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While move on orders could theoretically promote community safety, the flaws outlined above mean that, in practice, they promote a mere sense of it. In fact, the manner in which they are often issued leads to further harm, disproportionately made against marginalised groups, cementing adversarial relationships with the police, promoting intolerance and, ultimately, failing to address underlying social issues that lead to unfavourable conduct
Read MoreIt is submitted that the entire scheme of Controlled Operations in the PPRA should be incorporated into the Bill for the same reasons that the Controlled Operations regime was originally incorporated into the PPRA.
Read MorePill testing saves lives. David Crisafulli as the aspiring Premier-to-be should be taken to task in respect of his party’s double standards on knives wanding and pill testing” Mr O’Gorman said.
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QCCL President, Michael Cope says, “The QCCL welcomes the repeal of the 2016 medicinal cannabis legislation, which the Council believes has completely failed to deliver any useful outcomes to Queenslanders who could benefit from cannabis medicines.
Read MoreWhy is supply such a problem? Because state laws enacted in 1971-1972 introduced an
ideological schism between possession and supply that demonized supply, resulting in ever increasing penalties for supply at the same time as there was a gradual relaxation of penalties for possession and use. The demonization has been so effective that black market compassionate and grow-your-own suppliers are now treated as if they are master criminals.
Read MoreMany if not all of the erosions of civil liberties over the last five decades were modelled in Nixon’s War on Drugs and the subsequent Reagan War on Drugs. Well before the sex offender and anti-terrorism laws: mandatory sentencing; reverse onus of proof; warrantless invasion of homes based on reasonable suspicion; proceeds of crime laws allowing
confiscation without conviction; phone tapping laws; cash transaction laws; and ‘civilisation’
of crime generally by replacing the criminal standard with the civil standard of proof
Read MoreMany if not all of the erosions of civil liberties over the last five decades were modelled in Nixon‟s War on Drugs, well before the sex offender and anti-terrorism laws: mandatory sentencing; reverse onus of proof; warrantless invasion of homes based on reasonable suspicion; proceeds of crime laws allowing confiscation without conviction; phone tapping laws; cash transaction laws; and „civilisation‟ of crime generally by replacing the criminal standard with the civil standard of proof
Read MoreThe major flaw in the Bill is supply. The Victorian Law Reform Commission report on medicinal cannabis identified this as a key problem and recommended that Victoria organise its own cannabis industry, from cultivation to prescription. This recommendation was incorporated into the Victorian legislation. It is very hard to see how the Qld Bill can work without addressing this issue.
Read MoreThe Council’s clear and oft-stated preference is for the government to legalise cannabis without any restrictions, and we note that the federal health minister, Ms Sussan Ley, has recently reaffirmed that decriminalisation of cannabis is up to the states.
Read MoreIn our submission, the process contemplated under this legislation is extremely bureaucratic and process driven. The focus of the legislation should be the treatment of ill people. In California, you can see a doctor and walk out of the pharmacy the same day with a prescription. Why can we not have that system in this country?
Read MoreMr Cope noted the renewed push for legalisation of medicinal cannabis had been inspired by a handful of brave souls who had chosen to go public with their medical use of cannabis for symptoms unrelieved by legal drugs
Read MoreQCCL commends the cross-party sponsors of the Regulator Bill for proposing a model that addresses many of the concerns of the various stakeholders. The two principal virtues of the Bill are that it establishes a national statutory authority separate from the TGA, and that the authority will be responsible for ALL aspects of the supply and use of medicinal cannabis
Read MoreThe QCCL does not take the view that there is a human right to access alcohol. We note in this regard the discussion of this issue by McMurdo P. and Justice Keane in Aurukun Shire Council and Anor –v- CEO Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing [2010] QCA 37 at paragraphs 43 and 142 to 145. McMurdo P. returned to the issue in the decision of Morton –v- Queensland Police Service [2010] QCA 160.[1]
Read MoreDr Alex Wodak, Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, said that it is now clear that 'Medically Supervised Injecting Centres (MSICs) provide great benefit to drug users and communities at relatively little cost'.
Read MoreWhy do people use drugs? The question should be amplified and rephrased: what makes some young people use drugs that are officially declared dangerous and illegal in contrast to the majority who drink and smoke socially approved substances? The most obvious and natural answer is because they like them. We do not generally look for obscure, psychological or sociological explanations of most drug use in the community. People take alcohol, smoke tobacco, drink tea and coffee because they enjoy the effects of these substances
Read MoreMr. Cope says, “The problem the government has is that so far science has been unable to establish a clear relationship between the amount of a drug in your system and your ability to drive. It is quite a different situation with alcohol where there is a clear correlation between the level of alcohol in your bloodstream and your capacity to drive. The government then is forced to introduce this draconian legislation.”
Read MoreThe Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) today accused the Queensland Opposition of planning to go down the same mindless mandatory sentencing track as the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Read MoreAnnual Report of the President Ian Dearden from AGM 15 June 2000
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