Radhakrishnan PriyancaPRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker and just before I begin on the bill since this is the first time you've been in the Chair when I've taken a call can I just congratulate you on becoming the Assistant Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Thank you.PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: It is though with honour that I rise to take a call at the second reading of this bill the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill. I say it's an honour because I wasn't part of the select committee that considered this bill but it is one that is incredibly important and as the member Chlöe Swarbrick said one that has been publicised—Chlöe Swarbrick: Extensively.PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: —extensively; that's right—and a lot of misinformation as well has been spread; a lot of scaremongering.I want to just take us back to the heart of this bill where it's originated from. It has been a long time coming because there is increasing evidence there is increasing acceptance internationally that the war on drugs has failed and that doing the same thing again and again though politically expedient is not actually getting us to the outcome that we want. The outcome that we want I believe is actually the same on both sides of the House. We all acknowledge the harm that comes from drug use—the deaths. We may you know use different figures or whatever but at the end of the day the deaths we've seen as a result of synthetics on our streets—it's too high. All of us want to minimise that drug harm and protect people from it. Where we disagree though is the avenue or the paths that we take to actually reach that outcome and that's why I'm incredibly proud of the Minister and all those including Chlöe Swarbrick who have worked on this legislation because this is the pathway that will get us there. It is not about throwing more people into jail—you know locking them up throwing away the key—because if there was evidence that that was working we wouldn't have the problem that we're seeing on the streets now. The fact is that it hasn't worked. And as I was listening to the arguments that members opposite were making and I was trying to unpick the strands of the different arguments it was really difficult because it was such a jumbled mess right from the start when Simon Bridges came out and said that if his party were ever to become the Government they would sign this country up to Trump's war on drugs which hasn't worked. And I remember reading an article that said that his deputy was less sure about that. Secondly Simeon Brown who just spoke before me made a point that this should have been considered under urgency we've taken too long—whereas other members have talked about a rushed process so make up your minds.Thirdly members have said Ah there's nothing new in this bill." But it does apparently what Simeon Brown's bill would have done which the Government rejected because it was more of the same; it was more punitive with nothing else. And finally on a health-based approach we had the Hon Mark Mitchell who said "That's nothing new. That's nothing new in this bill. You know we've always supported a health-based approach." And then the member Shane Reti mentions a struggling health sector—the fact that apparently there's no money for this—and asks where these magical therapeutic services will come from. So I fail to actually understand what the overriding argument is from the Opposition. But getting back to the bill though a health-based approach is absolutely needed; and what this bill will do is a few things. It classifies the two main synthetics that have been linked to a number of deaths as class A drugs in recognition of the fact that these are high-risk drugs. It reaffirms the existing police discretion for personal use and allows them to actually redirect people who have been caught using to therapeutic services which are not so magical—they exist but of course submitters have raised the issue that we need more of them. They need to be more accessible services and the Minister has already taken that into consideration. It enables temporary class drug orders to be issued to better control these substances that keep emerging and that are potentially harmful. So these are changes that are being introduced to disrupt the supply and availability and target suppliers but also to ensure that we don't just keep doing the same thing again—that we actually address the fact that people who are using need support and need help to get out of the trauma and the isolation that would otherwise have just sent them down the same street all over again. I commend this bill to the House."