McClay inherited the Bill from former Minister Peter Dunne, and needed to shepherd it through its remaining stages before the House adjourned for the July recess yesterday. He achieved that, so we reckon that he is entitled to put out a celebratory presser; check this out:
Associate Health Minister Todd McClay is delighted Parliament has passed the Psychoactive Substances Bill. The bill received overwhelming cross-party support with 119 members voting in favour with one against.
This new law provides effective restrictions on the availability and accessibility of so-called ‘legal highs’ in communities around New Zealand including:
• No sales from dairies or any sort of grocery store, petrol stations, or anywhere alcohol is sold;
• No sales to under 18 year olds;
• No advertising, except at the point of sale
• Anyone breaching the rules will face up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to half a million dollars.
“This Bill is squarely about public safety and will ensure that the onus will be on anyone wanting to produce a psychoactive product to show it poses no more than a low risk of harm. It is fitting that I should at this time acknowledge the considerable amount of work by the Hon Peter Dunne in getting this Bill to this stage. He has been the driving force behind this world-leading legislation,” Mr McClay says.
“I am thrilled that Local Authorities, the police and health services now have an effective legislative tool that allows them to control so-called ‘legal highs’ in New Zealand. This is an important first step, particularly with the start of school holidays. But we need to be aware that for some, particularly young people, there may be withdrawal issues or other health-related problems that will need to be addressed.”
“Managing this will take a collective effort from those in the education, health and enforcement sectors to ensure that the appropriate steps are taken when these issues arise,” says Mr McClay.
The Ministry of Health is working proactively with DHB public health units and mental health services, Police and the Ministry of Education to ensure information is available to those who want advice and help services.
Public health units and Police will continue to work with dairies and other retailers who will no longer be permitted to sell so called ‘legal highs’ from the day of enactment.
Police have agreed to collect unsold stock to dispose of in an appropriate manner. Any illegal sales following enactment will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“The suppliers and distributers of these products have told us they want to be responsible. They’ve told us they want to make low-risk products, and market them responsibly. This is their chance to prove it. I call on them to start now with their collection of unsold stock and refund the cost to the retailer of these products, rather than waiting until this law is enacted”.
“Our Police and Health services have better things to do than go round cleaning up after this industry, so this is their chance to show social and community responsibility,” says Mr McClay.
The Ministry of Health has developed a website to address queries regarding psychoactive substances, which will go live at from 10.00am Friday 12 July.
These so-called "legal highs" are a blight on our society. We have seen almost first-hand how insidious and nasty these substances are, with the teenage children of a couple of friends dabbling in them, and turning almost instantaneously from pleasant young men into deceitful little monsters causing their parents no end of angst. That these drugs were so freely available was a loophole which needed to be closed very quickly.
It is just unfortunate that the debate over animal testing overshadowed the final stages of this debate. We would regard ourselves as animal lovers, but if drugs need to be tested on "live" subjects and there is no other alternative way to do it, we would far rather that rats, mice and even dogs be used than humans, provided stringent controls are in place. To that degree we are critical of John Banks whose animal-loving principles were the difference yesterday between a split vote and a rare show of unanimity from our Parliament on a matter of considerable significance. A vote of 120-nil on the Third Reading of the Bill would have made a real statement.
That concern aside, it is great that this legislation has passed into law. This law is world-leading, and both Messrs Dunne and McClay should feel proud to have made a real change to our communities by placing controls on these dangerous drugs.
