Alexander Marc: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee Third Reading 
Alexander Marc: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21489] 
MARC ALEXANDER (United Future) 
: 
 I would like to take advantage in speaking to this bill. It is curious to me that we have such reticence about moving ahead with the drugs that this bill deals with—the party pills and all the rest of it. It took 7 years—7 long years—before anybody moved on methamphetamine. We let the cat out of the bag and unfortunately the police are now having to go backwards to try to deal with methamphetamine. What I do not want to see is this bill put aside not dealt with here and party pills and all the rest of it allowed to go on unregulated and unhindered. 
The fact of the matter is that we may be able to assert that these party pills on their own may not cause the kinds of damaging effects that people might ascribe to them—and I would disagree with that statement too—but the fact is that our young kids are using those pills in combination with alcohol and other drugs. We cannot isolate one aspect of it and look at just that. We have to look at the totality of the experience that young kids are putting themselves through which endangers themselves and others and of course it is hugely worrying to parents as a result. 
Members should be going to the police and speaking to them. They should see what the results of these drugs are. They will find a completely different picture from the one we find as we sit in the comfort zone of our own offices. Down on the street where these drugs are actually being abused in combination with other drugs it is a totally different story. Very close to my office in Christchurch there is one of these party pill shops. I see night after night young kids standing around there snorting inhaling and taking pills. There is always a litter of syringes and nose-cans. It is a combinational thing and it has to be attacked that way. It is crazy to imagine that we can simply turn a blind eye to this problem. 
This legislation is much needed. In the absence of anything else we need this in order to protect our kids from themselves. Kids will experiment but the problem is that they put themselves and everybody else at risk. This bill is one answer in terms of dealing with that. We can sit back and wait for all the research we want but in the meantime real damage is done to real people out there and it is time we acted proactively to deal with the scourge of party pills and other related drugs. The reality is that people taking these drugs are doing it in a way not considered in this House. That is a fact. We can sit here and debate until we are blue in the face about what should or should not be done—we could take more time do more research and all the rest of it—but it is the parents out there who look after their kids who are in trouble. Some kids come home worse for wear or have to be taken to hospital and some die. That is the fact of it. 
If people want to be reticent about passing this legislation and hold back and wait for more and more evidence all I can say is that the evidence is already in our hospitals. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: It’s Part 1 we are debating not Part 2 or 3. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: Could I just say to members that a lot of members have strayed across the paths and I almost gave up trying to bring them back. 
MARC ALEXANDER 
: That is exactly right. It is quite a wide-ranging debate. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: Yes. Please continue Mr Alexander. 
Darren Hughes 
: It’s true that National’s position is very unclear though. 
MARC ALEXANDER 
: It is very unclear. My understanding is that National members will end up actually supporting this bill. That strikes me as being strange because they want it both ways. On the one hand they want to bag the Hon Jim Anderton for putting this legislation forward but on the other hand they want to support it. They want a bob each way. That is actually quite disingenuous because it says they want to bag the intention of the bill but they do not want the public to go against them and ask why they have not helped. 
The fact of the matter is that there is a huge public out there that wants something done. All we have to do is pick up the newspapers and read the letters that come in. They talk of doing something about the shops that sell such stuff; and it is not just what they sell—it is the activities that are taking place outside these places of purchase.