Turner Judy: Motions — Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2003 
Turner Judy: Motions — Misuse of Drugs (Changes to Controlled Drugs) Order 2003 
[Volume:608;Page:5667] 
JUDY TURNER (United Future) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of United Future to speak to Government motion No. 1 regarding the reclassification of methamphetamines and also the new classification of two other substances which will bring us up to our international obligations regarding drug classification. I do not want to take a long call on this issue because basically United Future supports what has been said to date in the House. We understand that by reclassifying methamphetamines from class B2 to class A we will increase the powers of the police to search without a warrant and we will increase the penalties for those found contravening these new laws. Also of course as I mentioned before that brings us up to speed with the international drug treaties that we have signed and become a partner to. 
One of the things we need to remember is that there is an individual human cost person by person where people are involved with methamphetamines. As recently as in the last fortnight I had to attend the funeral of a young person whose mental health was tipped over the edge by the use of methamphetamines and who committed suicide. Let me tell members that when they watch a family going through that it makes us realise that this order is something that should have happened a long time ago. One-fifth of the people using methamphetamines report harmful effects. At an individual level it is mood altering and a clinical director from the addiction resource centre in Rotorua described it as basically causing temporary insanity. 
Methamphetamine acts on the central nervous system. It increases the heart rate and blood pressure and gives a heightened sense of alertness. That is the best news it can offer. If methamphetamines are combined with alcohol the tendency towards violent behaviour is increased substantially. The worst aspect of the use of methamphetamines is what happens as people come down off them. They develop what is called “withdrawal anxiety”. They have impaired judgment. They develop paranoia and homicidal or suicidal thoughts as did my friend. They develop sleeping difficulties and have huge cravings to use methamphetamines again. There has been a 28.4 percent increase in crime involving amphetamines and as mentioned before violent behaviour is on the increase. United Future recently met the mayors from North Shore City and Rodney District who said that the use of methamphetamines in their cities was their greatest concern outweighing any other concern that they were dealing with at present. 
United Future acknowledges that there is a need for strategies other than merely relying on reclassification such as public education and better guidelines to limit the over-the-counter ingredients used for the manufacture of methamphetamines. We do not consider that reclassification in isolation is all that will be required if we are to make a serious dent on the problem we face in New Zealand right now. It is with great pleasure that United Future supports this reclassification and encourages all other parties to add their support.