quantity to be defined as an amount equal or less than 14 days supply for one person; Persons found in possession of personal quantities of illicit drugs should be referred to a properly funded drug treatment system which treats the issue as a health and/or social issue; Trafficking and dealing in drugs to remain a criminal offence; Supply of any drugs to a minor to remain a criminal offence. Harm Reduction Maintain a strong commitment to reducing the harms resulting from drug abuse; Retain only those criminal justice, health and social interventions which have been demonstrated to be effective, relatively free of serious side-effects and cost-effective; Financial support for Victoria's harm reduction and alcohol and other drugs workers; Immediate cessation of the use of Passive Alert Detection (PAD) dogs for drugs, as this approach has severe unintended consequences, is too often inaccurate and is not an effective use of resources; High quality drug testing kits to be made available through a range of outlets including pharmacies, age restricted premises and mobile distribution centres; Establish Safer Injecting Facilities (medically supervised injecting rooms) near all major drug markets in all jurisdictions; Provide Heroin Assisted Treatment (i.e. prescription heroin with psychosocial assistance) to severely dependent people who have not previously benefitted from multiple episodes of diverse treatments; Establish harm reduction services (including needle syringe programmes) for prison inmates of the same standard as in the community. Victorian Drug Legislation Removal of the term 'drug of dependence' from legislation; Develop a system for dealing with Novel Psychoactive Substances based on the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 (NZ); Creation of a new low-risk schedule for regulating Novel Psychoactive Substances and currently illegal substances which are shown to have a low potential to harm, that is, those used for recreational, personal development, spiritual or social purposes; Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine legislation to be placed in new drug regulation schedules that acknowledge these substances are psychoactive and carry risks. The purpose of these new schedules would be to ensure that the best possible health information be published and available to the public; Medical and Scientific Establish a national system for the use of medicinal cannabis for those conditions where there is good evidence of effectiveness and for patients whose doctors can confirm that the patient has at least one of the specified conditions; Permit scientific research into potential benefits in health and well-being from currently illegal drugs. Tobacco and alcohol More allocation of alcohol and tobacco excise funds toward education, harm reduction, drug and alcohol support services and to cover costs of industry regulation; Vaporisers to remain a legal and viable option for nicotine replacement therapy; Regulation to be more consistent with other recreational drugs in society, need new schedule to show this. Drug Testing Drug testing for employment only be used where there is an impairment that affects safety of self and others and that tolerances have established benchmarks similar to alcohol blood limit. Consistent Secular Values Support and uphold people's right to their own mind, thoughts and beliefs; In line with secular values, those (18+) who take a psychoactive substance as part of a religious ceremony and those who take a psychoactive substance in a responsible and ethical setting for personal mystical/spiritual experience ought to be free to do so. Policy Drug Law Reform
