Aus: Police seek wider powers to tackle ice epidemic

[Chip (OP)]

(Ed. a step in the wrong direction that will only drive prices up and the scene further underground)

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/police-seek-wider-powers-to-tackle-ice-epidemic/story-fnn8dlfs-1227457092927

Police seek wider powers to tackle ice epidemic

POLICE across Australia want the power to strip search people who are not under arrest, in a desperate bid to identify ice users and dealers.

The Police Federation of Australia, which represents the nation’s 59,000 ­officers, has formally told federal MPs that police are coming into contact with crystal methamphetamine users regularly, and current search laws are too restrictive.

TRIAL SCHEME: Police to give ice users choice of rehab or criminal charges

The request comes as evidence in submissions to a Senate inquiry into the drug reveals the frightening speed with which the scourge is spreading. Leading researchers say there is even anecdotal evidence of young people turning to ice as a cheaper alternative to alcohol.

The Abbott Government has pledged to crack down on the drug and help frontline service workers who are being hammered by violent and ­erratic users.

FPA chief executive Mark Burgess said federal law changes and new programs were needed to make the job safer for police.

Mark Burgess of the Police Federation of Australia says officers believe rehabilitation centres for addicts are the way forward.

“A review of the legislation in respect to searches to persons in police custody, strip searches as well as the potential to search persons not under arrest, would be a welcome recommendation,” he told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement inquiry.
A strip search can currently only be carried out if the person has been arrested and charged, or if a magistrate has made an order.

Mr Burgess also called for more ­rehabilitation services.

“Feedback from members is that simply fining or even jailing users will not necessarily have the desired effect. Members working in some of the high ice-user areas suggest that compulsory rehabilitation is the best way forward,” he said.

“(But) dealers and those responsible for the manufacture (particularly through sophisticated drug labs) and/or importation of materials or precursor drugs should receive the full force of the law and receive no leniency.”

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the Government would not rule anything out as it developed a National Ice Strategy.

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said officers could currently search people not under arrest in limited circumstances but the force was watching the Senate inquiry closely.

Shocking new figures show that ice users now account for nine out of 10 people seeking help from some Queensland drug services. Some rehabilitation services report the number of users seeking help is five times greater than just five years ago, with a near doubling in the past year.

Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan, whose spokesman said the Government would not rule anything out.

The Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies (QANDA) – the peak body for 36 non-profit services – said a recent survey of 200 people in residential rehab found just under half were meth users. But in some services, such as one in South Brisbane, the rate was as high as 94 per cent, with ice overtaking cannabis as the top drug of concern.

The study found users spent an ­average $300-$500 a day feeding their habit, and two-thirds admitted they committed crime to pay for it.

A public hearing of the inquiry, to be held in Caboolture on Thursday, will take evidence from QANDA. Another group to appear includes the Australian Drug Foundation, which says crystal meth use in Australia is almost eight times the US level and almost five times the UK level, but just over half the NZ prevalence.

The National Drug Research Institute reported that while overall amphetamine use in the community had remained stable since 2010, there had been a shift towards ice.

Research also found a worrying trend that the purity of ice had ­tripled since 2009 – increasing risk but reducing the cost.

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