Organisers of the only legal medically supervised injecting centre in NSW say they want every state parliamentarian to attend next month’s long-awaited drug summit.
NSW Labor promised in its 2023 election campaign to host the summit and after more than a year in government, announced it would happen on 1 November.
The summit is expected to feature discussions around the drug laws and regulations impacting people in NSW, where a mostly zero tolerance attitude dominates the legal system.
People with medical cannabis prescriptions are still at risk of losing driver licences if found to have the illicit substance in their systems, festival patrons can’t legally have the ingredients of party drugs tested before consumption, and it’s illegal to grow cannabis plants anywhere besides licenced commercial exporting businesses.
The Uniting Church of Australia, however, has the legal right to oversee the state’s only medical injecting centre, established in Kings Cross in 2001.
The centre features many facilities and services besides a safe drug injecting space, such as mental health nurses, harm minimisation education for non-drug users, and health referrals.
Drug summit hearing planned for Lismore
Organisers of the centre have been campaigning over the past five years for fairer drug laws in NSW and this week called on parliamentarians to commit to attending the summit.
Hearings are planned in Griffith, Lismore and Sydney, with Lismore’s hearing scheduled for Monday 4 November.
Attendance is by invitation only.
Uniting NSW and ACT External Relations and Advocacy General Manager Emma Maiden says all parliamentarians should be attending the drug summit to make sure each community is heard.
‘As we see rates of overdose deaths increasing throughout regional NSW and dangerous nitazenes showing up in a significant range of substances now more than ever we need this summit to listen to the evidence and take real action,’ Ms Maiden said via a Uniting media release.
‘We look forward to a wide range of stakeholders being a part of the summit from lived experience, services and experts,’ she said, ‘the summit is a time to put politics to the side, listen to the evidence and come together to create meaningful action’.
Ms Maiden says nothing should be off the table when it comes to proposals for reform.
She called on the government to finalise summit invites to other attendees, plan pre-summit service visits and circulate an agenda and pre-reads on key issues.
‘All MPs will be asked to vote on the outcomes of the drug summit,’ Ms Maiden said, ‘so it’s really important they participate in the process’.
‘We really need every member of the NSW Parliament in the room, even if they haven’t thought deeply about drug related issues,’ Ms Maiden said.
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