Dunne Peter: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDunne Peter: Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 04 August 2011. Volume:674;Page:20348. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PETER DUNNE (Associate Minister of Health): I moveThat the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill be now read a third time. The third reading of this bill gives me a great deal of pleasure. What began as a bill with the primary purpose of reclassifying pseudoephedrine and ephedrine as class B2 controlled drugs has become out of necessity a bill that will also enable the Government to more easily deal with the potential harms associated with new and emerging psychoactive substances like Kronic.The amendment that I introduced by way of Supplementary Order Paper on Tuesday provides a mechanism to temporarily ban substances where there is reason for concern about their use and that will be achieved by issuing temporary drug class notices for these particular substances. In the event that such a notice is issued for a substance or a product retailers will then have 7 days to remove the product from their shelves and it must not be sold after that time. The substance in question will then be referred to an expert committee to consider it and to make recommendations for the appropriate ongoing level of control of that substance.In the case of the products currently causing widespread concern—that is the synthetic cannabinoids and products like Kronic—I will be issuing a temporary drug class notice as soon as possible after this bill receives the Royal assent next week. That will mean these products must be off the shelves no more than 1 week later. In these circumstances my advice to current retailers is simple: return their stocks to their supplier right now. Do not wait for the notice to be issued because it is ultimately the distributors’ responsibility and it is they who should bear the cost not the retailer.At this point I would like to thank both Ministry of Health officials and the Parliamentary Counsel Office for their hard work developing this Supplementary Order Paper. I acknowledge the effort they put into getting the drafting absolutely right but I must also reiterate the point I made during the Committee of the whole House that the provisions contained in the Supplementary Order Paper are not the long-term solution.The Law Commission’s 45 recommendations in this area remain the goal as there can be no doubt of the logic that a manufacturer of such products should be required to demonstrate their safety before they enter the market.But the Law Commission’s recommendations are very high-level and it is important we work through the detailed policy required to implement such a regime to ensure we get the new regulatory framework right. I say to those who have been calling for the immediate implementation of the Law Commission’s 144 recommendations for updating the Misuse of Drugs Act that they have either failed genuinely to understand the complexities of the issues involved or been deliberately ignorant in advocating sensationalist solutions to complex issues they were incapable of understanding. Either way we are past that now. The temporary drug class notification process will enable us to better manage the influx of new substances than the current legislation allows. The Government is determined to get this right. It is not going to be rushed into superficial responses that will have to be rectified later.Let me now discuss the major part of this bill as it was introduced. The Prime Minister released the Methamphetamine Action Plan in October 2009 with an aim to significantly reduce the use of methamphetamine and consequently reduce the harms it causes in our communities. Methamphetamine is the only illegal stimulant drug commonly manufactured in our country and we have very high rates of use by international standards. Methamphetamine increases the risk of cardiovascular problems convulsions and mental health disturbances including paranoia and violent behaviour. The Methamphetamine Action Plan includes a comprehensive package of measures to control methamphetamine precursors to break drug supply-chains to improve access and routes into drug treatment to improve support for the community to combat this drug and to provide stronger leadership by the Government. The harms posed by the diversion of pseudoephedrine to the manufacture of methamphetamine outweigh the need for the ongoing over-the-counter availability of preparations containing this substance.Although most pseudoephedrine and ephedrine used in the manufacture of P has been sourced internationally their reclassification as class B2 controlled drugs is still an important part of the equation. Police continue to find domestically sourced pseudoephedrine at clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. The Health Committee in its report notes that the methamphetamine market is worth about $1 billion annually and that at least 10 percent of this is manufactured from domestic pseudoephedrine. Therefore we cannot ignore over $100 million worth of the methamphetamine market. We need to compliment the valuable work of the Customs Service and the police and strengthen our response to domestic diversion. Reclassification of these substances as class B2 controlled drugs will also give the police and customs increased powers to control supply such as being able to obtain a warrant to intercept communications.As members are aware the other amendments contained within this bill are technical and are necessary to clarify tighten or correct current provisions within the Act. The part that generated the most attention at the Health Committee—and indeed it has met with the most opposition in the House—was the part that amends the drug paraphernalia provisions to close two loopholes in the Act to enable the police and customs to enforce the current law effectively. I have to confess that it strikes me as strange that there is such strong opposition from some members given that in 2003 a notice was issued under section 22 of the Act that prohibited the import and supply of cannabis and methamphetamine utensils. All the current amendments do is to enable this piece of legislation to be enforced—in other words to actually give effect to the 2003 order.This bill also removes thalidomide from class A of the Misuse of Drugs Act so that it can be more appropriately controlled under the Medicines Act. Thalidomide is notpsychoactive nor is it used recreationally. Its place under the Misuse of Drugs Act is an anomaly that will be rectified with this amendment. The bill also corrects a problematic overlap between the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005 and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 by removing the exclusion that a hazardous substance cannot also be a restricted substance. I touched on this briefly on Tuesday and I will make the point again: we are correcting a mistake to enable a framework in place since 2005 but unable to be used due to the wording in the legislation to be available as a regulating mechanism.The restricted substances regime places robust controls on low-risk psychoactive drugs such as so-called party pills and legal highs that would otherwise be uncontrolled. The amendment that is proposed in this bill will remove the barrier to the use of the restricted substances regime. In addition as introduced in the Supplementary Order Paper on Tuesday the bill will enable restricted substances to also be considered as herbal smoking products for the purposes of the Smoke-free Environments Act.Finally this bill will strengthen our legislation by broadening our analogue provisions to make sure we are prepared for emerging designer drugs. The controlled drug analogue provisions prevent a large number of substances treated and traded as legal highs in other countries such as the substance mephedrone from being able to be sold legally in New Zealand. However it is necessary that the proposed amendment to our current provisions is enacted to protect against developments that are ongoing and many in the chemistry of designer drugs. I am sure that all members acknowledge that this is an area where we face constant challenge and change.This bill is an important step forward. It is with considerable pleasure that I commend it to the House.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): The question is—is the member calling?Iain Lees-Galloway: Yes I am calling.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): I call the honourable member Iain Lees-Galloway. Members must call.