Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
The parliament of Queensland passed a bill last week that will increase penalties for the possession, manufacture, or trafficking of Ecstasy (MDMA) and PMA (paramethoxyamphetamine or "Death") by rescheduling them as Schedule 1 drugs, the most serious classification under the Australian state's drug classification scheme. The bill also increases the penalties for a number of other drugs and precursors and has provisions to criminalize the possession of analogues to the drugs banned by the state.
Under the new law, maximum penalties for the possession, manufacture, or sale of Ecstasy and PMA will increase from 20 to 25 years. Maximum penalties for the possession, manufacture, or sale of Valium, Sarapax, steroids, Rohypnol, and ephedrine will increase to 20 years imprisonment. Previously, the maximum penalty for their supply or trafficking was five years jail while possession carried a maximum of two years imprisonment.
The Drug Misuse Amendment Bill of 2007 will be a "serious deterrent" to drug abuse, said Queensland Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Kerry Shine. "We are determined to fight the increase in drug use in our society and these laws provide a serious deterrent to anyone thinking of becoming involved in the illegal drug trade," he said, according to Sydney Morning Herald.
"New offences have been created for the supply and production of substances such as pseudoephedrine and for the possession of equipment used in the production of dangerous drugs such as pill presses," he said. Under the new law, possession of such items can garner a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
"We have also introduced a new concept called 'analogue' which means that drugs not named in the Drugs Misuse Act, but which have a similar structure pharmacological effect, will attract the same penalties as drugs that are in it," Shine noted.
While enforcement of the new drug laws will undoubtedly lead to more people doing more prison time in Queensland, the bill claimed that the cost of implementation will be "nil." It also addressed concerns about the liberty interests of Queensland residents, saying: "Whilst it could be said that these amendments will affect the rights and liberties of individuals by increasing penalties it should be noted that the penalties are maximum penalties, not mandatory penalties and will not have retrospective effect."
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Aussies
Didn't Australia start out as a prison state for Great Britain? No wonder there is so much drug crime! Probably genetics, wouldn't you say! Do they not use Valium, for what it was intended? The entire state of affairs confuses me. Politicians running medical care. Who, in their right mind, would allow that?!
In reply to Aussies by mlang52 (not verified)
so much drug crime?
the crime here is the the assault on the individual liberty. people should be free to make decisions about what they choose to do with their own body & minds. let police & procurators to get tough on real crime.
In reply to Aussies by mlang52 (not verified)
Send out the young Rorals and all their mates
Well if we are going back this level of coonversation(Australia is a crime dumping ground for Britain blah blah blah), then start by sending out the the drug addled young Royals and all their Coke mates.
OOPS! sorry, we dont accept NAZI'S ....Harry you can stay at home.
In reply to Send out the young Rorals and all their mates by Anonymous (not verified)
MY COMMENTS
LOOK REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKIN ABOUT. PEOPLE CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT BUT DESTROYING YOUR BODY WILL HURT YOU IN THE LONG RUN LIKE WHEN YOU GET OF AGE. ITS OK IF YOU WANT TO DAMAGE YOUR BODY BUT TO ME ITS NOT ACCEPTABLE TRUST YOU WILL HURT IN THE LONG RUN
In reply to MY COMMENTS by Anonymous (not verified)
Really... Firstly, try not to
Really... Firstly, try not to capitalize your writing, frankly it makes you look stupid. Secondly, don't make wild claims like that, there are more deaths from prescription drugs than illicit drugs in the world, are you suggesting we shouldn't use them? Aspirin causes more deaths then marijuana. You are a scumbag, its your generation that has ruined this world, let us clean up your mess.
In reply to Aussies by mlang52 (not verified)
Send out the young Royals and all their mates
Well if we are going back this level of coonversation(Australia is a crime dumping ground for Britain blah blah blah), then start by sending out the the drug addled young Royals and all their Coke mates.
OOPS! sorry, we dont accept NAZI'S ....Harry you can stay at home.
In reply to Aussies by mlang52 (not verified)
Send out the young Royals and all their mates
Well if we are going back this level of coonversation(Australia is a crime dumping ground for Britain blah blah blah), then start by sending out the the drug addled young Royals and all their Coke mates.
OOPS! sorry, we dont accept NAZI'S ....Harry you can stay at home.
Why not legalise and monitor
Why not legalise and monitor the manufacture of party drugs such as MDMA?
MDMA is relatively safe (was actually clinically used at one point in time)..I would put it on the same shelf as Alcohol and Tobacco..sure, its not one of the healthier lifestyle choices, but its neither addictive or violent.
Prevent clandestine chemists using harmful substitutes like PMA - legalise, tax, and save kids lives!!
example
this new law will only be used to imprison current large quantity drug suppliers and to make examples of lower pushers to create fear.
QLD government= fear mongerers
please
SYLF
i love
smoking weed
fucking love
weeeeeeeeed
im robbing a bank 0_o ?
im going to go roba bank a shoot a few people up while im at it ... less time robbing a bank in oz then growing a few pot plants fucken pathetic... well i cant use drugs now im going to take up rape as a hobby... less of a punishment.
stopdrugwar
to stop the "drug war" you stop the pharmacies selling it, within months the illegal trade will be gone and the "legitimate" organisation that sells drugs to kiddies heroin=morphine, cocaine=local anesthetic, speed=psuedo-ephedrine etc,etc,etc, will be broke and shown to be the frauds they are, watch their "success" rate plummet without nature's greatest gifts. by the by i haven't found out if cocaine is sold over the counter it seems it is not, not much gets in across the borders, it's not grown on a large scale so where do the drug cartels get it from????? could it be the pharmacies sell it to them???. To whit how does a business, doctors are profit driven business not the scientific field, how are they allowed to break the law, if it can be sold by one business it must be able to be sold by all. imagine if coca-cola got a law passed banning carbonated beverages being sold by anyone other than them, then passed another law banning you making carbonated beverages in their own home, then corrupted the news and education services to condition people into believing if you make a carbonated beverage in your own home for your own use YOUR EVIL. i'm not talking business here you can't take coca-cola and re-sell their product, you can't copy their product or put it in a different container and sell it thats against the rules of free and fair trade, BUT if coca stopped pepsi from selling carbonated beverages or stopped home-owners starting their own soft drink business THAT'S ILLEGAL.
When the scientific field of physics gets laws passed to make the construction field safer all business have to comply, if one construction company payed a scientist to produce evidence, got a law passed that made all their competitors unable to use "power-tools" because only this business has "scientific backing" and was able to use power tools safely, thus driving every other construction company out-of-business (houses would take up to ??10 times longer?? and forget about highrises can't build them without power tools) that would be ILLEGAL, monopoly laws, corruption etc,etc,etc
yet the medicine business has SAY NO TO DRUGS, SAY NO TO THE MEDICINE BUSINESS, SAY NO TO OUR TAX DOLLARS BEING USED TO SELL DRUGS TO KIDS, imagine if coca cola got a law passed that got tax dollars to buy every aussie a can of coke a day, or if you got coca cola insurance you get a tax-break. SAY NO TO A FOREIGN OWNED DRUG CARTEL CORRUPTING OUR POLITICIONS, EDUCATION AND NEWS MEDIA, SAY NO TO ILLEGAL BUSINESS PRACTICES
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