Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Victorian Law Reform, Road and Community Safety Committee’s Inquiry into Drug Law Reform.
In our submission we call for a reduction in the number of people interacting with the justice system because of drug use, and welcome approaches that treat drug use as a health issue and provide consistent access to diversionary and support services.
We recommended strengthening and expanding a number of initiatives that promote positive outcomes for people engaged in drug use and at risk of involvement in the justice system including restorative justice approaches, drug courts, soft-entry points and the trial of a Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in North Richmond.
Drug law reforms must be matched with appropriate structures, plans and resources targeted to our most vulnerable communities to effectively break the web of disadvantage. We need a multi?layered, cooperative and coordinated strategy that is owned and driven by the community, so that we can prevent people from cycling through disadvantage, drug misuse and criminal justice involvement.
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Download our submission to the Inquiry into Drug Law Reform.
