“The Crisafulli government does not support Labor’s watering down of drug laws,” Police Minister Dan Purdie said.
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“Consuming, producing, trafficking and possessing illicit drugs causes serious harm to society, and our frontline police work tirelessly to disrupt these types of activities.
“Condoning illicit drug use of any kind will not be tolerated, which is why the Crisafulli government is reviewing legislation to overhaul Labor’s soft-on-drug approach.”
The move will likely see more people held in custody awaiting court or jailed for drug possession, at a time when the state’s prison system is already overcrowded.
On Friday, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie confirmed the Caboolture watchhouse would continue to hold only young offenders – a workaround introduced under Labor – due to a delay in construction of a new youth detention centre.
“We’ve extended that now till the end of 2025 to relieve some of the capacity issues that we have in our youth detention facilities,” Bleijie said, while promoting the LNP’s flagship ‘adult crime, adult time’ policy.
At the end of 2023-24, the Queensland prison system was running at 140.2 per cent of built cell capacity, despite the government setting itself a target of 90-95 per cent.
A Queensland Productivity Commission report in 2020 found a drug crackdown had contributed to prison overcrowding, while failing to stop people using or supplying illicit substances.
According to the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, the number of adults sentenced for drug possession peaked in 2015-16 and, apart from a surge in 2020-21, has since halved.
In the five years to the end of 2023-24, a jail term was imposed in 3818 cases where drug possession was the most serious offence, however fines were the most common penalty.
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