Police in the Hunter Valley will have new powers to stop and search convicted drug dealers as part of a two year trial of the NSW government's Drug Supply Prohibition Order scheme.
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The trial was launched in the Hunter Valley, Bankstown, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour police districts on Monday, May 16, and Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell said the new laws give NSW Police the power to raid homes, businesses, planes and boats of known drug dealers and even stop them in the street without a warrant.
"This is a two year trial at this stage and needs to test a very complex piece of legislation before the powers can be expanded to other areas," Mr Layzell said.
Police will have to apply to a magistrate for a prohibition order to come into effect under the scheme and only then will they have unlimited powers to search without a warrant, Mr Layzell said.
However Joanne van der Plaat, the president of the Law Society of NSW, said the pilot scheme will "do little to solve the problem" of drug abuse and dependency.
"There's no question that high level drug dealers should be put out of business, however strong powers exist already for the NSW Police and courts to do just that," Ms van der Plaat said.
"The high level of secrecy involved in the application process and low threshold necessary for the police to obtain a Drug Supply Prohibition Order (DSPO) against an offender who's already served their sentence, have the potential to erode the rule of law."
Ms van der Plaat said the scheme in its current form "lacks sufficient oversight to ensure it operates fairly" and said the Law Society was concerned it would result result in the targeting vulnerable cohorts including young offenders and the homeless.
"The scheme will do nothing to aid rehabilitation, and may well do little to hinder high level drug dealers either," she said.