Uniting welcomes NSW Government Drug Summit announcement
Emma Maiden, General Manager External Relations and Advocacy at Uniting NSW.ACT said: “We are so pleased that a Drug Summit has finally been announced today and will be held in NSW in October and December in both Sydney and regional areas. It’s been over 25 years since the last one.
“Uniting welcomes the Summit as a way for the Government to consider and discuss positive, evidence-based changes to our drug laws and we commend Premier Minns and Health Minister Park and the Government for taking this important step. We welcome the inclusion of regional NSW in the format announced today.
“As further details emerge about the format, we hope that it can closely replicate the successful format of the 1999 event, when former Premier, Bob Carr, organized a five-day parliamentary gathering which led to Australia’s first injecting room in Sydney’s King’s Cross – Uniting’s Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC), among other reforms.
“The upcoming drug summit will build on last year’s announcement of the Early Drug Detection Initiative (EDDI) – which had bi-partisan support.
“Uniting and a broad range of advocates across the community have campaigned long and hard for this Drug Summit to be held. Our common purpose has always been to demonstrate the need for real, meaningful drug reform and to reflect the growing sense of urgency that change needs to happen now.
“Ahead of the Drug Summit, there are several positive, evidence-based initiatives that the Minns Government could be putting into practice, especially in response to the current nitazenes crisis such as increasing access to naloxone and drug checking in the community and at large events during the upcoming music festival season. These measures can then be discussed at the Drug Summit.”
Uniting’s Medically Supervised Injecting Centre’s (MSIC) Medical Director Dr Marianne Jauncey said:
“People with lived experience of drug use and dependency and their families have waited a long time for real reform and will be hopeful that, with today’s announcement that the drug summit will take place, NSW can become a leader, once again, in fair and sensible drug policy.
“Our current laws perpetuate stigma and create harm by driving people away from seeking and finding the support they need. We hope that this Drug Summit will create an opportunity for the entire community including regional areas to have an open and honest conversation about alcohol and other drugs and how we treat those who use them.
Dr Marianne Jauncey said:
“We are looking forward to playing our own constructive role in the Summit, and the critical reform that must follow.
“We know that community support for health and welfare-based responses to drug use continues to grow – underscored once again by the most recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) National Drug Strategy Household Survey”.
| Media contact: | Bronwen Reed Media Lead 0481 056 714 breed@uniting.org |
