The Green Party of Australia have unveiled their policy on drugs to help the growing problem of drug trafficking, use and addiction.

Heroin addicts would be given access to free, tax payer funded heroin in a combined strategy that would also require them to undergo detox and rehab programs as well as counselling. While holding commercial quantities of drugs would still remain illegal, users would not be as heavily targeted under the new strategy.

The plan has been predictably criticised by the major Australian political parties who have a lot of political capital to lose by supporting controversial or unpopular policy measures.

The Greens, on the other hand are a second tier party whose main shot at influence could come in holding the balance of power in Australia’s lower house. By unveiling a hardline adherence to harm reduction strategies including shooting galleries and drug provision for addicts, the party is effectively playing a bluff. They know that no government in Australia would embrace this scheme as they present it, but by adopting it they can hope that their negotiations with any sitting government would at least include some harm reduction strategies.

That would effectively provide a politically tenable outcome for any of the likely players as well as see a significant shift in drug policy that the Greens (and many others) perceive as having failed.

A not so dumb move from the Greens.

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