Position Paper on Drug Legalization in Australia

Drug Legalization and Trafficking in Australia.
Drugs are substances that change a person’s physical or mental estate. The vast majority of drugs are used to treat medical conditions, both physical and mental. Some, however, are used outside the medical setting for their effects on the mind. These are referred to as recreational drugs and many of them of are illegal in Australia. This is where the law is applied.
Illegal or illicit drugs are drugs that are not permitted by law; meaning people can’t use, produce, sell, or import them. There are even restrictions on the importation of certain ingredients used for production of drugs, such as pseudoephedrine which is used in the production of amphetamines.
Legalization of drugs in Australia is a concerned because it affects all of its citizen -people who use drugs who have family members using drugs; health professionals suing people for drug related matters and others. The strongest argument against legalization is that it would result in significant increases in drug use. The moral argument against legalization suggests the use of illegal drugs is amoral, anti-social and otherwise not acceptable in today’s society. The concern is that legalization would send the wrong message. (That the law is in favor of drug use)
An alternative to legalization is decriminalization which refers to a reduction of legal penalties, such as fines, or by diverting drug use offenders away from a criminal conviction. One argument against decriminalization is that it doesn’t address the black market & criminal networks of drug selling. The moral arguments noted may also apply to decriminalization is lesser penalties that may suggest that society approves drug use.
Drug laws in Australia are guided by both state and Federal laws and are extremely complicated to navigate with many things to be considered. Questions such as “what is drug possession” “what is a trafficable amount?” are some of the questions that may be asked.