❓ Mr. Quigley questions the Minister for Police about the government's control over synthetic drugs, referencing a media incident involving Hon. Phil Edman. The Minister defends the government's actions and outlines steps taken to address the issue.
AnsweredQoN 516Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS
516. Mr J.R. QUIGLEY to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to the latest action by Hon Phil Edman in which he told the media that he would be inhaling what he thought
was a synthetic drug and to the minister's warning email urging him to
hand his contraband over to the police.
(1) Is the minister aware that the makers of
the product that she has warned is contraband also make other joke breath spray
products, such as Look and Feel Canadian Instantly breath spray, Instant Irish
Accent breath spray, Understand your Mother breath spray and what must be a
particularly potent one, the Enjoy your Job breath spray?
(2) Even if the minister is not aware of
these joke breath spray products, does this latest episode not highlight that
this government has no idea, or control over, what synthetic drugs are being
sold in Western Australia?
516. Mr J.R. QUIGLEY to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to the latest action by Hon Phil Edman in which he told the media that he would be inhaling what he thought
was a synthetic drug and to the minister's warning email urging him to
hand his contraband over to the police.
(1) Is the minister aware that the makers of
the product that she has warned is contraband also make other joke breath spray
products, such as Look and Feel Canadian Instantly breath spray, Instant Irish
Accent breath spray, Understand your Mother breath spray and what must be a
particularly potent one, the Enjoy your Job breath spray?
(2) Even if the minister is not aware of
these joke breath spray products, does this latest episode not highlight that
this government has no idea, or control over, what synthetic drugs are being
sold in Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Butler for this question.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : She is such a funny person!
Several members
interjected.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : The member for Butler has raised a very
serious issue. The Leader of the Opposition might want to pay attention because
it is an issue in his electorate of Rockingham that Hon Phil Edman has
highlighted.
Mr M. McGowan : You did nothing! You sent the police into
my office.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I would like to get on the record what the
government has been doing, because we have not been doing ''nothing''
as the Leader of the Opposition has alleged. As I described in this place a few
days ago, we have formed a grouping of agencies that have responsibility in
this area. The Western Australian emerging psychoactive substances review group
comprises representatives from WA Police, the Drug and Alcohol Office, the
Department of Health's pharmaceutical service, the ChemCentre, the
Department of Commerce and the Australian Customs and Border Protection
Service. This group's brief is to review the legislative framework, to
investigate and explore further legislative options so that we can have more of
an impact in this space, and to manage the broader issues within the Western
Australian community regarding the impact of these psychoactive substances.
We are not denying that it is a very problematic area for government.
We have also been pushing this through the Intergovernmental Committee on
Drugs, which is a federal forum. The other day I mentioned that on 4 July I
will go to a meeting of the Attorneys General and ministers of police of all
the states, along with our federal colleagues, at which we will examine and
discuss the outcomes of a paper on a national response to this issue. We
believe that we need to have a multitiered approach to get rid of the scourge
of these psychoactive substances being peddled in our community. We have not
been sitting on our hands. In the interim we have been using a somewhat
cumbersome mechanism by which we have declared the psychoactive substances as
new chemical formulations of these drugs come into the sphere. WA Police is
active in seizing these products; it has already seized over 15 kilograms of
this product just in the Peel area. If those psychoactive substances are on our
list of prohibited chemicals, we proceed with charges and confiscate assets and
cash that are the proceeds of those sales. We are doing a lot. I understand
that it is a slow and difficult process to get the correct legislative
response, but we want to get it correct so that we can stop the peddlers of
these poisons who sell them to children in our communities. We want to make
sure that we have the right response so that the peddlers of these drugs cannot
find a loophole in the legislation that we will put forward and find a way to
exploit our vulnerable children.
thank the member for Butler for this question.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : She is such a funny person!
Several members
interjected.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : The member for Butler has raised a very
serious issue. The Leader of the Opposition might want to pay attention because
it is an issue in his electorate of Rockingham that Hon Phil Edman has
highlighted.
Mr M. McGowan : You did nothing! You sent the police into
my office.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I would like to get on the record what the
government has been doing, because we have not been doing ''nothing''
as the Leader of the Opposition has alleged. As I described in this place a few
days ago, we have formed a grouping of agencies that have responsibility in
this area. The Western Australian emerging psychoactive substances review group
comprises representatives from WA Police, the Drug and Alcohol Office, the
Department of Health's pharmaceutical service, the ChemCentre, the
Department of Commerce and the Australian Customs and Border Protection
Service. This group's brief is to review the legislative framework, to
investigate and explore further legislative options so that we can have more of
an impact in this space, and to manage the broader issues within the Western
Australian community regarding the impact of these psychoactive substances.
We are not denying that it is a very problematic area for government.
We have also been pushing this through the Intergovernmental Committee on
Drugs, which is a federal forum. The other day I mentioned that on 4 July I
will go to a meeting of the Attorneys General and ministers of police of all
the states, along with our federal colleagues, at which we will examine and
discuss the outcomes of a paper on a national response to this issue. We
believe that we need to have a multitiered approach to get rid of the scourge
of these psychoactive substances being peddled in our community. We have not
been sitting on our hands. In the interim we have been using a somewhat
cumbersome mechanism by which we have declared the psychoactive substances as
new chemical formulations of these drugs come into the sphere. WA Police is
active in seizing these products; it has already seized over 15 kilograms of
this product just in the Peel area. If those psychoactive substances are on our
list of prohibited chemicals, we proceed with charges and confiscate assets and
cash that are the proceeds of those sales. We are doing a lot. I understand
that it is a slow and difficult process to get the correct legislative
response, but we want to get it correct so that we can stop the peddlers of
these poisons who sell them to children in our communities. We want to make
sure that we have the right response so that the peddlers of these drugs cannot
find a loophole in the legislation that we will put forward and find a way to
exploit our vulnerable children.
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