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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 MoreQCCL 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 MorePresident Nixon’s classification of cannabis as an illegal drug on a par with heroin had not the slightest relationship to any credible contemporary medicine or science.
Read MoreThe Council’s clear and oft-stated preference is for the government to legalise cannabis without any restrictions
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 Council recognises that this Bill is a response to concerns in the community about alcohol related violence. However, the Council maintains that the response to this issue needs to take into account the right to privacy, the right to freedom of association and the right to due process. All of these rights are recognised in Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The QCCL has as its objective the implementation of the rights contained in this instrument in Queensland.
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 More"The House of Representative’s Family & Community Affairs Committee Report released this morning is a disgrace”, said Brian McConnell, President of Families & Friends for Drug Law Reform.
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 Matt Foley - 26 November 1985.
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