Uffindell SamSAM UFFINDELL (National—Tauranga): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to speak in support of the Misuse of Drugs (Pseudoephedrine) Amendment Bill at its second reading which is a bill in the name of the Associate Minister of Health the Hon David Seymour. This is a relatively simple bill. It amends the classification of pseudoephedrine from a class B2 to a class C3 controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. It removes the ban that was put in place in 2011 and I want to take a moment to thank the Health Committee and the members on it for the pretty collegial and supportive atmosphere. We've got along well. We've been able to talk through the issues. The Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall from the Opposition has been a good person to work with on this as have all the other members. We have a number of members of the committee here or ones that have subbed in and I just want to recognise all the work that you have done in getting this through promptly. There are a lot of benefits to this bill. As everyone in Wellington will know we've come down here—I came down from beautiful Tauranga yesterday where it was a warm sunny day. I came down to Wellington and it's considerably colder and I know that a lot of people will be getting into that winter cold and flu season pretty soon. The good news for them is that in the not too distant future there will be pseudoephedrine available from pharmacies so they can take that and then recover their health and wellbeing and get back to work and continue living their lives in a lot more peaceful and enjoyable manner. As we know our patients currently can't get over-the-counter pseudoephedrine. A prescription was needed but there were issues with the importation of that. It wasn't being made available because there wasn't a big enough market for it and as a result the ability of people to get that from a prescription in New Zealand faded away. There has been a bit of talk about alternative medicines that could be used and that have come to market to try and treat people with cold and flu symptoms but the reality is that they're just not nearly as effective as pseudoephedrine. There have been some concerns raised during the select committee process. Obviously people know that pseudoephedrine is used as a precursor to methamphetamine production and that was primarily the reason why it was reclassified back in 2011. The result of that wasn't what was wanted or anticipated which would have been a reduction in methamphetamine availability but the criminal organisations and the gangs found alternative routes to either manufacture or—more likely—import pseudoephedrine from international criminal syndicates into New Zealand. But we haven't seen a decrease in use; we have possibly seen the opposite. Recent stats have shown that we have seen an increase in use recently and we have also seen a reasonably considerable drop in the price of methamphetamine. The intention of what happened in 2011 hasn't really led to the outcomes that were intended. What was done back then hasn't really fitted with what we wanted to see so bringing this back in as the Minister is doing at the moment—we don't believe it's going to lead to an explosion in methamphetamine consumption. It is recognised that there may be some very small personal manufacture. But the reality is that there's already those networks available for people to obtain methamphetamine through existing drug channels out there and this isn't likely to lead to a dramatic increase in supply as noted but only for small-scale personal use. I think the Minister noted quite well as well that it would take 2430 packets of pseudoephedrine to make 1000 grams of P and there are much more effective ways that that can be done now with more intensive forms and much smaller quantities required to produce the ultimate outcome which they're intending which is to produce or cook P. We did note that there were a few mitigants which were discussed. There will still be suppliers who will still need a licence to import. We are looking in the future to amend the Medicines Regulations 1984 which will require people to purchase pseudoephedrine face to face. Pharmacists must record information. The committee did also ask that there be a look forward to see whether we could have a system like they have in Australia—where they have a real-time online registry of everyone who has purchased pseudoephedrine—so that we can be aware of where someone is going around a bunch of pharmacies purchasing in bulk and that that can be picked up and mitigated. I will also note that when we look at other comparable countries the United States the United Kingdom Canada and Australia all allow for what this bill is intending to achieve which is the purchase of pseudoephedrine for cold and flu relief. So we are highly supportive of this and as this went through a select committee I will note—and the Opposition have certainly noted—that it was a short process. I took note of that. I did extend that period for several days so that we could have more written submissions come in. We did hear from a number of submitters. We had written submissions and in-person submissions and also several online submissions as well. We note that there were no recommended changes to the bill through the select committee period. It was supported unanimously and it comes back to the House now in that form. We had 169 individual submissions and we had nine from organisations. Most of the organisations were in favour and that includes industry bodies and harm prevention groups. It was noted around the use of binders by Dr Verrall which would help to reduce the ability of people to take pseudoephedrine and then cut it or cook it and then develop P from that. But there were a couple of instances where it had been looked at and ultimately the results from that were inconclusive so that hasn't been something that has been brought into this. I'd like to note what Dr Verrall also said around ADHD and people with ADHD having a higher usage of methamphetamine. I think that that does point to us needing to look further into ways to identify people with that and to then make sure that those services such as Ritalin are available or more readily available so that they aren't looking for P to help relieve those symptoms there. Ricardo Menéndez March: What about housing and incomes as well? SAM UFFINDELL: I missed that. But—I'm probably summing up now Madam Speaker—look it's clear that New Zealanders are going to gain benefits from this. I remember that before 2011 when you could get pseudoephedrine I had colds and flus and I did go and purchase pseudoephedrine. I found it remarkably helpful in treating those symptoms and in allowing me to get back to my life and I know that a lot of New Zealanders are going to appreciate having the ability for them to do that. This provides New Zealanders with choice. It also provides pharmacists with choice too and I must note that pharmacists can choose. Pharmacies can choose whether or not they want to stock pseudoephedrine. If they determine in their capacity that there is an increased risk or a risk that they are not willing to tolerate from stocking pseudoephedrine that's fine. They don't have to stock it and I think that that is one of the good things about this bill. It does give people choice it gives pharmacists choice it gives people and consumers choice and I think that is a good thing. I note that the Minister said that this is good legislation and that it allows people to get on with their lives without unnecessary rules and regulations. We will monitor this as it is rolled out and we will see whether more enforcement or regulation is needed and we can assess that in time. But this is a good practical bill and I do hope that it enjoys unanimous support in the House. I commend this bill.