Fiona Hutton: Victoria University associate professor on the Drug Foundation's calls for drugs to be decriminalised

There's growing support for a call to decriminalise drugs in order to reduce harm.

The Drug Foundation's released a report calling drug laws of the past 50 years a 'colossal failure'. 

It is pushing for decriminalising use - and more investment in health and addiction services. 

Victoria University criminology professor Fiona Hutton says the status quo isn't working. 

"Things like drug overdoses are rising, addiction hasn't really been properly addressed, things like methamphetamine use are causing real harm in our communities."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Drug Foundation is calling for all drugs in the
country country to be decriminalized. It's released a report this
morning into fifty years of our drug laws and deduced
they don't work. Meth and cocaine use has doubled in
the last twelve to eighteen months and there were around
three fatal overdoses happening every week last year. Fiona Hutton
is Associate professor at Victoria University's Institute of Criminology. In

(00:20):
its investor now, hey, Fiona, do you support decriminalization.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I do, yes, I do support decriminalization. Why well, I think,
as the Drug Foundation laid out in their report, what
we're doing right now is not working at all. It's
not achieved its aims Our Misuse of Drugs Act, and
we really need to do something different because what we're

(00:48):
doing is actually causing harm instead of stopping harm or
reducing harm, it's causing harm. Hell well, it's causing harm because,
as noted in the report, things like drug overdoses of
rising addiction hasn't really been properly addressed, Things like methanphetamine

(01:13):
use are causing real harm in our communities, and you know,
people are being criminalized and so on for minor offenses
like cannabis possession, which you know stays with them for
the rest of their lives. So there's a number of
harms from prohibition and drug policy, like our Misuse of
Drugs Act, and this you know, sort of evidence based

(01:37):
report really says, look, we need to do something different,
and I agree, and I think decriminalization would be a
good first.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Troublers British Columbia and Canada and Oregon in the States
both tried to decriminalize in the hope that it would
turn around exactly what you've just talked about. For example,
let's just say overdose. It's what they found, is it
actually went up.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, I think those that are really complex problems that
they have in those two jurisdictions, and a lot of
the problems are not necessarily to do with the fact
that drugs were decriminalized. It's to do with the problems
that are associated with drug addiction, things like homelessness, mental health,

(02:21):
structural factors.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Have the same problems here, which so we would have
the same outcome.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well, no, I don't think so, because you're looking at
different sorts of drug issues in that context, and you're
looking at the problem on a much larger scale. And
don't forget that the problems in Canada and Oregon that
you're talking about, they were decades in the making and
decriminalization was just one of the tools to try and

(02:52):
help solve those problems. And the overdose problem, you know,
it wasn't linked to decriminalization. That's not why, you know,
to mean, there was all sorts of stuff around the
drug supply excuse me, sorry, and so on, and the
actual you know, the scale of the problem and so on.

(03:15):
So we haven't got that scale of problem here, so
we need to act before we do, you know. And yes,
we have similar problems. You know, mental health and addiction
are often linked and so on. So we need to act,
We need to do something, We need to do something different.
We need to make sure that we address these problems

(03:36):
before they get any worse. And I think as well,
an important point that the report makes, which I think
may speak to the issues that you just raised in
other jurisdictions. It's not just decriminalization that's going to make
a difference. There has to be you know, investment funding
in things like health treatment and other things to address

(04:00):
these kind of structural issues. And we've had, you know,
decades of underfunding in things like health and treatment services
and so on, which you know, we're sort of recognizing
with the Mental Health and Addiction Minister Matt Doucy and
the work that him and his colleagues are doing and
so on. So I think, you know, we need to

(04:23):
make you know, so decriminalization is not the pantacy for everything.
It's not the silver bullet. It goes much wider than that,
and we need to We've left it too long already, right,
so we need to make sorry to regul these problems.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
I really have to get going. It's been drama in
the house. Fioda hasn't Associate professor at Victoria University Institute
of Criminology.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
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