Planned P ingredients law 'clashes with Bill of Rights'

Proposed legislation which makes P ingredients ephedrine and pseudoephedrine prescription only medicines is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights, Attorney-General Chris Finlayson says.

Mr Finlayson has just released his report on the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill which will reclassify ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as Class B2 controlled substances.

He says the bill is inconsistent with section 25 of the Bill of Rights Act which sets out the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, possession of a set amount or more of a controlled substance is presumed to be for supply, which carries heavier penalties than simple possession.

Under the act, it is up to the defendant to prove that the quantity possessed was not for supply, a reversal of the onus of proof set out in section 25.

As the bill extends this presumption to possession of 10 or more grams of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, it created a prima facie breach of section 25 of the Bill of Rights, Mr Finlayson said in his report.