Narrator:

The real concern here is that AGS will lose search powers that can be abused without any oversight or accountability

Mr Kelly made it absolutely clear this was his and AGS's principal concern in his embarrassingly ignorant (of evidence) presentation before the Citizens Assembly on Drug Use

As part of my submission preparation to the #CADrugUse I spoke to Nick Glynn, who led the UK's College of Policing policy development on police stop and search powers

Nick pointed out to me that police love drug search powers, because drugs can come in tiny amounts & size

Nick Glynn This means that unlike searches justified on suspicion of weapons, drug searches allow police to require people to turn out their pockets – right up to strip searches or cavity searches

No other police powers are so deeply invasive

They are also the most difficult to review to

Nick Glynn ensure they were legal

Nick Glynn In short: drug search powers are the perfect incubator for bad police practice

It encourages police to be lazy about intelligence gathering and careless regarding the fundamental rights of ordinary citizens

It also facilitates racist police practices