A Sniff Off party protesting the use of sniffer dogs at music events will be held in Sydney this Saturday, with backing from Newtown’s Greens MP, Jenny Leong, and Aussie muso Paul Mac.
As News Corp Australia reports, the party’s organisers say police drug-detecting dogs subject people to humiliating searches, which can often ruin a fun night out. The Greens, who say sniffer dogs are wrong 64 to 72 per cent of the time, plan to introduce a bill to Parliament to end the police sniffer dog program.
“We want a harm minimisation approach to drugs and we don’t want intimidation and harassment from police and sniffer dogs in our community,” Jenny Leong has said.
David Shoebridge, the Greens’ Upper House MP who is leading the party’s campaign, has said, “We decided to throw our own party to fight for the right to be free from oppressive over-policing. Drug dogs don’t work, they get it wrong most of the time and damage police relations with young people.”
Shoebridge has also shown his excitement for Paul Mac, who will be performing a very apt song at the Sniff Off party.
“Musicians like Paul Mac are supporting this campaign to protect their audiences from public humiliation from police drug dogs,” Shoebridge said. “We are extremely pleased that Paul Mac is playing at the Sniff Off party, including an exclusive performance of his song, ‘Man’s Best Friend’.”
Police Minister Troy Grant’s office has said the NSW Government supports the police use of sniffer dogs.
“People who attend events should be able to do so without fear of the impact of drug use and any associated violent behaviour,” a spokeswoman for Minister Grant said. “Anyone worried about drug detection dogs, should simply not bring drugs to those events.”
A spokesman for NSW Police has said that over the last three years, NSW Police drug detection dogs helped officers seize more than 800kg of illicit drugs.
“Drug detection dogs have a strong deterrence factor: in addition to the seizure of prohibited drugs from dealers and users, individuals regularly dump these drugs upon seeing the dogs,” the spokesman said.
“These drugs are not consumed and therefore the significant risk of harm avoided. The prevention of a death of a person through drug detection dog deployment is immeasurable. Drug detection dogs are but one strategy employed by police to assist in the detection of prohibited drugs across NSW.”
Aside from Paul Mac, the Sniff Off party will also feature Hip Hop Hoe, Love Club, Gang of She, Platform 19, Hubble, Wyldestyle and Cihan Saral. The event kicks off at 7pm this Saturday, 30th May, at Marrickville’s The Red Rattler.
For more information, visit the Sniff Off Facebook page and the Red Rattler website.
