Editorial: Local policy limits harm from highs

Synthetic cannabis has done real harm to communities. Photo / File

When the Government announced that it was bringing in tough new laws to curb and even stop the sale of legal highs, there was general relief in most communities.

Substances such as K2 have caused untold harm in our communities and, in some cases, families have been torn apart.

However, many people were quite disappointed when the bill, which became the Psychoactive Substances Act on July 18, did not seem to go far enough.

The act states any products which have been legally available for sale during the past six months must begin their approval and testing process or they will become illegal. If they begin this process the products can still be sold legally, as is the case with K2. However, the authority has the power to remove them from the market at any stage if they are considered too high risk.

This was all well and good, but the upshot of it all is that legal highs are still widely available in our communities.

This is why it is good to see Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott and her council taking further action to keep legalised harmful substances out of the suburbs and limit where they can be sold.

The council has adopted a local approved-products policy restricting the location of sales points to the inner City.

Mrs Arnott is clear that she believes no one should be allowed to sell psychoactive substances at all and I must say it is an argument that is hard to disagree with.

However, since they have been declared legal, the Napier City Council must be applauded for putting those items in "the place of least harm".