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SOCIOLOGY
REPORT: CHANGE PROPOSAL INCLUDING FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT AND CHANGE STRATEGY
Table of Contents
1. The Chosen Policy, Its History and Rationale: The Narcotic Drugs Act 1967    3
2. Impact of the Policy    4
3. An Area for the Reformation of the Policy    5
4. Proposal for Reform    6
5. Assessment of Feasibility in Socio-Political and Ideological Contexts    6
6. The Advocacy Strategy    7
References    8
1. The Chosen Policy, Its History and Rationale: The Narcotic Drugs Act 1967
The Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 was established for the welfare of the population, which included certain obligations before manufacturing narcotic drugs and cultivation of cannabis for medical purpose. The convention keeps on changing and the updated version was amended according to the 1972 protocol (Australian Government, 2016). The objective of the Act lies on the ground of providing licence to the narcotic drug manufacturers or the cultivators of cannabis. A reason, which is not enough logical, will not allow the providence of the licence for the cannabis production.
On the other hand, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Act of 2007, deals with the safety of the person who are severely depended on alcohol and substance abuse. It engages the person with voluntary programs to stabilise their acts and assess their condition (NSW Legislation, 2021). This framework of legislation deals with the welfare of the community leading to a healthy society.
The act came into policy from the 20th century. It was successful until the 1970s but, from 1980s, measures were taken for the harm reduction treatment of such drugs. It was seen that the over us of such drugs and alcoholism made the people addicted and hence a treatment act was enforced for the commonwealth of the community (Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda, 2016). The final amendment of the act in 2016 provides the permission for the usage of cannabis in the medicinal purpose of the patients. The 1967 bill was inadequate in risk management regarding the cannabis production as import and export of raw materials and cannabis products were done illegally through such act.
The medicinal purpose of cannabis had been at high risk as it was illegally used for personal addiction. The amendment brought the rules of using, manufacturing and supplying cannabis products only for the medicinal and scientific purpose. Two main criteria the amended act follows are providence of licence to the cultivator of the cannabis for medical purpose and providence of licence to the person who is eligible to handle such product in an ethical manner according to his business history. The history shows that the use of cannabis is tightly handled in Australia.
Firstly, it was regulated by the Criminal Code 1995, which made the import, export and trafficking of cannabis illegal. Secondly, in 1967, the Narcotic Drugs Act was established, which allowed the use of cannabis for medicinal purpose. Thirdly, the Customs Act 1901 addressed the import and export of narcotic substances and Customs regulations 1965 allowed the import of cannabis for medicinal and scientific purpose.
Lastly, Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 addresses the regulation of authorised medicines and medical products and Quarantine Act 1908, provides the legislative for human, plant and animal activities of quarantine in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda, 2016). The rationale of the act is to prevent the abuse of drugs and include it in the therapeutic use.
The medicines are registered as therapeutic goods, clinical trials are done all over New South Wales and Victoria and the Authorised Prescriber scheme is maintained for its access (Australian Government, 2019).
2. Impact of the Policy
The abuse of the addictive substance such as drugs or alcohol leads to the several health problems of a targeted group of people in the general community. As mentioned by Degenhardt et al. (2019), the opioid use in the population creates an addiction within the people. Though it is used for medicinal purpose, yet it creates an addition, which creates several health impacts. These criteria are controlled by the legislative framework of the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 of Australia, which creates an impact on such population for its safe use.
The National Drug Strategy deals with the reduction of harm caused from the use of alcohol, ice tobacco, and workplace development.
A social inequality is addressed among the people of the community who are indulged in substance abuse. It can be either drug abuse or alcoholism. The legal framework targets such population and includes them under the advocacy of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Act of 2007. This act influences the population by including them with the voluntary programs and correcting them from the harm of substance abuse. As supported by Potter and Chatwin (2018), the impact of the policy can be seen in...