Festival drug test quick fix
Festival hosts can have drugchecking services at their events this summer without risking prosecution.
Health Minister Andrew Little revealed yesterday the Government would pass an urgent law to provide legal breathing space for drugchecking in time for the summer festival season.
It is a surprise after Little and Police Minister Poto Williams recently told the Herald a change was “unlikely” before year’s end, with only two sitting weeks left in Parliament.
Drug-checking allows users to hand over a sample and be told whether it is what they think it is, or if it is laced with something more sinister. Some drugs at Rhythm and Vines in 2018 were found to have pesticides, industrial-paint compounds and paracetamol, while there have been several health warnings overseas for fentanyl-laced cannabis.
Section 12 of the Misuse of Drugs Act says anyone who knowingly allows a premises to be used for a drug offence faces up to 10 years’ jail, depending on the drug.
It created a grey area where drug-checkers or festival hosts could be charged, though drug-checker KnowYourStuffNZ says it has never been threatened with prosecution or harassed by police.
Last season, it tested 1368 samples between April 2019 and March this year, and 86 per cent of the time the drug was what users thought it was.
The move will enable the director-general of health to appoint a drug-check service by way of notice in the Gazette.
“This gives welcome reassurance to those operating the services and festival organisers who host them that they will not be criminalised for their efforts to keep young New Zealanders safe this summer,” Little said.
It would still be illegal to take or supply illicit drugs.
“This is not about condoning young New Zealanders’ use of drugs. We would prefer they didn’t,” Little said.
“But the evidence is that when allowed to operate, drug-checking services can significantly reduce drug harm.”
The bill will be for the short-term, and next year the Government will develop a long-term solution. A change was mooted last parliamentary term but was stymied when NZ First urged personal responsibility and more research.
Little said research by Victoria University Associate Professor Fiona Hutton showed a change would likely see more use of drug-checking services at festivals: “The study found that most people who have their drugs checked change their behaviour, and come away with increased knowledge of how to keep themselves and their friends safe.”
The Greens and Act will back the bill.