Wagner Nicky: Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Wagner Nicky: Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 September 2007. Volume:642;Page:11730. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
NICKY WAGNER (National) 
: 
 I rise to support the Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill and I support it because benzylpiperazine (BZP) can be a dangerous substance and it can cause real harm particularly when used indiscriminately. But I want to make it very clear that I do not think the banning of BZP will curtail party pill use in New Zealand. 
One of the things I have noticed since I came into Parliament is that we as politicians who care about New Zealanders and who want to make a difference are very keen to legislate. But we often seem to pass legislation that has absolutely nothing to do with the problem that has been identified. I first discovered that when we were working on the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill. Everyone agreed that New Zealand had an appalling record of child abuse and everybody wanted to protect children. Through research we identified the causes of child abuse: poverty stress family breakdown and drug and alcohol abuse. But then what did Parliament do? We passed legislation—a whole lot of rules none of which addressed any of the identified causes of child abuse. Similarly when Parliament identified the problem of young children being savaged by dogs the Government passed legislation to microchip dogs. Can anyone tell me how microchipping can stop a dog biting a child. Would a muzzle not have been simpler? I feel that this legislation is in the same league as those laws. 
As the National Party’s spokesperson on youth I have spoken to many schools many youth workers and many parents and they are united in their condemnation of party pills. They see them as just another hazard for young people to deal with on top of tobacco on top of alcohol and on top of other drugs. They make the same point that Mr Harawira made. They want to get rid of party pills but this legislation will not do that. It will do very little to inhibit the party pill trade. The makers—and they have told us this—will just introduce new and as yet unregulated alternative ingredients. Those new ingredients potentially have even higher risk profiles. Party pills are well established in New Zealand as Mr Tanczos has told us. One in five New Zealanders have used party pills and over 15 percent of them have used them in the last year. Two-thirds of the users are between 18 and 24 years of age and though party pills are supposedly unavailable to young people under 18 years of age 6.3 percent of 15 to 17-year-olds have used them. Three percent of 13 to 14-year-olds have used party pills. 
So the real issue that concerns those who care about young people is that after this legislation comes into force party pills will still be readily available—readily available in attractive-looking specialist stores and even in dairies so that people can buy them along with their bread and milk. Mr Cosgrove can note that this bill will not stop the use of party pills in our community or party pill shops. The 18 years and older purchasing age will still continue to be infrequently enforced because we know that the purchases of under-18s are rarely challenged and that dairies are recognised as one of the easiest places in which to make a purchase. There will still be no control over the standard of packaging over the number and dosage of pills per pack or over recommended dosages— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Because they’ll be banned. 
NICKY WAGNER 
: Only BZP will be banned not party pills as such. So although BZP will be banned that will still do nothing to solve the problem of party pills and it will do nothing to address the issues regarding the supply and control of party pills that have been raised by schools youth workers and parents. 
Just as in the cases of the amendment to section 59 of the Crimes Act and the dog microchipping bill we have legislation on BZP but it offers no long-term solution to the problem regarding party pills.