Dean Jacqui: Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Dean Jacqui: Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:645;Page:14767] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Otago) 
: 
 Part 2 contains the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005. I make an observation of regret that the Supplementary Order Paper in the name of my excellent colleague Dr Paul Hutchison was so narrowly lost. It was an opportunity for this Committee to make some sensible legislation. After all we have heard from the Associate Minister of Health that there would be a review of the Misuse of Drugs Act. In fact he has been saying that for some time now. Back in November and December of last year I asked a number of written questions of the Minister about this review and I have had no firm reply. I wonder where this mythical review of the Misuse of Drugs Act is. When I asked the Minister about it he was unable to provide me with any terms of reference or any commencement date—in fact he was unable to provide me with any information at all. So I question what stage that review is at. As the review is the course of action that this Government—until October of this year—has set itself then I hope it does commence. How good it would be in 2 years’ time or so to have a report back to the House as proposed by my colleague Dr Paul Hutchison as to how this amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act is panning out. 
A large amount of the debate around this issue from a number of other quarters has been the argument that if we make benzylpiperazine illegal it will just drive the trade underground. The Minister himself indicated earlier in the debate that it was his belief that the use of benzylpiperazine would in time diminish away. Which of those two views do we believe? Why is this Committee—by a very very small minority or one vote—not prepared to take that very sensible concrete step forward and evaluate the effect? We all want to know what the effect will be of this amendment to the Misuse of Drug Act. What will happen to young people and drug use in New Zealand? It is a very important question. 
My colleague has proposed a way forward which unfortunately was not successful. The Minister will be a Minister for only another 4 or 5 months but I would like to think that in that short time he will take seriously the issue of a review of the Misuse of Drugs Act and not merely walk away from this very important issue. 
I do not rely only on the advice of the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs which meets in Wellington because—although the committee is worthy—actually the problem arises all around New Zealand. I pop into drug shops where I am welcomed with open arms—nearly with open arms—because I am interested in the issue and do not shy away from it. Recently I was in Nelson with my very good colleague Dr Nick Smith and in two of the three pill shops in Nelson—pills are freely available on the main street of Nelson—we asked the shop assistants how they felt about the oncoming banning of benzylpiperazine and its reclassification under the Misuse of Drugs Act. These shop assistants said they did not care. They said they were going out of business in these pills anyway and that they did not use the pills because they were dreadful things. So the prevailing attitude in the sample I did—and I speak of Nelson but there are other centres where I go into pill shops—is that the sooner we get rid of these drugs the better. This is from the people who sell them. Mind you it is not from the people who are making millions of dollars out of the sale of benzylpiperazine but these are the people who are taking a wage from it. 
We need to remember that in delaying the passage of this bill in delaying addressing this issue we have created a market for these recreational drugs. In the 2½ years since I have been a member of Parliament interested in this issue and trying to engage with the Minister over this issue and in the 6 to 7 years that these pills have been on the market this market has been developing. We have a market in New Zealand that is worth $30 million a year. That is a lot of money; that is big big business. By delaying the passage of this bill we have—and the Minister who must take the responsibility for this has—created a market in New Zealand. There are drugs just offshore and drugs being manufactured in New Zealand that will fill that market. I suggest that this is basic principles of marketing and for me it is another cause of regret.