Lees-Galloway Iain: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Lees-Galloway Iain: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:674;Page:20021] 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) 
: 
 I rise to speak at this point in support of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill. There are aspects of this bill that Labour is very much in favour of but then there are aspects of this bill with which we have some concerns. I would like to discuss some of those concerns as I continue this call. 
Let me say at the outset that we support what the Government is trying to achieve in terms of curtailing the prevalence of P or pure methamphetamine. We are very supportive of what the Government is trying to achieve. However I need to say at the outset that this continued tinkering with the Misuse of Drugs Act cannot go on. I support what the Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne has said about bringing into legislation some of the recommendations that the Law Commission made in its review of the Misuse of Drugs Act. We on this side of the House would like to see that happen as soon as possible because as we continue chasing our tails trying to keep up with new substances as they come on to the market we will find that as we remove one substance from the market another one will replace it. If we remove that substance then another and another will constantly be coming on to the market. 
Although we support what the Government is trying to achieve it is absolutely clear that New Zealand needs new legislation to deal with mind-altering substances and to deal with drugs in the 21st century. The original Misuse of Drugs Act has over time become outdated and outmoded and it simply cannot keep up with the drug environment of the 21st century. 
Probably the aspect of this legislation that the public has taken most interest in is the reclassification of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as class B2 controlled drugs. Labour supports that move but we point out as we did in the first reading of this bill that the vast majority of precursor substances that go into the manufacturing of pure methamphetamine are actually imported illegally across our borders. They are not being purchased at pharmacies. Although this is a good measure that will hopefully curtail the availability of the precursors of pure methamphetamine it is not a silver bullet that will actually deal with the issue. 
We need to see much more being done to curtail the illegal importation of those precursor substances. In fact one really has to wonder whether the amount of inconvenience to people who simply want to access effective cold and flu medicine that will help them to keep going to work and keep going about their normal daily activities is warranted given the minimal impact that this measure will have on the availability of methamphetamine on the streets of New Zealand. But the Labour Party is more than happy to support any move to curtail that availability no matter how small. 
Obviously we also support removing thalidomide’s classification as a class A controlled drug. I think that simply reflects the ad hoc approach that has been taken to the Misuse of Drugs Act over the years. It is a substance that is completely out of place in the Misuse of Drugs Act and it just makes sense to get that substance out of the Act. 
Extending the definition of “amphetamine analogues” is also a useful move but again it is representative of the issue we have of new substances coming on to the market and we in Parliament trying to legislate to keep up with those new substances. We can try to spread the net a bit wider by changing the definition of the analogues of certain substances we deem to be illegal but we know there will always be new substances. 
One of the best examples of that issue which the public is well aware of is the issue of synthetic cannabinoids such as Kronic Dream and Spice. We support the Minister in terms of the Supplementary Order Paper he will put forward during the Committee stage to bring more regulation to those synthetic cannabis products. But we very much see that only as a bandaid and a short-term fix and we hope we see the real fix coming through as quickly as possible. 
We need a comprehensive review—well we have had the review. We need comprehensive change to our drug laws in this country. Although it is important that we move quickly to restrict those synthetic cannabis products as much as we can under the current legislation the real problem is that the current legislation does not allow us to take a sensible methodical scientific approach to the availability of new substances. We absolutely support the approach that new substances would need to be proven safe before they come on to the market rather than the situation we have at the moment where new substances come straight on to the market. We are essentially experimenting on our children and our young people and only if we find that they are unsafe do we then try to remove them from the market. That change needs to happen as quickly as possible. 
That change is all in the name of reducing harm and that is what we should be thinking about in terms of drug control and drug law in this country. We should be thinking about how we reduce the harm that drugs have on the people who use them and of course on the community around the people who use them. Whether those drugs are legal or illegal we need to make sure we reduce harm as much as we possibly can. 
That brings me to one aspect of this amendment bill that the Labour Party is not able to support. I signal at this point that we will be putting forward an amendment to have clause 4 removed from this piece of legislation. Clause 4 relates to drug utensils. We heard no submitter to the Health Committee say that removing drug utensils would reduce the harm caused by the drugs that are consumed through those utensils. In fact we heard that potentially we will see an increase in the harm caused to people who will be using ad hoc replacements. Utensils such as pipes are typically used to reduce harm. We heard from the submitters to the select committee that people will use all sorts of devices most of which are available at the local hardware store and some of which can be made out of an empty Coke can. 
Debate interrupted.