Goudie Sandra: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Goudie Sandra: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:626;Page:21477] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 The New Zealand National Party certainly supports the original Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) which deals with changes to legislation concerning drugs. We recognise the extraordinary harm to health and safety caused by inappropriate use of controlled drugs. 
I had the opportunity to sit in on the Health Committee for a very brief period and a gentleman who actually manufactures party drugs was making a submission to the committee. I asked him what research had been done into the long-term effects of the use of party drugs. Of course there has been none. I think that is an extraordinary oversight. Nobody has any idea what the cumulative effect or the combination of effects of using those party drugs is if people are using other medications or if people have other conditions that predispose them to being affected by the contents of those party drugs. There has been absolutely no real research into the peripheral effects of the use of party drugs. 
There should have been some requirement on the manufacturers of party drugs to provide information to the House or to the authorities or to whomever that determines what the long-term effects of party drug usage is and whether it has any peripheral effects on any other existing medical conditions. It is extraordinary that we have these party drugs but we do not require a bit more oversight in respect of their use. I guess one reason that we are going through this whole process is to put some controls around those drugs and to see where that takes us. Although we are putting controls around them we are not requiring any research into their effects. That is something that should be looked at. Perhaps some sort of requirement on the manufacturer to do research is necessary for us to have a better understanding of what those drugs have the potential to do if they are taken consistently on a long-term basis. 
 Certainly it is fairly well-known that our young ones’ bodies are not well-developed; at the age of 18 they are still developing and their bodies may not be able to handle these types of substances particularly if they are mixed with alcohol—certainly with the amount of alcohol they are consuming in this day and age with the lowering of the drinking age which I think was one of the bigger mistakes made by this Parliament. 
National members are mindful of the Regulations Review Committee’s statements that the affirmative resolution procedure should not proliferate that it should be used only in limited and exceptional circumstances and that any extension of the procedure in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 should be permitted only where it is a necessary adjustment to alter the schedules of controlled drugs and essential in order to achieve the purpose of the Act in dealing with the serious risk of emerging drug threats. Of course if we have done no long-term research into party drugs into legal party highs how do we know what the effects will actually be? There could be some emerging risk from long-term usage but we do not know. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: What is the Government doing about it? 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Yes the member is absolutely right—what is the Government doing about that? It did not actually come up in the select committee and nothing has been done about it as far as I understand. 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: That’s rubbish. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Well the question was asked at the select committee so— 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: Well ask a question of me. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: The Minister was not at the select committee and he was not the person producing the stuff. I would have thought that the person producing the stuff would actually know but no—[ 
Interruption 
] There was none. The producer said there was none so unless somebody else is doing it well—who would know? It is certainly a question and perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and give us an explanation of his understanding of the research into party drugs and those legal party highs. We would certainly welcome the opportunity to listen to him give that explanation. 
New Zealand National is very concerned about the increasing use of benzylpiperazine party drugs herbal highs etc. particularly among the 18-year-old age group. It has been an emerging problem for some years and we believe that the response should be well-considered legislation with the public given opportunity for full submissions and with nothing rushed through by way of Supplementary Order Papers. Everybody should have the opportunity to participate. In actual fact I think there is too much haste in the promulgation of law in this Parliament and I think the process should be slowed down somewhat. 
So as per the recommendations of the Regulations Review Committee National members consider that legislation around restricted drugs which are often legal substances should be covered by primary legislation. We therefore do not support the Hon Jim Anderton’s Supplementary Order Paper but instead commit that as a Government we would ensure that properly evolved legislation dealing with restricted drugs and substances was brought into the House and passed within 12 months. I note that many of the press releases around this legislation seem to be pretty well dominated by Mr Anderton. 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: I am the Minister. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Well he seems to be capturing the moment yet he is presenting a Supplementary Order Paper that has not gone through the full process. I think that is a bit of a shame. I am glad that we are supporting the original bill and are not supporting the Supplementary Order Paper. I am very pleased we are taking that position.