{"id":8973,"date":"2013-08-11T14:06:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-11T14:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=8973"},"modified":"2014-01-01T13:57:29","modified_gmt":"2014-01-01T13:57:29","slug":"free-for-all-of-the-backyard-chemists-is-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2013\/08\/free-for-all-of-the-backyard-chemists-is-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Free-for-all of the backyard chemists is over"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand have passed new legislation which will make the production and selling of \u2018legal highs\u2019 and synthetic cannabis much more difficult since suppliers\u00a0will have to prove the substances for sale are low risk.\u00a0 Offences will result in a large fine or even prison<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mike Sabin, MP for Northland says he is hoping to see \u2018backyard chemists\u2019 who manufacture psychoactive substances, commonly sold as legal highs and synthetic cannabis, put out of business following the passing of the Psychoactive Substances Bill this afternoon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 20 years, countries all over the world have been dealing with an acceleration in the development of new forms of synthetic so-called \u2018legal highs\u2019 with the psychoactive compounds being ones that fall outside of drug classifications. This creates a cat and mouse effect for legislators and authorities trying to respond to the impacts of these drugs, says Mr Sabin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis Bill is unprecedented in that it responds directly to the exploitation of this anomaly, thus reversing the burden of proof to the manufacturers and suppliers of substances, meaning they will have to demonstrate that what they want to supply is low risk \u2013 or it won\u2019t be able to make it to market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cScores of products with unknown effects and unknown risk profiles have made their way through this gap in the regulatory net and ended up on dairy counters alongside lollies,\u201d says Mr Sabin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis new legislation is not in any way legitimising drug taking. It is specific to the particular nature of synthetically manufactured drugs, by beating the chemists at their own game through putting the onus on them; something I hope will drive them out of business and turn Kiwis off these products.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The new legislation includes provisions for:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A regulatory authority within the Health Ministry to<\/p>\n

o consider and approve or decline psychoactive substances<\/p>\n

o issue a manufacturing code of practice<\/p>\n

o issue importation, manufacturing and sale licences<\/p>\n

o conduct post-marketing monitoring, audit and recall functions<\/p>\n

* Establish an expert advisory committee to provide the authority with technical advice<\/p>\n

* Set offences and penalties under the Bill, including up to two years\u2019 imprisonment for some offences, and fines of up to $500,000<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Restrict sales of approved products to those over 18, remove sales from dairies and other non-specialty shops and restrict advertising to point of sale only.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prescribe retail restrictions (including advertising, labelling, and packaging restrictions), health warnings, signage, display, and other requirements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe should all remember that the only safe drug use is no drug use. Far from being an example as to how to deal with other drugs, as some opposition Parties are suggesting, this law change is simply the best way to stop chemists from altering the chemical compounds to beat the legislation, says Mr Sabin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThese drug manufacturers have made a lot of money and caused a lot of misery in New Zealand. I hope the new law will put them out of business, because society doesn\u2019t need what they have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0 Media Statement by Mike Sabin National MP for Northland NZ\u00a0 July 2013<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Zealand have passed new legislation which will make the production and selling of \u2018legal highs\u2019 and synthetic cannabis much more difficult since suppliers\u00a0will have to prove the substances for sale are low risk.\u00a0 Offences will result in a large fine or even prison.   Mike Sabin, MP for Northland says he is hoping to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,18,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-sector","category-new-zealand","category-social-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}