Lees-Galloway Iain: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLees-Galloway Iain: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 04 August 2011. Volume:674;Page:20350. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North): Yes thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson. Let me say at the outset that Labour supports the third reading of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill as we have supported it throughout every stage of its passage through Parliament.We support any measure that reduces the harm caused by the abuse and misuse of mind-altering substances. However although this bill will probably not make matters any worse it will do very little to reduce the harm caused by the particular set of mind-altering substances captured by the Misuse of Drugs Act. It is in effect merely tinkering with the current Act. If this Parliament is serious about tackling the issue of substance abuse and the effects of substance abuse on both individuals and communities then we will move with all practicable haste towards a total replacement of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Continued tinkering with the current Act simply will not do the job. It is time for a 21st century response to a 21st century issue.The original Act came into force in the mid-1970s. Since then substances have changed. Attitudes have changed. Our ability to treat those who suffer because of addiction to any drug—whether it be alcohol cannabis P or any other substance—has changed as well. And I do mean treat. It is time we put the health system not the justice system at the centre of drug legislation. But that is a debate for another day.I wish to talk about the provisions in this bill but I would also like to talk about just how much of a priority this bill has been for the Government. The bill was introduced in April last year. Its first reading did not happen for another 4 months. It was referred to the Health Committee and reported back to the House in November last year. Sincethen the bill has languished on the Order Paper clearly not a priority for the current Government. When I hear the Government’s rhetoric about its war on P I question just how much of a priority this has been. We are now in August and this bill has been sitting on the Order Paper since last November. It has not been a priority for the current Government. I have no doubt that National members will stand up and praise Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne and he should be praised for some of his work that is in the bill particularly his amendments brought in earlier this week by way of a Supplementary Order Paper. When I hear the Government’s rhetoric that drug abuse and the war on P are its priorities I think it is laughable considering how long it has taken for this bill to pass through the House.What does this bill actually do? As the Minister said the original intention was to reclassify ephedrine and pseudoephedrine which are the precursor substances for pure methamphetamine—P. We know that as enormous a problem as P is in this country at best these changes will help to address maybe 30 percent of the supply of methamphetamine in this country. It is probably more like 10 percent if we are really realistic. That is significant and that is why Labour is supporting this bill because as I said any measure that takes a positive step is worth supporting. But again if we are honest and if we are realistic about just how much of a measure this is in tackling the P problem in this country then we would realise that this is minor. This is small stuff. The real problem is these precursor elements coming across our border in the flood of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine—mainly from China and from other parts of the world.I know that people across New Zealand now have to forfeit their ability to get without prescription what is probably the best cold and flu medicine available. I think people will see that forfeiture as reasonable given the rhetoric around what the Government has said about its war on P but in truth this is small stuff. I have to say having walked around Parliament Buildings over the last few days and heard the coughs sniffles and all the noises that have been associated with some of the illnesses going around this place at the moment that pseudoephedrine will be missed particularly around this place but also around the country. We accept why this is being done but let us have a little bit of honesty about just how important a measure this is.The other important aspect of this bill which only occurred earlier this week is the changes that will allow the Minister to take the synthetic cannabis products off the shelf and to respond quicker to new substances as they come on to the market. We still have the problem that new substances can get on to the market before they are properly tested. That to me is one of the fundamental problems with the current Act and is one of the most important reasons why we need to totally review and replace the current Act.I congratulate the Minister on finding a stopgap measure whilst Parliament takes its time to consider the Law Commission’s review and to consider what options are available for a serious replacement for this Act. It will allow us to get these products off the shelf while a testing regime is developed to ensure that these substances are safe before they are on the shelf again and able to be marketed to our young people. I think that one of the best things about this bill is not so much the fact that the substances are being banned for a 12-month period—as I have said before and I will say again prohibition has its limitations—but that these substances will not be visible they will not be marketed and they will not be in dairies liquor stores and other places where people go to find normal products to take home like bread milk lollies and all those sorts of things. That is important. Just as I do not believe that tobacco should be on display alongside those sorts of products nor do I believe that things like Kronic Spice and Dream should be on the shelf alongside those other products. That is the aspect of these changes that I am most pleased with.There are some other matters in this bill that Labour is not pleased with. The Minister touched on them and he expressed his confusion over the opposition to the increased enforcement on drug utensils.Hon Peter Dunne: Concern not confusion.IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Concern right. We know what these provisions do and the bill allows the current provisions to be enforced more rigorously. The fact of the matter is that these provisions that ban the importation and the display of drug utensils do nothing to reduce harm. That as I have said time and time again is what should be at the centre of drug law in this country. It should be about minimising and reducing harm. Anything that does away with utensils or makes it harder for users to acquire utensils actually increases the harm associated with drug use; it does not minimise it. That is why we expressed our opposition to those provisions. To be fair if we were going to be absolutely consistent then we would get rid of the original provisions in the Act. But what we want to see as I said is not more tinkering with this Act; we want to see a complete replacement of the Act.It is not all bad news. The removal of thalidomide makes absolute sense. It is not a mind-altering substance and its place in the Misuse of Drugs Act is a complete anomaly that is absolutely ridiculous. The changes that allow substances that come under the purview of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to also come under the purview of the Misuse of Drugs Act are also eminently sensible and we support those changes.But I cannot express strongly enough that the useful time for the Misuse of Drugs Act is coming to an end. It is time for a replacement. It is time for Parliament to take seriously issues relating to drug use and drug misuse in this country and to come up with new and innovative solutions that put the health system at the centre of our response to drug abuse. That time cannot come quickly enough. Thank you.