Dunne Peter: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Dunne Peter: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:13526] 
Hon PETER DUNNE (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 I move  
That the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Health Committee that the committee report finally to the House on or before 20 November 2010 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 and 191(b) and (c). At the outset— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member but the time has come for me to leave the Chair. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: Let me return to where I was at about 6 o’clock. I had just uttered the words “At the outset” when the adjournment was called so let me pick up from that point about the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill that I had just moved be read a first time. What I was going to say at 6 o’clock was that this bill is not about a comprehensive review of drug legislation in this country because as members will be aware the Law Commission is currently consulting on an issues paper that addresses drug legislation from a first-principles approach. Parliament will have the opportunity to more broadly discuss how we deal with drugs in this country once the Law Commission has presented its final recommendations to the Government. However this bill will achieve several important things. First it closes off the source of precursor substances for the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. Second it makes targeted changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act that are necessary for the effective administration of drug control. In particular it removes thalidomide as a controlled drug as it is now more appropriately controlled under the Medicines Act. The bill also removes the exclusion whereby a hazardous substance cannot also be a restricted substance it broadens the definition of amphetamine analogues and it allows greater control over drug paraphernalia. 
It is generally widely accepted that New Zealand has a problem with methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is the only illegal stimulant drug that is commonly manufactured in our country. We have high rates of use by international standards. A recent survey showed that just over 2 percent of New Zealanders aged 16 to 64 years had used methamphetamine in the previous year. Methamphetamine is a particularly problematic illegal drug in New Zealand. It causes significant harm to individuals families and communities. It increases the risks of cardiovascular problems convulsions and mental health disturbances including paranoia and violent behaviour. Methamphetamine use is especially concerning in those with mental health problems issues with anger and a predisposition for violence. Gangs and other organised criminal groups are closely involved with the manufacture and the supply of methamphetamine. The trade of this drug is associated with significant crime and violence. 
So it is vital that as a Parliament we take all reasonable steps to address the use of methamphetamine in New Zealand. In September 2009 Cabinet agreed to a comprehensive package of measures to control methamphetamine precursors to break drug supply chains to improve access and routes into drug treatment to improve support for the community to combat this drug and to provide stronger leadership by the Government. This package was announced by the Prime Minister last October when he launched a new Methamphetamine Action Plan which aims to significantly reduce the use of methamphetamine and consequently lead to a reduction of the harms it causes in this country. 
The next logical step that we must take to reduce the harm from this dangerous drug is to restrict the availability of the key ingredients required for its manufacture. These ingredients are the substances pseudoephedrine and ephedrine with pseudoephedrine being the main precursor of choice for drug manufacturers in New Zealand. Members will be aware that pseudoephedrine is currently available over the counter in many pharmacies in a number of cold and flu remedies. However the advice of the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs and also the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser is that effective alternatives to pseudoephedrine are available. The harms posed by the diversion of pseudoephedrine to the manufacture of methamphetamine outweigh the need for the ongoing over-the-counter availability of preparations containing this substance. 
This bill therefore reclassifies pseudoephedrine and ephedrine as class B controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. This reclassification will have the effect of removing the over-the-counter availability of preparations containing these substances from pharmacies and will ensure that they are available only with a prescription from a medical practitioner. This will restrict the availability of these substances and make it difficult for potential manufacturers of methamphetamine to access the key ingredients to make the drug. 
Reclassification of these substances as class B controlled drugs will also give the police and Customs Service increased powers to control supply such as being able to obtain a warrant to intercept communications. 
The penalty for unlawful dealing of class B controlled drugs is imprisonment not exceeding 14 years. The penalty for unlawful possession or use of these drugs is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months a fine not exceeding $500 or both. This reclassification will also require pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industry to comply with additional restrictions associated with a class B controlled drug such as safe storage. In order to give industry time to bring into effect these changes the bill proposes that the provisions relating to ephedrine and pseudoephedrine will not come into force until 3 months following the date of enactment. The bill also establishes the quantity or amount at or over which these substances are presumed to be for supply at a level of 10 grams. 
I acknowledge with thanks the report of the Attorney-General on the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act about the implications of establishing a presumption for the supply of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. The Attorney-General has raised some concerns that the quantities of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to be presumed to be for supply are not consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. I fully acknowledge these concerns which have also been raised in the past that presuming any substance to be for supply may be in breach of one’s presumption of innocence. So for this reason I support the Law Commission’s review of this matter within the wider review that is under way into the Misuse of Drugs Act. I will take the Law Commission’s recommendations in regard to the presumption for supply very seriously. 
But it is not the intention of this bill to second-guess the outcome of the Law Commission’s review. Under the current Act if a specific presumption for supply quantity is not set then the default presumption of supply of 56 grams will take effect. Possession of that quantity of pseudoephedrine would be the equivalent of taking a full dose of cold remedy every day for 6 months which is clearly excessive and brings with it a real risk of being used to make methamphetamine. The presumption for supply of 10 grams that the bill proposes was that recommended by the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs following careful consideration. I have accepted that committee’s recommendation. 
In addition to providing for the reclassification of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine the bill also provides an opportunity to address four other important matters that have been awaiting legislative action. First the bill as I said earlier removes thalidomide from schedule 1 of the Act in order to make this substance no longer a class A controlled drug. Everyone in the House I am sure is aware of the tragic circumstances of the 1950s and 1960s when thalidomide was widely and improperly used. But it is not a psychoactive substance and it has no potential to be abused. Its placement in the Misuse of Drugs Act is therefore an anomaly. Thalidomide is actually a medicine with legitimate applications. Accordingly the Medicines Act 1981 is the most appropriate legislative mechanism to control it with strict guidelines being made to prohibit its prescription during pregnancy. A notice in the  
New Zealand Gazette  
to schedule thalidomide as a prescription-only medicine will be issued concurrently with the passage of this bill to ensure that appropriate controls around the substance remain in place. 
The bill will also correct a problematic overlap between the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 by removing the exclusion whereby a hazardous substance cannot also be a restricted substance. The restricted substances regime is an important mechanism to place robust controls around low-risk psychoactive drugs such as so-called party pills. These substances would otherwise not have sufficient evidence of harm to warrant classification as controlled drugs. But the current wording of the legislation unintentionally acts as a barrier preventing the scheduling of any substance as a restricted substance. So the bill’s amendment proposes to remove this interference and to allow for the continued scheduling of low-risk drugs that would otherwise not be controlled as restricted substances. The bill also makes some amendments to the definition of amphetamine analogues—again a recommendation from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs. 
Finally the bill will expand the provisions for prohibiting the importation and supply of utensils used for the purpose of administering controlled drugs. The bill provides for notices to be made to make it an offence to possess utensils for the purpose of sale or supply and prohibits the importation of incomplete utensils that for example require only the addition of a metal cone to burn cannabis to become useable. This will allow police and customs to move more effectively to enforce the utensils provisions in the current legislation and to minimise the visibility and the availability of drug paraphernalia. This bill seeks to address problematic drug use in New Zealand through a number of measures and I consequently commend it to the House.