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South Australian Democrats introduce drug law reform motion
ADVERTISER, 4 November 1998
South Australian Democrats leader Mike Elliot will launch a renewed
campaign for drug law reform today. Newly returned from a tour of
Switzerland and the Netherlands, Mr Elliot says Australia's drug laws
are "killing the people they were meant to help". "The Netherlands reported 65 drug deaths from a population of 15.4 million people in 1995, compared to South Australia's 34 so far this year from a population of 1.3 million" he said. Today, he will introduce a motion in support of separating cannabis laws from those governing other illegal drugs, and urging the Federal Government to allow heroin prescription trials. "We need to show some courage - and I guess in a sense it's political courage - to do this" he said.
CANNABIS REFORM MOTION 'TOO SOFT'
A PLAY for radical drug-law reform has attracted criticism for
being "soft on drugs".
A motion to separate cannabis laws from those governing other
illegal drugs was brought before Parliament by the Democrats
Leader, Mr Mike Elliott, yesterday.
The motion drew on the beneficial effects Mr Elliott said he saw
in the Netherlands, where cannabis laws were separate.
Mr Elliott said Switzerland's heroin trial had been successful
"beyond dispute" and in the Netherlands drug deaths had fallen.
But a Liberal MP, Mr Martin Hamilton-Smith, said it "will be
perceived as being soft on drugs". He said while there was a
"good argument" for a heroin trial, making cannabis laws separate
from those for other drugs would be seen as "soft".
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