Hague Kevin: Psychoactive Substances Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHague Kevin: Psychoactive Substances Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 11 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12004. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KEVIN HAGUE (Green):In the interests of ensuring that this bill the Psychoactive Substances Bill is passed today I am going to take a somewhat shorter call than I would otherwise have done. This bill is one that takes New Zealand a substantial step forward towards the kind of drug law reform that we need. It puts the emphasis onreducing harm and improving health—that rather than criminal justice being the point of the regulation. It places the emphasis very much on the supply chain for these substances rather than on the end user. It makes the regulatory response proportional to the risk that is associated with a particular substance. Those are all good things. Those are all things that we need to apply to drugs currently both legal and illegal across the board. I look forward to the opportunity of it doing that.This could have been a great bill. [Interruption ] Not quite Barbara. It could have been a great bill but there are three major problems that hold it back from that. I am disappointed that the Government either has not understood its own bill or has needed to appease different factions within its own camp which has resulted in these problems. One is the issue of animal testing about which I have spoken and colleagues across the House have spoken and I acknowledge John Banks’ particularly passionate support on that particular issue. The Green Party’s Supplementary Order Paper 260 on the bill would have ensured the same level of protection for humans but would have also resulted in protecting animals from harm and it is a source of considerable regret that the House did not take the opportunity to ensure that that occurred.The issue of possession was introduced almost at the last moment by the Government against the advice of the Ministry of Health and in contradiction of the evidence that we have seen in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act—and indeed the temporary prohibition notices—that possession offences do not assist with the purpose of this bill which is to reduce harm and promote health. What is more as I demonstrated at the Committee stage those possession offences that are in this bill are essentially not only more hassle than any benefit that they provide if at all but also they are entirely unworkable.Finally if I thought possession was last minute actually there is a last-second amendment by the Associate Minister of Health Todd McClay to drastically shorten the transition period for the bill. As a result of that the very careful balance that was struck by the Health Committee between trying to move as quickly as possible to regulate these substances in the way that I have described and at the same time ensure that the flood of substances that have been legal but will not be legal under the new regime does not result in an underground market for those substances has been entirely overturned on the basis of the Minister attending a meeting in Invercargill. I believe that that will come back to bite the Minister and come back to bite the Government and I urge the Minister to try to find some way of ameliorating the problem that he has created. Thank you.