Roy Eric: Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Roy Eric: Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 September 2007. Volume:642;Page:11720. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ERIC ROY (National—Invercargill) 
: 
 I intend to take a brief call on the Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill as well. To respond to the comments of the previous speaker much of what he said I agree with but I say having read this bill—which is having its first reading today—that there is not one clause or element of it that would have taken 2 years to compile. This is an issue that needed to be dealt with before the use of benzylpiperazine (BZP) became as endemic as it is. So I say as Jacqui Dean said that this bill has been too long coming. 
Firstly I want to say a little bit about the culture of New Zealand and drug taking. I lament the fact that we have a generation of young people today who actually need these stimulants and means of escapism before they can enjoy themselves. Never in the history of entertainment has so much been available apart from drugs yet we have an increasing use of drugs and a hedonistic society. At some stage this Parliament needs to look at the root cause of why so many of our young people have become hedonistic and have become so much in need of the means of escapism that are out there. 
That raises a second point. Quite often when we get into these debates about drug use the argument is raised that drugs are not as bad as alcohol or nicotine. That is not the question that we need to face. The question is: how many means of escapism how many stimulants do we need to sanction for use in New Zealand? I say that there comes a time when we put a line in the sand and say: “We’ve got enough stimulants out there now. Let’s look at some of the reasons why our young people need to lapse into these.” 
The third point is simply that the question then arises as to what the impact is when we ban a substance that currently has a legal status. Well there are plenty of examples where that has happened. There are a number of examples around the world where other countries have already banned BZP and a number of other drugs that are legal in New Zealand. There is the example in the United States where 13 states after decriminalising marijuana recriminalised it again—13 states did that. It is not new territory to say to the community out there: “We’ve had a look at this. It’s not appropriate. We’re now going to make illegal a substance that was legal.” That has happened in other places in the world and we need not be fearful if we take a step to put some classifications around a drug like BZP which I would say really has no place in New Zealand society or at least needs to be severely regulated. 
I guess that having this first reading will take this bill to the select committee where we will find out the best way forward to deal with this drug. We have a drug out there now that is legalised but that has no regulations around its strength. There are no regulations recommendations or limitations on how much individuals may consume. We have no real testing process to say how much is in anybody’s system. Those things are significantly important. In my office in Invercargill I have within 50 metres either side of me two outlets that sell energy pills or party pills—or whatever one wants to call them. At any time of the day I see a stream of young people going in to purchase these drugs. I have watched them. They are in work clothes. They are actually consuming these pills as soon as they get in their car as they drive around in their lunchtime—and head back to their workplaces I presume. So we do have an issue and we need to deal with it. 
I recommend that Parliament supports this bill through to the select committee so we can hear what the community at large says. At least—at the very minimum—we need to do some serious regulating of the use of BZP.