West Australian Premier Mark McGowan says personal drug possession won’t be decriminalised, after the Australian Medical Association WA called for a debate on addiction being treated as a health, rather than criminal issue.

Mr McGowan said he supported treatment options for prisoners with substance abuse issues, but was not open to a debate on decriminalising any drug offences.

“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,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“What I hate is people going into prison, coming out worse than when they went in.

“Our focus is using our prison system as a punishment mechanism but also providing opportunities for people to get off drugs.”

AMA WA president Andrew Miller wants the state government to look at the merits of the Portuguese model, where personal drug possession are sent to treatment rather than prison.

Portugal reformed their drug laws 2001 so drug users are dealt with outside the courts, with social workers and psychologists who sentence them on a case-by- case basis to a range of measures including rehabilitation, fines and travel bans.

A joint Australian and UK study in 2010 looked at the effect of the reforms, and found it led to fewer school students using drugs, fewer overall drug deaths, reduced transmission of HIV, and also fewer drug offenders in prison.

Mr McGowan said he had not heard of the Portuguese model, but that he supported the Perth Drug Court, which can divert people facing criminal charges to rehabilitation programs before they are sentenced.

The drug court mandates individualised programs involving frequent drug tests and access to support services for three months to one year, and at the completion of the program the person is sentenced with their treatment taken into account.