A revolutionary law change which creates a legal recreational
drugs market in New Zealand is expected to have
near-unanimous support when it comes before Parliament.
The Psychoactive Substances Bill, introduced to the House
this week, will force party-pill manufacturers to prove their
products are safe before they come on to the market.
Legal highs are expected to be on shelves next year if the
substances in them are found by a new Ministry of Health
authority to be "low-risk".
The current legislation is seen as untenable because it
cannot cope with the rapid growth in products such as
synthetic cannabis, which had no testing requirements or
controls over where it could be sold.
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said the new
legislation would come into force by August, when a temporary
regime which banned unsafe products would lapse.
He expected it to be a "game-changer".
Asked how officials would define a "low-risk" substance, he
said: "These standards will be worked out by health experts
and clinicians - not politicians - and that is the way it
should be.
"But we are talking about pharmacological substances so there
is always some element of risk when people choose to consume
them. Individuals can have reactions," he said.
"But ... this legislation is [about] minimising that risk to
the greatest extent possible and making things as safe as
possible, and that is what the approval criteria will
reflect."
Most parties were still considering their stance on the bill,
but Labour and the Greens indicated they were likely to
support it."
Changes
Regulatory authority in Ministry of Health to monitor new
drugs
Committee of experts
New offences and penalties of up to two years' jail or fines
of up to $500,000
Minimum purchase age kicks in
Sellers of legal highs restricted
New code of practice and appeals committee created
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