Govt crackdown on synthetics
The Government has moved to crack down on synthetic cannabis dealers, while giving police more discretionary powers to keep users of the drugs away from the courts.
The changes go far beyond the remit of synthetics however, with police being encouraged to take a health-based approach to users of all drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin and cannabis.
The two main forms of synthetic cannabis have been given class A drug status, while a new category of class C1 has also been created to account for new drugs as they come on to the market.
This means dealing a class A drug comes with tougher sentencing penalties – up to life in prison – and dealers flogging new as-yet uncategorised scientific compounds will no longer be able to escape charges due to a gap in the law. Police will also be given more search and seizure powers to target synthetic drug dealers.
Police Minister Stuart Nash and Health Minister David Clark said the Government would amend the Misuse of Drugs Act, to say police should use discretion and not prosecute for possession and personal use, ‘‘where a therapeutic approach would be more beneficial, or there is no public interest in a prosecution’’. ‘‘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,’’ Clark said.
Provisional coroners’ figures show 52 people died from synthetics this year.
The Government has allocated $16.6 million to boost community addiction treatment services, and to provide emergency ‘‘surge’’ responses, when there is a spate of overdoses or deaths.
‘‘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.
With the shift of the two most dangerous forms of the drug into the class A band, police would gain extra search and seizure powers to crack down on suppliers and manufacturers, who would also face tougher penalties – up to life imprisonment.
Nash said frontline police were targeting dealers and suppliers with an increased focus on organised crime and transnational crime. But yesterday’s announcement was not necessarily an exemption from prosecution for possession.
Meanwhile, the Greens have this week been filibustering the debate over a National Party bill that would see tougher penalties for peddlers of synthetic cannabis. That bill is now all but dead in the water, following yesterday’s announcement. NZ First leader Winston Peters has confirmed his party will no longer support the Opposition bill.