Bellatrix

Care, Consistency, Control: Greens Drug Policy

Wednesday, 29 September 2004, 2:00 pm | Press Release: Green Party | Scoop.co.nz


The Green Party launched a comprehensive proposal to cover all controlled drugs today.

Green MPs Nandor Tanczos and Sue Kedgley said today that the Drug Law Reform policy, paving the way for an overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act, aims to provide the greatest level of 'harm reduction' for society.

"Our policy tackles the issue of drug law reform on two major fronts," said Nandor, the Drug Policy spokesperson. "We must reduce the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other drugs while also reducing the size of the illicit drugs market.

"All drugs can cause harm. Inconsistent legislation only causes more. We are proposing an integrated and consistent approach to psychoactive drugs that not only deals with criminal sanctions but also looks at drug education and treatment."

The Greens are calling for an advisory group of health, justice and legal experts with public input to put together proposals to rationalise the messy system into a consistent, evidence-based an integrated framework. As part of the launch the Greens have developed an example of how a different framework could work.

"At present we have the Sale of Liquor Act, Smokefree Environments Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act, and others. It's a hell of a mess. It would be better to have one consistent law that included all psychoactive drugs, from tobacco to cannabis to codeine, but treats them differently according to the scientific evidence," said Nandor.

"Of course drugs such as methamphetamine would still be illegal to possess or sell, while others such as alcohol would be R18, with advertising restrictions and consumer warnings. The classification of different drugs would be decided by experts rather than politicians and would include a focus on treatment.

"The first response to, for example, underage use of any drug should be some basic drug education and assessment, and if there is a drug problem, proper treatment. At the moment the law is silent and so some young people get a slap on the hand, others get expelled from school, while others get a criminal conviction."

Sue Kedgley, the Green Party's Health spokesperson, said that a new approach was urgently needed that recognised that all drugs can cause serious physical, mental and social harm if they are misused or overused.

"There's no point in coming down hard on some drugs and turning a blind eye to others; allowing some drugs to be promoted and glamorised, while others are demonised.

"We need an integrated approach to all drugs and a consistent approach to reducing their harm through treatment and education - whether they are prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco or cannabis," she said.

Bellatrix; thank you Nandor! Thank you Kedgley! Let's hear it for New Zealand!

Of course, the fly in the ointment is this;

Quote:

Classifying substances into three categories, it allows for R18 possession of cannabis but keeps the sale strictly illegal.

An excerpt froma shorter article at NZ City. That seems pretty stupid, considering the rest of the legislation seems to make pretty good sense. Then again, I only saw a reference to this in one of the many articles I saw about this same subject. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

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Posted by Bellatrix:
This article seems to be more clear on what they are proposing.

No dopes on publicity front

By KEVIN TAYLOR | New Zealand Herald | Sept. 30, 2004

Memo to political parties: How to get media attention during a quiet parliamentary recess.

Message: Follow Green Party example and launch a souped-up version of an existing policy at Parliament's bar, and offer food and (non-alcoholic) drink afterwards.

So the media obliged by trooping along yesterday to the Beehive's bar - Pickwicks, or 3.2 as it's called.

"It's good to have you in this notorious smoke-free environment," party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons told journalists.

In the background the air-conditioning hummed, ensuring the atmosphere wasn't stale from events the night before.

With her were drug policy spokesman Nandor Tanczos and health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley to launch a "framework" covering all drugs - including the legal ones.

"We are here in Pickwicks to underscore the importance of an integrated approach to different drugs," explained Mr Tanczos.

The Greens want to revamp "messy" existing laws, and their drug policy aims to reduce abuse of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other drugs.

Measures include banning broadcast alcohol advertising, requiring health warnings on alcohol and tobacco, higher tobacco and alcohol taxes and halting pharmaceutical advertising.

[Suetaznote: I think they're going to get some opposition over the above measures.]

The Greens also want sentences for illegal drugs established by a committee of experts, not by politicians.

The MPs also repeated the Green policy of legalising cannabis use and cultivation for personal use by those over 18, saying it would help kill the illegal market.

Mr Tanczos saw no contradiction between fighting drug abuse and making cannabis legal.


Green MP Nandor Tanczos. Picture / Mark Mitchell

"We will regulate them according to what the evidence says is the best way of reducing the harm," he said. "But they are all to be discouraged."

Asked whether allowing parents to use cannabis encouraged their children to do the same, Ms Fitzsimons replied: "The whisky bottle in the cupboard is no different from the dope plant in the backyard in terms of children. It's illegal in both cases for the children to use it - and the parental control that's needed is the same in both cases."

[Suetaznote: Well said, except I would say parental guidance, not control.]

United Future leader Peter Dunne - ever prepared to slam the Greens - was ready with another salvo after the policy's release.

"Imagine the job of being a parent if cannabis is decriminalised," he spluttered in a statement. "Have the Greens stopped to think for a minute what message this permissive approach sends to our young people?"

[Suetaznote: Geez Peter Dunne, read the above statement where it says, "The whisky bottle in the cupboard is no different from the dope plant in the backyard in terms of children." Heaven forbid if cannabis were legalized, that nasty, evil weed. What does he think the permissive approach to alcohol has done? At least the Green Party wants to look at this more realisticly than someone like Peter Dunne.]

But the Greens are undeterred. As consistent as ever, their policy would align smokefree legislation with their cannabis policy. That means smoking cannabis would be covered by the Smokefree Environments Act.

So if dope is ever legalised, forget about lighting up a joint inside Pickwicks - or any other bar - because from December smoking in bars is banned.

The Greens' three-tier approach to drug laws

How the Greens' drug framework could look.

Class A - High level of restriction Possession and sale illegal with criminal sanctions:

A1 - No accepted medical value and ministerial approval needed for use in research, eg methamphetamine.

B2 - Recognised medical use, available on prescription from registered practitioners, eg morphine.

Class B - Medium level of restriction Sale illegal with criminal sanctions, except for approved therapeutic use. Possession of substances (including growing a limited amount of cannabis) would be legal.

B1 - Ministerial approval needed (no accepted medical value). No example given by Greens

B2 - Available on prescription from general practitioners, eg cannabis.

Class C - Low level of restriction Restricted sale and possession permitted:

C1 - Restricted to age 18 and over, licensed sales only, promotion only at point of sale, warnings on containers, eg alcohol.

C2 - Restricted to age 18 and over, no licence required, restrictions on promotion, warnings on containers, eg tobacco and legal highs such as BZP.

C3 - No age limit, restricted promotions, warnings on containers, eg highly caffeinated drinks

The Greens' policy statements says the substances in each category are indicative and would depend on a public review.

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