Turner Judy: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee Third Reading 
Turner Judy: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee Third Reading 
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JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I stand to talk to Part 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No 3) and to Supplementary Order Paper 298 in the name of the Hon Jim Anderton which was tabled when we were already considering the bill in the Health Committee. From the outset when it was first tabled—and the select committee members will remember this—I was extremely cautious about the party pills issue. I know that the Green member thinks that makes me fickle. However I did not want to approach this matter with a sort of arrogant belief that I had a monopoly on the truth. I was very interested to hear the opinions of the various select committee members on this matter. The tension that we worked with was that on the one hand there was a huge call from the community—and I remember particularly a letter from the Christchurch City Council—asking us not to shy away from our responsibilities as legislators and to move to put something in place at least in the short term to deal with the problem that people see on the streets. On the other hand the counterbalancing tension was that it appeared to many of us that putting party pills under the Misuse of Drugs Act was not necessarily the best option. 
The officials gave us some very good advice and it was their advice that tempered my position. They said—and I heard several different lines on this—that 6 to 12 months’ work would need to be done and I have since read that possibly even 2 years’ work would need to be done to get a stand-alone restricted substances bill. We recommended in the commentary on the bill that that work be continued and I would still like it to continue. I think that would ultimately be our preferred outcome. But it did not provide an immediate solution and it would be cowardly of us as members of Parliament not to make some attempt in that regard. I want to thank the chair of the select committee Steve Chadwick for her guidance on this matter and also the officials because I really do think we have to be pragmatic in such situations. 
I appreciate the conservative approach of the New Zealand First amendments. Starting from a position of prohibition is I guess an extremely safe position to take. However we were not— 
Simon Power 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. The member is obviously in some discomfort. Perhaps I could seek the leave of the House for just a moment for her to collect herself—so that other members do not attempt to take a call or anything—and resume her speech when she is ready. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Thank you for raising that. We will just bide time for a moment. There is no hurry Judy Turner. 
JUDY TURNER 
: On the New Zealand First amendments I do feel that the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs has given us some guidelines on the matter of party pills and I think we need to move on those. However I share the concerns of the New Zealand First members. I think we do want to see the role of the expert advisory committee include the opportunity for constant and active review of this decision. My concern with regard to party pills is the cocktail effect when they are combined with alcohol. Part of what we regulate may be that party pills are unable to be sold in a context where alcohol is being sold as well—that may be a good solution. However we did want to support this measure so that something is put in place now to respond to the many requests that certainly came across my desk in that regard. So we are very happy and I want to thank also the Hon Jim Anderton because when I approached him with my concerns he had a very open door on the matter. I appreciate that because I do feel that we need to proceed on all these matters with great caution. 
This problem will not go away. As fast as we put regulations around products new products are coming online. We do need to be extremely vigilant as we monitor those substances and their effect and how they are consumed. I read a media release the other day on party pills which stated that one of the concerns is the quantities in which party pills can be sold. There are recommended dosages on the product but there is strong anecdotal evidence that young people ignore those recommendations and take far more than is recommended. We need to look then at the quantities the product is sold in. To wait for 2 years is absolutely not an option and it is a very irresponsible position to take. 
However let me just reiterate that United Future would challenge whoever is in Government after this election to make this matter a priority to advance the work that does need to be done—to take the 2 years if that is what it will take—and to get up a restricted substances Act. I think there are some long-term problems. I accept—and this will please the Green member—that one of the things I found very difficult in working on this bill was that it was a bit of a dog’s breakfast. I am not sure that Mr Tanczos and I would agree on how it should be improved. However I found it quite difficult at times to get my head around some of the provisions because they have been amended by adding bits on all over the place. I do think that an overall reworking could be done of our drugs legislation.