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Manukau City Council is pre-empting Government plans to ban party pills by moving to have them removed from all liquor outlets.
The council-run Manukau District Licensing Authority will ask retailers to take party pills off their shelves or face having their liquor licences revoked.
The decision followed a Liquor Licensing Authority judgment against a Manurewa retailer who wanted to sell alcohol and party pills from the same outlet.
The authority supported the council's view that alcohol and party pills were not compatible products and should not be sold from the same premises.
In June, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton announced the planned ban on benzylpiperazine-based (BZP) products - commonly known as party pills - saying he hoped to have the legislation passed by Christmas.
The Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Bill, introduced to Parliament last month, will make the manufacture, supply, import, export and sale of party pills illegal.
The bill will classify them as Class C1 drugs, the same category as cannabis.
Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said party pills were dangerous, especially when mixed with alcohol. "We're doing this to combat drug and related harm in Manukau, especially among our young people."
In the coming weeks letters will be sent to liquor retailers advising them of the decision and encouraging them to remove all of these products voluntarily to avoid the need for enforcement action.
It is expected that all party pills will be removed from bottle stores by January.
The bill now before Parliament allows for an amnesty for possession of up to 5g - 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.
- NZPA
