Woodhouse MichaelHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Madam Chair. Fascinating insight on the select committee process by the Minister David Clark who said there were fantastic submissions to the select committee—only the Government didn't listen. The Government paid no mind whatsoever to the very good suggestions that those submitters made. Now not all of them we agreed with. There were a number of submissions on quite strong liberalising of the terminal exemption for example which comes into effect according to clause 2 the day after this gets Royal assent. I think that's relevant in terms of the context of how we blend this changed law into our judicial system but I think it's quite inappropriate of the Minister to acknowledge the submissions that he himself didn't listen to.Now in respect of the licensing regime the commencement date is less of an issue because it's going to take some time to get a licensing regime up and running. Now we know how long it's going to take because by the Government Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) it's going to take no longer than 12 months. Now I don't know what's going to happen on day 366 if indeed the ministry and Medsafe don't get the licensing regime. Is there a sanctions regime? Is there a punishment for the Government officials for not meeting the arbitrary time frame that the Government has put in place? I actually think it's a good idea but indeed it's probably less of an issue than it is to do with the terminal exemption because if the terminal exemption comes in on the day after this bill is enacted then we have an issue with the justice system and with the law enforcement process and I would be fascinated to understand from the Government and the Minister how indeed this is going to work.What we have is—despite what Chlöe Swarbrick said in her last intervention—a regime where a class C substance is presently illegal. The day after this receives Royal assent it will also be illegal. Regardless of whether the person might be immune from prosecution the act is still illegal. On the day before the bill gets Royal assent somebody could be liable for arrest and prosecution. What's not clear to me is what happens if somebody who has been arrested and is in the judicial system facing an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act—what happens to them on the day after this bill gains Royal assent? Are they immune? Are they nevertheless going to have their prosecutions carried out? Are they in limbo? We need to actually understand. It's not a straw-person argument; it's very real.There are hundreds if not thousands of prosecutions under this part of the Misuse of Drugs Act and it could be—in fact it's quite plausible—that somebody who was suffering or believes themselves to be suffering a terminal illness that may result in their imminent demise could have been arrested and charged with offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Now I hope they aren't prosecuted. I hope they still have an opportunity to become immune but what's not clear to me is whether there is some kind of ability for the justice system to stop and say You were arrested the day before this bill came into effect." Therefore what? Is one still liable on the day after it comes into effect? Should there be a period after the bill gains Royal assent for it not to become effective or should it be retrospective? One very plausible possibility is actually that it clears previous charges that have been laid but the prosecution has not been complete so that those people who are in the justice pipeline don't need to come out of it. They themselves can also be immune even though their arrests and charges had taken place prior to this bill gaining Royal assent.So I am interested in how we're going to transition this. There are usually transitional provisions in a bill particularly a Crimes Act bill or a Misuse of Drugs Act bill. There is no reference to that in this bill so if the Minister could explain what will happen to anybody who is in the justice pipeline on the day after this bill gains Royal assent I would be very grateful."