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Core Topics => Harm Reduction => Topic started by: Chip on October 10, 2016, 09:16:39 PM
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source: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/police-promise-not-to-charge-ice-users--could-this-be-the-answer-to-australias-drug-crisis/news-story/a2f85b06dd9ade28bd6aebf63165599d
Police promise not to charge ice users — could this be the answer to Australia’s drug crisis?
IT’S every ice addict’s worst fear.
They receive a text message, not from a dealer or their junkie mates, but from the police.
“Your number has communicated with this person” — and in those seven words the text informs them their number had been uncovered in a raid on a drug dealer, who has now been locked up.
But then it said something even more shocking.
“Please be assured you will not be prosecuted.”
The text messages, sent by police in Auckland, New Zealand, are part of a groundbreaking campaign to try and end the scourge of methamphetamine that has Kiwis and Aussies hooked in greater numbers than most other developed countries.
The police text then gives recipients three options to call for assistance, a helpline, an alcohol and drug service, or the number of a detective if they wanted help from police themselves, reported Newshub.
Of the 140 people, 20 chose to speak with police directly for help, a surprising result that one Australian expert has branded “innovative” and “open-minded”.
The people who met Auckland police face-to-face included wealthy company executives. New Zealand police say the approach is more beneficial than charging each meth user, and also allows them to gather intelligence on their focus, the dealers and cooks who spread the drug throughout the community.
John Coyne, head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s border protection program, told news.com.au it was crucial police in this country adopted innovative ways to combat the ice crisis because “law enforcement on its own isn’t going to solve it”.
(https://forum.drugs-and-users.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsapi.com.au%2Fimage%2Fv1%2F7deb31c0ee78b2bfd74c6bc89ddd6514&hash=d48b9f5412f4533341006ce97a375d24643d530d)
The text NZ drug users got from police.
to keep reading and see the videos, go to http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/police-promise-not-to-charge-ice-users--could-this-be-the-answer-to-australias-drug-crisis/news-story/a2f85b06dd9ade28bd6aebf63165599d