The Law Society of NSW notes the response by the NSW Government to the report of the 2024 Drug Summit.
We are pleased to see the NSW Government support many of the recommendations made in the 2024 Drug Summit Report. The supported recommendations indicate a number of opportunities for positive drug law reform.
We encourage the Government to allocate the resources necessary to implement recommendations that it has ‘supported in principle’ especially in order to address the health and social impacts of illicit drug use and to make further progress on Closing the Gap targets, consistent with the requirements of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
We note the Government does not support the recommendation to cease the use of drug detection dogs and strip searching for suspected drug possession at music festivals. Having regard to the Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Meredith v State of NSW, the continued exercise of such significant coercive powers should be exercised cautiously, and within the law.
The Law Society looks forward to assisting the Government on the implementation of these recommendations, in consultation with its expert policy committees.
