KEY POINTS:
The Government has introduced legislation that will ban party pills.
Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton announced the planned ban in June, saying he hoped to have legislation passed by Christmas.
The Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill, introduced to Parliament today, will make the manufacture, supply, sale, export and import of BZP-based products - commonly known as "party pills" - illegal.
The bill will classify them as Class C1 drugs, the same category as cannabis.
However the bill allows for an amnesty for possession of up to five grams - or 100 tablets - for personal use for a period of roughly six months from the date the legislation is passed into law.
The amnesty will end on June 17 next year.
The retailing of party pills is an estimated $35 million a year industry.
Mr Anderton moved to institute the ban after advice from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD) that BZP - even in low doses - could result in seizures and severe toxicity in some individuals.
But a report of the Attorney-General Michael Cullen, also issued today, said some parts of the bill were in breach of the Bill of Rights Act.
The bill says when people are found in possession of over 5gms or 100 flakes or tablets of the drugs, it will be deemed it is for supply.
But the report said the clause - a requirement of the Misuse of Drugs Act it is amending - ignored the presumption of innocence and instead put the onus on defendants to prove the drugs were not for supply.
That was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act, which upheld the presumption of innocence.
Mr Anderton today said he remained confident the bill would be passed before Christmas and it had a commencement date of December 18.
He said the bill had cross party support.
- NZPA
