The Pirate Party welcomes the news that the Greens have adopted an evidence-based policy on drug use that focuses on harm minimisation[1].

“The Pirate Party’s policy has always been evidence-based, and we support many of the harm minimisation techniques that the Greens have now adopted. It’s good to see that Australians are increasingly seeing the need for policy developed on a firm basis of evidence,” commented Pirate Party President Simon Frew. “Drug policies should focus on reducing harm to individuals and society, not just criminalising recreational users and addicts.”

In Portugal, the Netherlands, and various states across America, governments have adopted harm minimisation strategies that include, among other things, legalisation and regulation of marijuana[2]. The results from such approaches are overwhelmingly positive: less money needs to be spent on law enforcement, overall health increases, and the evidence shows that there is no noticeable increase in drug use[3][4].

Decriminalisation takes power away from criminal gangs and does not increase consumption of recreational drugs. The benefits are clear, and it is time for Australia to move forward on drug regulation.

The Pirate Party’s complete drug policy is available at https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform#An_end_to_the_war_on_drugs

[1] http://richard-di-natale.greensmps.org.au/articles/greens-announce-drug-policy-reform
[2] http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html
[3] http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-setting-record-straight
[4] https://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening