The President of the WA branch of the Australian Medical Association says he will continue to push the debate over decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, despite authorities taking a strong stand against it.

Dr Andrew Miller said alternative solutions on how the state treated drug users needed to be debated.

He called for a "mature conversation".

"The current situation's not working, there's a lot of harm from drugs and there's a lot of harm from people going to jail," he said.

"The one thing we're not seeing enough of is money spent on rehabilitation, money spent on health intervention.

"There's a lot of addiction specialists who truly believe that we don't want to legalize the drugs but if we can decriminalize the drugs that we may get better outcomes.

"It's very disappointing when we see the well-chronicled famous young people in our town whose lives have descended into interaction with the criminal justice system and drugs."

Dr Miller said the McGowan Government should look into whether WA could trial the Portuguese model.

While possession of and use of illicit drugs in Portugal is illegal, those caught with small amounts are fined and sent to rehabilitation treatment instead of prison.

"The AMA's position is that illicit drug use is bad for people and it's bad for the community and we need to look again at what the best ways are to minimize the harm that drug addiction brings to families in WA every day."

State and federal governments take hard line

When asked about the issue, WA Premier Mark McGowan was adamant.

"We're not going to decriminalize drugs in Western Australia, full stop," Mr McGowan said.

"We will work with families and the community to make sure there's a range of treatment options for people who are low level users, people who end up in prison.

"Decriminalization isn't the answer, you need to have a mix of solutions, and what we want to have is that mix of education, treatment as well as the force of law."

WA Premier Mark McGowan said a range of treatments was better than decriminalisation of drugs. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

The Premier admitted he did not know about the situation in Portugal.

Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan also dismissed the proposal.

The AMA's call has coincided with a media release from the Minister's office which said illicit drug use costs the nation an estimated $4.4 billion a year.

The release noted a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology which said the multi-billion-dollar bill included "health care, crime and economic losses".

The AIC report showed a 23 per cent increase in ice users from 2007 to 2013.

Tough measures could force users 'underground'

The CEO of one of WA's leading rehabilitation centres said the McGowan Government's policy of life sentences for methamphetamine traffickers could cause users to go "underground" and resist help.

The Government has introduced legislation to increase the maximum sentence for meth traffickers from 25 years to life imprisonment, for people caught with 28 grams or more.

Palmerston Association CEO Sheila McHale said it could cause heavy users to avoid seeking help.

"If we have an environment where people are facing what could be a life sentence they will go underground and they won't be quite so willing to seek help and that's the last thing we want," she said.

Ms McHale welcomed the AMA's call for alternative solutions.