Is drug-use stigma a breach of human rights law?: Insights from Australia

Whilst international drug policy increasingly recognises the need to address drug-use stigma, there is limited consideration of how drug-use stigma can be addressed through legal frameworks. This commentary considers the relationship between drug-use stigma and human rights law that prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. In doing so, this commentary examines a landmark Australian coronial case that raised the possibility that stigma may constitute a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and therefore is unlawful due to its incompatibility with human rights law. This framing carries potential implications for the legality of stigma in Australia and other jurisdictions that prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Human rights frameworks could underpin legal claims against stigmatising treatment of people who use drugs. Establishing a sound legal basis for the claim that drug-use stigma is unlawful could also compel legal authorities, including courts and legislatures, to adopt legal decisions and statutes that do not stigmatise people who use drugs and thusly move away from the criminalisation and carceralisation of drug use. Further evolution and testing of these arguments are needed to harness the possibilities of Australian and international law to address drug-use stigma.