Hutchison Paul: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee Third Reading 
Hutchison Paul: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21499] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 It is Part 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) that National has grave concerns about. We have grave concerns about the knee-jerk way that the Hon Jim Anderton has rushed to bring in a Supplementary Order Paper that has been put as Part 3 when there has been absolutely crystal-clear guidance from the Regulations Review Committee that the affirmative resolution procedure should not be used for substances such as party pills and benzylpiperazine with which it will deal. 
I think it is worthwhile just to look at the evidence regarding benzylpiperazine given to the Minister by the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs. The executive summary concluded that insufficient information was available on which to base a recommendation to classify those substances in the schedules of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. The recommendation was absolutely clear but the Hon Jim Anderton of the new “Jim Anderton Party” which used to be known as the Progressive Coalition is defying the very important process that the Regulations Review Committee warned against. Oh no he will put that resolution procedure into Part 3! It is because of that that the National Party has said it does not agree with this. We have made the commitment to bring through when in Government well-considered legislation that indeed addresses in an appropriate way the very concerning problem of party pills in New Zealand. 
That legislation will allow the proper parliamentary procedure to occur and submissions will be able to be heard not in 28 days but in a time that is appropriate to hear them properly so that we can have well-considered legislation. 
 It is important to point out that we heard some pretty colourful submissions regarding Part 3 of the bill including from members of the Social Tonics Association of New Zealand otherwise known as “STANZ”. They pointed out that members of the Social Tonics Association of New Zealand have sold an estimated 8 million servings of benzylpiperazine and related products in the past 5 years with no credible evidence they say of these products causing significant harm. Indeed this is the nub of the situation: these drugs while they are of great concern to New Zealand—and it is a particularly great concern that many young New Zealanders are taking them—do not fall into the category of the very very worrying controlled substances such as amphetamine P and its precursors. 
I think it is worthwhile to point out what the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs says about these substances and about benzylpiperazine which is the most commonly used in particular. It states: “They are stimulant type substances that produce effects similar to known amphetamines and hallucinogens.” However the effects are of nowhere near the severity of those of drugs that fall into the controlled A B and C classifications. The advisory committee states: “There is indeed some concern over the increase in supply of these products which are marketed and distributed independently over the internet through counter-culture retailers and more recently in liquor outlets service stations and dairies.” 
That indeed is how Jim Anderton has finally woken up to the fact that they are being sold all around Christchurch where his electorate is. Finally in a truly dinosaur-like reaction after 10 years of the gradually increasing proliferation of these party pills Jim Anderton has woken up and decided to flick in a Supplementary Order Paper to sort the problem out but unfortunately that Supplementary Order Paper has not been well considered. The National Party believes that thoroughly considered legislation should be brought in to address this worrying problem of party pills.