Pubdate: Wed, 07 May 2014
Source: Nelson Mail, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2014 Fairfax New Zealand Limited
Contact:  http://www.nelsonmail.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1069
Page: 4

LEGAL HIGH BAN FROM MIDNIGHT

 From midnight, it will be illegal to sell, supply or possess 
psychoactive substances including synthetic cannabis, but the 
Government would begin recalling the products today.

Anyone looking to stock up before the products were removed should 
"bear that in mind", Health Minister Tony Ryall said. Parliament 
passed a law under urgency, banning the products, last night.

Yesterday, Ryall introduced the Psychoactive Substances Amendment 
Bill, which banned 41 products given interim approval under 
legislation passed last year.

It also ensured the testing regime for future potential legal highs 
could not use animal testing.

With the co-operation of the other political parties, the legislation 
passed in a matter of hours  will be given Royal Assent today.

At 12:01am tomorrow it will be illegal to manufacture, supply or 
possess any of the products currently on the market.

The legislation was passed unopposed, although the Green Party 
abstained, having said the legislation was a knee-jerk reaction.

The vote followed an about-turn by the Government, with Associate 
Health Minister Peter Dunne writing to MPs in mid-April insisting 
existing legislation was working and needed to be given time.

Ryall said that while the legislation passed last year was meant to 
form a bridge between an unregulated market and a regulated one, it 
had left authorities with limited options to respond to ongoing harm. 
"It is clearly no longer tenable for this situation to continue, 
given the serious adverse effects continue to be reported and the 
authority is unable to respond quickly."

A product recall would begin today, ahead of the substances becoming 
illegal tomorrow.

Alcohol and Drug Association chief executive Paul Rout said calls to 
their helpline about synthetic drugs had jumped 2 per cent since the 
new legislation was first announced.

He was concerned the drugs' sudden withdrawal from the market could 
have a negative effect on users.

"We're certainly finding that when people do stop using, that for a 
significant number they do experience unpleasant side-effects.

"For some people it can be quite serious, if they're losing 
consciousness, having heart problems or breathing problems then they 
should dial 111," Rout said.

Anyone considering stocking up before then should "bear that in 
mind", Ryall said.

In a statement, Ryall said that while animal testing remained a 
"necessary and important" part of developing products such as 
medicine, "the Government does not believe that such testing was 
justifiable for the recreational drug market".

Act MP John Banks, the only MP to vote against the original 
Psychoactive Substances Bill, said that decision was "madness", which 
meant families were watching their loved ones lose their minds in the 
interests of profit.

"It's been a failure and the process we're going through this 
afternoon is a time honoured process of dead rat swallowing," Banks 
said. "We got it wrong. "I voted against it but we got it wrong."

Labour has claimed the move is a victory for the Opposition, even 
though it voted in support of the original legislation.

Trevor Mallard tabled a petition signed by 43,000 Kiwis opposing the 
use of animal testing, which was to be allowed under the old legislation.

Labour associate health spokesman Iain Lees-Galloway said he was 
concerned about the rushed nature of the process.

"I warned that mistakes would be made," Lees-Galloway said, referring 
to a speech he made in the debates last year.

"I said, I don't want to be back here in 12 months time realising 
that we've made a mistake . . . here we are."

Green Party spokesman Kevin Hague said much of the recent headlines 
and television coverage of the impacts of legal highs, while tragic, 
related to people suffering the impacts of substances which had not 
been on the market for some time.

"There is widespread belief that problems have got worse" since last 
July's legislation was passed, Hague said.

"That is not the case. The number of outlets has drastically reduced. 
The number of products has substantially reduced. Sales have reduced 
and harm has reduced."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom