A long-awaited drug reform report recommends banning police strip searches and sniffer dogs at music festivals.
Advocates say the report paves the way for sensible reforms. It follows a summit held by the NSW government in December, marking 25 years since a landmark conference that mapped the state's drug policies for decades to come.
Among its 56 recommendations is a pilot phase to stop the use of sniffer dogs and strip-searching festival patrons suspected of possessing drugs.
Another recommendation of the report released on Thursday was allowing medicinal cannabis patients to drive without fear of being penalised when pulled over.
The summit was slammed at the time for being too top-down in its approach and risked becoming a political talkfest without tackling meaningful reforms.
Health Minister Ryan Park acknowledged tensions emanating from the conference in receiving the report, noting "not everyone agreed on everything, but we sought to have every voice listened to".
The national peak body for drug and alcohol policies says the time for talk is over.
"The NSW government now has the mandate they said they needed to make change - now we need to see action," said Robert Stirling, chief executive of the Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies.
"It's time to get on with meaningful reform."
Greens MP Cate Faehrmann criticised the report for not going far enough or seriously engaging with experts to purposefully "reduce drug harm and save lives".
"It's clear that recommendations sought from a majority of stakeholders at the drug summit have been softened to make them politically palatable for a risk-averse premier," she said.
The report, authored by former senior NSW politicians Carmel Tebbutt and John Brogden, had piloting of drug-checking services as one of its recommendations.
Drug-checking was the top recommendation of a 2019 inquiry into the deaths of six young people at music festivals when Coroner Harriet Grahame found evidence to support community- and festival-based services was "compelling".
That recommendation was rejected by the then-Liberal government, which opted instead for amnesty bins at festival entrances.
Legalise Cannabis Party MP Jeremy Buckingham said the inclusion of a recommendation on reforming cannabis and driving laws was proof "the current regime unfairly discriminates", and that he would work with the government to pass updated laws.
Advocacy group Uniting said the government had broad community support to push its reforms, with two out of three NSW residents favouring health interventions for drug use.
"The families and friends of those impacted by our unfair drug laws and communities across NSW have waited too long for change," it said.
Premier Chris Minns and the health minister have repeatedly rejected decriminalisation on the grounds they lack a mandate.
