When the NSW Drug Summit was held last year, it felt like a turning point. For the first time in a generation, experts, community leaders and politicians from all sides came together around a shared goal: drug laws should focus on care, not punishment.

That moment gave people real hope. After decades of failed “tough on drugs” politics, the Summit co-chairs report delivered 56 clear recommendations grounded in evidence and public safety.

This week, the government finally released its response. And sadly, while there are some steps forward, it’s clear Labor blinked instead of showing courage.

Progress on paper, delay in practice

Out of the 56 recommendations, the government supported most of them. That sounds impressive, but the fine print tells another story. The low-risk, technical items like workforce training and stigma reduction got the tick. The reforms that would truly change lives were pushed aside, labelled “supported in principle,” “noted,” or sent for “further consideration.”

It’s the kind of bureaucratic ‘caution’ that keeps people waiting while the system continues to impose harm.

A few bright spots

There are positive signs. The pill testing trial now running at festivals is progress and something the government deserves credit for continuing. The same goes for steps to reduce stigma and support the health workforce.

But these are the easy wins. The real test is whether they’ll tackle the laws that continue to hurt people.

The moral failures

Two decisions in particular show how far we still have to go.

The first is the refusal to end the use of drug detection dogs and strip searches. These practices have caused years of harm and trauma without improving safety. Keeping them is a political choice, not an evidence-based one.

The second is the delay on fixing unfair driving laws for people prescribed medical cannabis.

Fear still drives drug policy

The evidence could not be clearer. Over the past decade, every major inquiry from the Ice Inquiry to multiple coroners’ reports has told governments the same thing: the current approach is failing. People are still using drugs. Drug-related deaths have not fallen. Organised crime keeps getting richer.

The government knows this. It is why they called the Drug Summit in the first place. They recognise that something has to change. But fear still shapes their decisions. Fear of tabloid headlines. Fear of police unions. Fear that reform will be painted as weakness.

That fear showed itself even before the Summit began. The Premier ruled out decriminalisation before discussions had even started, taking the biggest and most effective reform off the table. The one change that could have reduced harm and unclogged the justice system was not even allowed on the agenda. That decision set the tone for everything that followed.

NSW is now caught between two stories. One is grounded in evidence and care. The other is built on punishment dressed up as safety. Right now, the government is trying to live in both.

That middle ground might seem safe, but it is out of step with community expectations. People expect governments to act on evidence and deliver policies that reduce harm and improve safety, not cling to outdated ideas that make the problem worse.

The failed ideology of “law and order”

What stands in the way is not a lack of evidence. It is the old ideology of “law and order” that has shaped NSW politics for decades. It treats punishment as proof of strength and confusion as control. It promises safety but delivers harm.

The performance of punishment — roadside drug testing, police operations, strip searches — is presented as protection, even when the evidence shows it fails to make people safer. These are political rituals that look like action but achieve nothing. They are theatre, designed to reassure voters that the government is in charge. But while the headlines fade, the harm remains. People are searched, humiliated, criminalised and excluded, all in the name of “safety.”

This is the false choice that traps good governments in bad policy. It rewards fear and punishes courage. It tells leaders to perform punishment rather than deliver safety.

The truth is that NSW does not need more punishment. It needs effective systems that actually keep people safe.

Ending the harm means replacing the theatre of punishment with policies that actually work.

The driving law that punishes patients

Nowhere is that clearer than in the so-called road safety laws targeting cannabis users. Right now, anyone using legally prescribed cannabis can lose their licence and job simply for having trace THC in their system, even when they are not impaired. This law punishes safe drivers and wastes police time while doing nothing to stop actual dangerous driving.

The Drug Summit recommended a fair fix, a medical defence for prescribed cannabis patients like the one already working in Tasmania. Instead of acting, the government has sent the issue to another expert working group that will report by the end of this year. That might sound like progress, but every week of delay means more people punished for following their doctor’s advice.

The government says it needs more research, but the evidence is already clear. Trace THC does not mean someone is unsafe to drive. What is missing is not data, it is the willingness to lead.

NSW can keep performing punishment for the sake of appearances, or it can take real control by delivering safety through evidence-based reform.

Evidence-based leadership can end the harm

Fixing these laws is not risky. It is practical, proven and consistent with what other jurisdictions have already done. States and countries that have modernised their drug policies have seen better outcomes for public health, road safety and justice.

The real risk lies in doing nothing. Keeping outdated laws wastes police time, ruins lives and fails to make anyone safer.

NSW now has the chance to show what real control looks like — government leading with evidence, not reacting to fear. Evidence-based leadership delivers what people expect: policies that work, systems that keep communities safe and decisions that reduce harm instead of creating it.

Taking back control means ending the politics of punishment and choosing practical solutions that actually keep people safe. It is how we end the harm.

What happens next?

Change will not come from one decision alone. It will come from persistence, from people like you standing up for fairness, and from leaders brave enough to act on evidence rather than old political habits.

If we keep showing that the community wants practical solutions and real safety, not fear and performance, this government can still become the one that ends the harm.

Let’s start by fixing the driving law.

We can still win this fight. Fixing the driving law is a clear, achievable step toward a fairer system that puts health and safety before politics.

If enough of us speak up, MPs will see that ordinary voters expect reform. They will see that courage and evidence can win public trust.

You can help make that happen.

Email your MP now to tell them it is time to fix unfair driving laws for medical cannabis patients. The message is ready to go. It only takes a minute to send.

The government might have blinked, but together we can make sure they find the courage to act.