Drug law proposals set to be rejected

New Zealand Herald
Thursday Feb 11, 2010

Drug law proposals set to be rejected

A Law Commission report calling for possible decriminalisation of some drug use and allowing cannabis for medicinal use is set to be rejected by the Government.

The commission said it agreed with vigorous law enforcement on commercial drug dealers, but that there should be less emphasis on punishment of personal possession and use, and more emphasis on delivering effective treatment to addicts.

However, Justice Minister Simon Power says there is no prospect drug laws will be relaxed.

The commission report says there is no doubt that alcohol and illegal drugs both cause harm to the community, but "while the harms and costs associated with alcohol are typically understated and misunderstood, those associated with illegal drugs are often generalised and overblown".

It said the focus of drug laws should be on preventing the harm to others from drug use, not on preventing self-harm or reflecting moral values.

"The (Misuse Of Drugs) Act seems poorly aligned with the policy platform of harm minimisation," it said.

"Its focus is on controlling the supply of drugs by eliminating their illegal importation, production and supply.

"The use of drugs, even by those who are dependent on them, is largely treated as a matter solely of criminal policy rather than health policy.
It should, however, be the concern of both."

The commission said evidence suggested that drug regulations neither increased nor decreased drug use, and that for personal use the law would best focus on dealing with the harm the drug use caused.

"We think that the criminal justice system has a key role to play in identifying individuals whose drug use is causing harm and diverting them into drug education, assessment and treatment.

"Simply punishing a drug user, without taking steps to address their drug use, is a wasted opportunity."

The commission suggested three options when police found personal drug use:

- Police could issue up to three caution notices, with someone receiving a third caution assessed with a view to receiving treatment. A prosecution would follow any further uses.

- Police issuing infringement notices requiring a fixed monetary penalty for less serious drugs.

- A menu of options ranging from cautions or infringements to referral to drug assessment to prosecution.

When a prosecution was commenced, options included:

- Greater use of the police adult diversion scheme;

- Less severe penalties, possibly extending the presumption against imprisonment for use of Class C drugs to all personal use offences;

- Court-based diversion into assessment and treatment.

The commission also questioned whether possession of utensils for the purpose of using drugs should be a criminal offence.

It also said cannabis should be allowed for medicinal purposes, provided the potential for misuse could be controlled.

It said cultivators of cannabis should be licensed, which would minimise the risk the drug would be diverted into illegal activity.

To help addicts, the commission suggested there was place for a limited compulsory civil detention and treatment regime provided it had appropriate safeguards.

Mr Power said that while he was prepared to listen to submissions, "there's not a single, solitary chance that as long as I'm the Minister of Justice, we'll be relaxing drug laws in New Zealand".

"The Prime Minister has made the war against P and drugs a key part of his leadership and as long as I'm the Minister of Justice, we will not be relaxing drug laws."

- NZPA

* * *

New Zealand Herald
Friday Feb 12, 2010

Party pill import laws 'creating real risk'

By David Eames

Anyone wanting to import or manufacture the latest "party pill" will first have to have the product approved, if Law Commission proposals released yesterday win backing.

Currently, new drugs - including party pills - can be imported, manufactured and sold without regulation.

Any banning of the chemicals - such as in the case of pill ingredient BZP, which is now a Class C controlled drug - can only happen once the drug is in the country, and known to be dangerous.

Such a situation has the potential to create "a real risk of harm to the public", the commission says.

Its paper - entitled Issues Paper on Controlling and Regulating Drugs - calls for "a major overhaul" of the laws regulating psychoactive chemicals, including the drugs colloquially known as party pills.

The recommendations come as part of a wider report into New Zealand's drug laws, released by the commission yesterday.

The report makes a number of suggestions to free up drug statutes and move the emphasis away from law enforcement to a health and educational emphasis.

It said there is no doubt that alcohol and illegal drugs both cause harm to the community, but "while the harms and costs associated with alcohol are typically understated and misunderstood, those associated with illegal drugs are often generalised and overblown".

It lists a range of options designed to free up police to battle commercial drug dealers while ensuring drug users received education or treatment.

Included in the options: a formal police cautioning scheme for all drug types, the issuing of infringement notices - with fixed fines - for "less serious" drugs, and other options that could see offenders referred for assessment and counselling.

In cases where personal use charges went to prosecution, the report suggests greater use of police diversion, and court-ordered drug assessments and supervision.

Currently, the courts have a presumption that class-C cannabis offenders will not be sent to jail. The report suggests that presumption be extended to possession for personal use cases for all drug types.

It also suggested a revamp of the three-tier system of class A, B and C offending categories to just two-levels: possession and aggravated possession.

But the report's suggestions have been ruled out by Justice Minister Simon Power.

"There's not a single, solitary chance that as long as I'm the Minister of Justice we'll be relaxing drug laws in New Zealand.

Though he was "interested" in submissions on regulations limiting the supply of new drugs - including party pills - he had "no intention of changing the current rules".

"I'm happy to hear what the submissions have to say but I have advised the Law Commission that I have other things on my work agenda."

The commission also recommended the use of medical marijuana "in limited circumstances", and the licensing of cannabis growers.

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