Anderton Jim: Motions — Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2005 and the Misuse of Drugs (Presumption of Supply - Amphetamine) Order 2005—Approval 
Anderton Jim: Motions — Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2005 and the Misuse of Drugs (Presumption of Supply - Amphetamine) Order 2005—Approval 
[Volume:627;Page:22263] 
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 I move  
That pursuant to section 4A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 this House approve the Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2005 and the Misuse of Drugs (Presumption of Supply - Amphetamine) Order 2005 made under section 4 of that Act.  
Those orders demonstrate the Labour-Progressive Government’s commitment to a national drug policy that targets drug use in three ways: through supply control through demand reduction and by providing treatment services for the victims of drug peddlers. 
Last year the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs recommended the reclassification of amphetamine commonly known as speed as well as MDA or Ecstasy and as Associate Minister of Health in charge of the Government’s drug policies I accepted those recommendations. Both amphetamine and Ecstasy are currently classified as controlled drugs under Part 2 of the second schedule—that is under class B2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. The Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2005 before the House today will reclassify those drugs to Part 1 of the second schedule and as class B1 drugs. 
That reclassification will have the effect of enabling police officers under section 18 of the Act to detain search and seize for those drugs without warrant and reflects the degree of potential risk of harm that experts associate with those substances. I want to point out to the House that that recommendation to the House is not made in any sense by a political decision. It is a recommendation to me as Associate Minister of Health through the Cabinet committee and Cabinet process that that action be taken because of the extreme seriousness and effects of those drugs. Those substances are as I have said extremely harmful and by supporting this move Parliament is saying it agrees that it is not in the public interest for those drugs to be used as so-called recreational drugs. That reclassification is also consistent with New Zealand’s international obligations under the United Nations drug classification framework. 
The Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs also recommended that the amount for the presumption of supply for amphetamine be set at 5 grams. The presumption of supply concept is a rebuttable presumption that when a person is found with a certain amount of a controlled drug he or she possesses the drug for the purpose of dealing by way of sale or supply. In plain English that means that the onus is on the person found with the drug to prove that he or she was not supplying the drug and that the drug was instead intended solely for personal use. Currently the amount for the presumption of supply for amphetamine is 56 grams. While that may not sound much in terms of the weight of groceries we buy I can assure members that my official advice is that that is an enormous supply of amphetamine—way beyond what anyone could possibly want for his or her personal use. 
So the change will have the effect of significantly increasing penalties for offences involving possession of 5 grams of amphetamine as well as possession of between 5 and 56 grams. As an example I tell members that a possession for supply offence rather than a possession for use offence will carry a maximum sentence of up to 14 years in prison. It is entirely up to the courts how they exercise their discretion under that change of course but if anyone thinks that that indicates the seriousness with which the Government takes the use abuse and proliferation of those drugs then they are right. We do take those drugs seriously and we do believe they are a real threat to the health and well-being of many New Zealand citizens. 
That offence can be compared with the offence of possession of a class B controlled drug which carries a maximum sentence of 3 months’ imprisonment a fine of $500 or both—in other words a wrap over the knuckles with a wet bus ticket. Our advice is that that penalty should now change. 
 In relation to amphetamine the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs found that that drug like its counterpart methamphetamine can quickly cause addiction has been linked overseas to violence and can cause psychosis depression and erratic behaviour. I think that all members will be aware of some of the outcomes of that kind of situation. 
The committee identified an increasing number of risks associated with amphetamine’s current use and distribution. Amphetamine’s addiction potential carries significant health risks. It is also linked to deaths through cerebral vascular haemorrhage so none of the drugs affected by the motion before us today should be regarded lightly. The Misuse of Drugs (Presumption of Supply - Amphetamine) Order 2005 therefore reflects the fact that that drug’s level of harm to New Zealanders is potentially and in fact very serious indeed. 
MDMA or Ecstasy already has a 5 gram presumption of supply so we do not need to change that. Ecstasy was classified class B2 in 1987 but the experts recommended its reclassification to class B1. They noted the mounting evidence that Ecstasy-type drugs have a neurotoxic effect which means they are poisons that act on the nervous system and that there is a worrying link between New Zealand’s MDMA market and organised crime—some recreational drug! The experts also advised in their 2004 report to me that there was an increasing number of cases of attempted MDMA/Ecstasy manufacture in New Zealand and they also noted that MDMA/Ecstasy is classified as a schedule 1 or class A drug in other jurisdictions—not of course in New Zealand. 
These orders are designed to help ensure that enforcement officers have the powers they need and I hope to see the orders come into force as soon as possible. Just for the information of the House I say that if this motion is passed today the new authorities and penalties through the process that needs to be followed will come into force by 9 September this year. To complement all the other measures that I have overseen as leader of the Progressive Party and as Associate Minister of Health in this coalition Government in order to target the abuse of drugs in this country these measures in my view and in the view of the Government are a necessary and desirable step in one element of our fight against drugs.