Roy Heather: Motions — Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2003 
Roy Heather: Motions — Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2003 
[Volume:608;Page:5665] 
HEATHER ROY (ACT NZ) 
: 
 This motion is mainly about the reclassification of the methamphetamines from a class B to a class A drug. ACT New Zealand supports this move but we make the point strongly that this measure is actually 2 years too late. A news release put out by the Government just before 6 p.m. tonight proudly announced that “Once Parliament approves the order it may take as little as 2 weeks to come into force.” But my question to Jim Anderton tonight is why it took him so long to get to this stage in the first place. 
Ron Mark 
: He was too busy with his sherry. 
HEATHER ROY 
: That is right. The Government talks tough but acts soft on crime and drug offences. 
Ron Mark 
: He was on the sherry. 
HEATHER ROY 
: I am coming to that. In the last 12 months there has been a 300 percent increase in the number of methamphetamine laboratories found by the police and it is thought that that is just the tip of the iceberg. Despite that rising crime wave the Government has been dragging its feet on doing anything to assist the police to control the problem. Instead of moving to reclassify methamphetamines quickly all sorts of other legislation came before the House. Last week Jim Anderton had Parliament meet under extraordinary urgency until 5 in the morning to increase the tax on sherry and port while the police on the beat have been left to do their best with limited resources. One is left wondering where this Government’s real priorities lie. 
Methamphetamine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant with pronounced long-term physical and psychological effects. The addictive nature of the drug means that recreational use frequently leads to methamphetamine abuse. Because it powerfully impairs people’s judgment methamphetamine is a major factor in criminal behaviour. There are also significant risks to public health particularly if it is used intravenously. It is well known that intravenous use is associated with infections such as hepatitis C and AIDS. Methamphetamine causes some psychiatric disturbance in everyone who takes it. The euphoria initially experienced is often followed by depression and insomnia virtually always occurs. It is particularly dangerous in patients who have pre-existing psychiatric problems and with frequent use the lack of sleep will eventually cause severe psychiatric problems in users. 
Methamphetamine is a synthetic substance that is often manufactured from over-the-counter cough and cold remedies containing ephedrine or pseudo-ephedrine. Many pharmacists have taken a very responsible approach to the sale of substances containing pseudo-ephedrine and will sell only one bottle or one packet at a time. They also take the details of the customer and that information is frequently passed on to the police. But a bottle of cold remedy costing $15 can be sold to the gangs for about $90 or $95 and with that kind of inducement people can be very inventive. The police tell us that the Government has missed the boat on the war on drugs. To be more specific there is an epidemic of methamphetamine abuse. This is a new drug on the street. It is the most lucrative business for gangs and organised crime and it is destroying people’s lives and destroying families. 
In Auckland last year alone the police discovered 70 methamphetamine laboratories. Each laboratory was able to produce over half a million dollars worth of drugs a year. This is not small beer; it is a multimillion-dollar industry that is controlled by organised crime. It is a huge business driven by money greed and the gangs. Those gangs massively outnumber the police. Answers to parliamentary questions by ACT’s spokesperson on the police Muriel Newman revealed that New Zealand has 7104 sworn police officers to combat more than 21882 gang affiliates. The gangs have taken to the methamphetamine trade like a hot cake. In Auckland police intelligence units estimate that there are between 30 and 40 known illegal home-laboratory technicians. They are known as cooks. One skilful cook was kidnapped and forced to produce speed for the Headhunters gang for 6 weeks. The cook eventually managed to escape only to have a man on P cut her hands off. 
Let us look at how seriously this Labour Government takes this issue. It is well known that the police are seriously under-resourced. A detective who has approached ACT has talked of his role in busting methamphetamine laboratories. He says: “The Labour Government has turned us into revenue collectors issuing instant fines to motorists while front-line police cannot get resources to stop a drug epidemic that we see ruining people’s lives.” The police I am told have 10 people assigned to inspect and process a methamphetamine laboratory bust. That does not mean 10 people for each bust but 10 people for the whole country. The police simply cannot cope and the situation that places them in is a disgrace. 
In March an Auckland man walked free from serious drug charges relating to methamphetamines when evidence gained by the police using a search warrant issued by a justice of the peace was found in court to be inadmissible. The police had poured a huge amount of time and resources into the case and the search although technically illegal revealed a mobile methamphetamine laboratory. That case highlighted the need for the reclassification of methamphetamine. If the police had been able to search those premises without a warrant the person involved would now be serving time. I am told by pharmacists who assist the police by providing information to them about cough and cold remedy sales that the police have stopped those raids in the meantime. At the moment they are just gathering information and are awaiting this reclassification of methamphetamine so that the situation I have described will be avoided in further raids. The police must be wondering in their own minds whether this reclassification will ever happen. 
Methamphetamines have been increasingly linked to violent offences. Recent occurrences of armed robbery rape and murder have all been linked to the drug. The Returned Services Association triple killer Duane Bell is the latest in a growing list of speed-induced killers who have been convicted. The police believe that methamphetamines have been linked to at least six other homicides in the last 12 months. There have also been violent attacks on hospital staff and those are largely attributed to high use of the street drug. So not only have attacks on our embattled police force increased but now hospital staff are in the firing line too. The Hutt District Health Board emergency department’s clinical director has said that there are at least two methamphetamine-induced violent attacks on hospital staff every month. 
ACT New Zealand supports this motion but believes that reclassification on its own is not nearly enough. While this is a positive step we say it is 2 years too late and the police do not have the resources they need to implement the law adequately. When they were in Opposition both George Hawkins and Phil Goff made speeches and endless statements about the gang problem. In Government however that issue is ignored. Crime and justice are on this Government’s agenda only when it is election time it would seem. Methamphetamine abuse is an escalating problem of organised crime. As with all crime and justice issues ACT advocates a zero tolerance approach. The safety of New Zealand’s law-abiding citizens is our top priority and it should be the top priority of this Government too.