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1. What was proposedJeremy HansonLiberal · Opposition
   Read the original wording (350 words)

   That this Assembly: (1) notes that: (a) the Government’s decriminalisation of hard drugs came into effect in October 2023; (b) substantial increases in hard drug consumption in the ACT have been reported since that change by the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program; (c) cocaine use has increased by approximately 70 percent, heroin use has increased 30 percent and methamphetamine use has increased by 40 percent according to the program; (d) Canberra has the highest rate of drug overdoses according to the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre’s “Australian drug trends 2025: Key findings from the National Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) interviews” report; (e) 16 suspected drug overdose deaths have been reported in 2025 till September; (f) drug driving charges have increased to 423 for 1 January to 20 September 2025 alone, which is an over 20 percent increase from 347 in 2022-2023; (g) more than a quarter of ACT drug drivers tested positive for cocaine between 1 January and 20 September 2025; (h) drug related presentations at public emergency departments in the ACT have increased to 1,166 in 2024-2025; (i) when hard drugs were decriminalised in the ACT, Government Ministers claimed that because police would no longer be prosecuting users, extra resources could be allocated to targeting, apprehending and prosecuting drug dealers; and (j) deal and supply drug offences reported has in fact fallen by over half, from 85 in 2020-2021 to only 36 in 2024-2025; (2) further notes that: (a) the use of hard drugs has substantially increased, not reduced, since these drug law changes; (b) the reporting of drug dealers has nearly halved, not increased, since these drug law changes despite an increase in drug use; (c) a substantial increase in public drug-related disorder has been observed in Canberra Civic, with reports of individuals shooting up with needles out in the open; and (d) these changes have been a legal, social and policy failure on every measure the Government set when introducing these laws; and (3) calls on the Government to repeal these dangerous changes to drug laws before more harm is done in our community. Debate ensued.

2. What the Assembly decidedNot agreed

   Recorded vote on the final question

   Ayes 6

   • Peter Cain, Jeremy Hanson, Elizabeth Lee, James Milligan, Deborah Morris, Mark Parton

   Noes 13

   • Andrew Barr, Suzanne Orr, Yvette Berry, Michael Pettersson, Rachel Stephen-Smith, Caitlin Tough, Taimus Werner-Gibbings
   • Andrew Braddock, Shane Rattenbury, Jo Clay, Laura Nuttall
   • Fiona Carrick, Thomas Emerson