Vanessa Goodwin: Labor soft on drugs

The Labor opposition has abandoned any political responsibility on cannabis use by saying policy settings should be in the hands of non-elected bureaucrats.

In a remarkable statement when asked whether cannabis should be decriminalised Labor stated:

“Labor supports harm minimisation programmes and believes that policy settings in this field should be led by experts like the Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs Council making informed decisions based on research.”*

This is an abrogation of Labor’s political responsibility to Tasmanians.

It is saying, sotto voce, that it is soft on drugs and would have them decriminalised.

Labor’s position is in stark contrast to the Government’s which has no plans to decriminalise cannabis.

It is the duty of both the government and the opposition to state clearly and succinctly where they stand on major social issues such as this.

Shunting off responsibility for such decisions to non-elected bodies is a cop out.

After just two months in the political wilderness Labor is proving why it was not up to the challenge of government and that it has no stomach for the decision making.

*Examiner “Push to decriminalise pot” 12 May, 2014.
Vanessa Goodwin, Attorney-General