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Drugs

New Zealand Government Signals "Paradigm Shift" In Drug Policy

Supply and manufacture of some drugs will incur harsher sentences, but Police directed to channel users towards recovery services, not the courts.
Personal use of drugs in New Zealand to be regarded as a health issue.

Today, the New Zealand government has revealed its intention to take a two-pronged approach to drugs in Aotearoa—both increasing sentences for certain drugs and directing Police away from prosecuting personal use in cases when a therapeutic approach would be more beneficial.

Two chemical compounds commonly found in synthetics—AMB Fubinaca and 5F-ABD—will be reclassified as Class-A, while a new classification, Class-C1, will be created to give Police greater powers for the search and seizure of emerging drugs. It means the manufacturers of as-yet-unclassified drugs can still be prosecuted.

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Synthetics have caused 52 deaths this year, provisional figures from the Coroner reveal. A joint statement from Police Minister Stuart Nash and Health Minister David Clark addressed the harm drugs like synthetics are doing in New Zealand communities. “Under current laws synthetics and other dangerous drugs are killing people and fuelling crime while dealers and manufacturers get rich,” Clark said in the statement. “The current approach is failing to keep Kiwis safe and can’t be continued.”

“It’s time to do what will work. We need to go harder on the manufacturers of dangerous drugs like synthetics, and treat the use of drugs as a health issue by removing barriers to people seeking help.” The government will also allocate $16.6 million towards boosting community addiction treatment services.

The reforms stop short of those hoped for by some. "To be clear, this is not the full decriminalisation of drugs recommended by the Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry. These are immediate steps we can take in response to the challenge we face with synthetics. We are considering the Inquiry's recommendations separately," Clark said.

On Twitter, the Green Party’s drug-law reform spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick, called it “the most meaningful and substantive drug harm reduction measure in New Zealand in 30 years. Today we begin a paradigm shift. This cannot be understated.”

In a separate statement she said that “supporting people into care and recovery will be set down in law as the first measure for Police on the front lines, rather than pushing people with addiction problems down a criminal pathway.”

Leader of the National Party, Simon Bridges, however, called the changes “mickey-mouse policy made on the hoof”.

“Decriminalising the possession and use of hard drugs is a serious decision and should be up for serious discussion and debate. But the Government is hiding from that scrutiny and sending mixed messages to the public,” he said.