Queensland's 'war on drugs' a waste of police time, says Ted Noffs Foundation

The experience of drug prohibition in Queensland, where police charge more users than anywhere else in Australia, shows the state “can’t arrest its way out of the problem”, says a leading social worker.

The chief executive of the Ted Noffs Foundation, Matt Noffs, said he hoped to lobby local politicians about following interstate moves away from the “war on drugs” and reducing the burden on law enforcement.

Drug arrests in Queensland have long dwarfed those elsewhere, reaching 32,391 of a national total of 92,882 in 2013-14, with NSW next on 25,738 despite its larger population.

Most of the Queensland arrests were drug consumers (28,389), although police also arrested nearly as many dealers and producers (4,002) as in NSW (4,124).

Noffs said senior police figures, including the head of the NSW drug squad, as well as the former federal police commissioner Mick Palmer, had come to the conclusion that...

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URL: 
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/19/queenslands-war-on-drugs-a-waste-of-police-time-says-ted-noffs-foundation