February 24, 2023
Queensland police have been given new powers to deal with people found with small quantities of drugs.
The Police Drug Diversion program has been expanded to cover a new tiered approach:
- 1st minor drug-possession offence – a police officer issues a warning, accompanied by a drug warning notice and a police referral to a support service
- 2nd and 3rd minor drug-possession offence – a police officer offers the opportunity for the person to participate in a mandatory Drug Diversion Assessment Program
- 4th minor drug-possession offence – a police officer issues the offender with a notice to appear in court.
However, the maximum penalty for drug trafficking will increase from 25 years’ jail to life imprisonment.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the changes would bring Queensland into line with all other jurisdictions across the nation.
“The courts get needlessly clogged with minor cases that are really a health issue. The individual doesn’t get the help they need,” Minister Ryan said.
“And police spend thousands of hours that could be better focussed on targeting the drug traffickers.
“The police support this approach. Health experts support this approach. It’s a common-sense approach.”
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said getting drug users into diversion programs, and keeping them out of the criminal justice system, benefited the entire community.
“By drawing on the best evidence-based practices we can start treating drug use as a health problem instead of a criminal issue,” Minister D’Ath said.
“This means we can get people into intervention programs that include therapeutic and psychosocial support, and interrupt a pattern of offending.”
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said research showed that if people were diverted early to health and education services they were less likely to reoffend.
AMA Queensland president Maria Boulton said doctors had been calling for this change since 2021.
“We convened a roundtable of experts from medicine, the law, law enforcement and the community and the consensus was our law needed to change,” she said.
Queensland police locate about 20,000 people every year in possession of a small quantity of drugs for their personal use.
Currently police can spend about nine hours processing a minor drug offence case through to its conclusion in court.
