No Drugs Act overhaul for now: Little
WELLINGTON: Health Minister Andrew Little has shot down calls for a swift overhaul of drug laws, saying any major change would first have to go back to a referendum.
A host of health and social organisations, including the Medical Association, Public Health Association and Mental Health Foundation, have published an open letter asking for drug use to be treated as a health issue, not a criminal one.
Mr Little said yesterday the signatories had an admirable goal, but should have acted sooner.
‘‘Their gesture today is 12 months too late,’’ he said.
The Government was now constrained by last year’s public vote on cannabis legalisation, which returned 50.7% in opposition, he said.
‘‘I would interpret that as ‘no, we’re not quite ready for this level of liberalisation just yet’,’’Mr Little said.
‘‘Doesn’t mean to say New Zealand won’t be [ready] in the near future, but it would benefit from more public debate and scrutiny.’’
He believed, given the referendum’s tight margin, the public would expect to have a vote on any further significant drug reform. He encouraged the organisations behind the letter to continue driving a public discussion after which another vote could be held.
‘‘By having a proper, wellorganised, coordinated debate about the issue — which we didn’t have last year — I think more New Zealanders will be open to looking at alternative ways of regulating potentially harmful drugs.’’
Mr Little declined to put a timeframe on when it might be appropriate to hold another vote, but said it was not his top priority.
Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick, who has been trying build crossparty consensus on decriminalisation, said she was baffled by Mr Little’s refusal to move on drug reform.
She said both the mental health inquiry and the Safe and Effective Justice review recommended an overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
‘‘It seems like an absolute abdication of political responsibility,’’ she said.
JustSpeak, an advocacy group for criminal justice reform, helped organise the letter and director Tania SawickiMead said she was frustrated by the minister’s response.
‘‘It’s fundamentally disappointing and really out of step with the socalled compassion that this Government has said it wants to lead with.’’
It seemed Labour had deemed the subject too politically risky and did not want to lose some the voters it won from National at last year’s election, Ms SawickiMead said.
‘‘I do think there is a misread of the mood here.’’
She pointed to a recent UMR poll, commissioned by the Helen Clark Foundation, which found 69% of voters either supported cannabis legalisation or would support decriminalisation.
Mr Little said he took that poll with ‘‘a grain of salt’’.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday she acknowledged the point being raised by the organisations, but police were now obliged to take a healthbased approach unless it was not in the public interest.
She said there had since been a decline in those cases going to court. — RNZ