This month marks the two-year anniversary of the ACT government implementing drug decriminalisation following the introduction of the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Bill (2021).

This was a national first and was highly commended as an important step towards evidence-based drug policy.

Despite the rumblings of detractors, early signs are that the law is working as intended.

Drug decriminalisation isn't a political ideology - the decision to implement this in the ACT was based on strong evidence that treating drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal issue leads to better outcomes for the individual and the community.

What it means in simple terms is that people who have a quantity of drugs within the allowable threshold are diverted away from a possible criminal

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