New approach to drug safety
IT is high time some New Zealanders took a broader view of how to deal with drug safety.
The issue is back in the public arena following Police Minister Stuart Nash’s proposal to establish regulated drug testing at music festivals (where recreational drugs are regularly consumed), not to punish the pill poppers but to ensure they are not putting themselves and perhaps others at risk.
His wish is to see a ‘‘more compassionate and restorative approach’’ to the use of drugs at such events, and an amendment to Section 12 of the Misuse of Drugs Act would create an exception for harm reduction services.
So, festival or concertgoers would legally be able to access a drugtesting station on site, receive a clear picture of what substances their drugs contained, and be given sound advice from drug education experts.
The time for reform in this specific area is ripe. As the Drug Foundation points out, the illegal market for psychoactive substances is ‘‘increasingly unpredictable’’. Such substances can be used to turn drugs with known effects into virtual hand grenades.
Just this summer, police found traces of insecticide in drugs seized at the Rhythm and Vines event in Gisborne.
In fact, at festivals in New Zealand in 201617, 20% of drug samples tested contained none — absolutely zero — of the substance people thought they had.
A further 11% of samples were mixed with other psychoactive additives.
The key issue here is empowering people to make informed decisions, and help ing to keep them safe.
The law has proven poor at preventing people from taking drugs, so it needs to become a health issue.
Disappointingly, some have chosen the path of kneejerk reaction rather than considered debate, throwing around all sorts of misguided views about this being the thin edge of the wedge — that it will not only waste public money but will lead to more drugs being consumed at entertainment events.
They are simply not argu ments that stack up.
The drugtesting services would not be a drain on the taxpayer. They would be provided by organisations like Know Your Stuff, which offered free testing at festivals two years ago in the ‘‘grey area’’ left open by the 44yearold Misuse of Drugs Act.
If anything, the testing could save public money. Mr Nash claimed some festivals in Australia that implemented drug testing reported an astonishing 95% drop in hospitalisations. Fewer drug users in hospital beds is a winwin.
Studies have also shown effective drug testing actually reduces drug use.
Know Your Stuff reported that, when potential users discovered their substance was different from what was expected, 52% of people decided not to take the drug.
Providing information and education about drugs is not about condoning or encouraging drug use. It is clearly in the public interest to keep our people — especially our younger citizens — safe and out of hospital.
New Zealand showed its progressive side when it became the first country in the world to provide a national statesponsored needle exchange programme. That was in 1987. Thirtytwo years later, it is time to make another safe, sensible change for good.
AND ANOTHER THING
Words fail us — but fortunately Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen, of Dunedin, had just the right description for the actions of the motorcyclist caught riding at nearly 200kmh last weekend.
Clocking 199kmh on State Highway 1 near Waihola was ‘‘beyond idiotic’’, in Snr Sgt Dinnissen’s concise view, and we agree.
Such lunacy, at a time when New Zealand’s road toll has climbed to a decadehigh level, needs to be dealt with swiftly and harshly.
Whether on two wheels or four, there is no place for that outrageous speed on our highways.