Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the Pseudoephedrine Amendment Bill and how he doesn't think it will endanger pharmacies.
Video / Mark Mitchell
A bill proposing to reverse the ban on cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a component of methamphetamine, is expected to receive support from all but one party in Parliament when it reaches the House today.
Act leader David Seymour, as Associate Health Minister, is today introducing the Misuse of Drugs (Pseudoephedrine) Amendment Bill to the House to reverse the ban implemented more than a decade ago by Sir John Key as part of the former PM’s “war on P” that aimed to reduce the domestic production of methamphetamine.
The first reading would go through under urgency ahead of four weeks in select committee. The Government hoped to pass the bill in full by the end of March with the medicines to be available by next winter.
The legislation, created by Act, will be supported by National and New Zealand First as part of the Government’s coalition agreements.
The Green Party has confirmed it will vote in favour of the bill with outgoing co-leader James Shaw saying the “balance of evidence” suggested the change would do more good than harm.
Labour would support the bill through its first reading, given there had been time set aside for a public submission process. Labour leader Chris Hipkins earlier said it was likely his party would promote the bill into law because the ban hadn’t reduced meth use and it restricted people from getting more-effective cold and flu medicine.
However, caution had been expressed within Labour’s ranks, namely from Ōhāriu MP Greg O’Connor who had promoted the ban while he was Police Association president.
“Personally, I think we need to be very, very wary,” O’Connor said this morning.
“Yes, the market has changed ... let’s face it all the P now comes from overseas but we need to be careful, that could change very quickly.”
Former Police Association president Greg O'Connor called for careful debate before ditching the ban. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told the Herald her party wouldn’t support the bill as part of its fundamental opposition to any measures that could increase the prevalence of meth in Māori communities.
She believed there were sufficient alternatives to medicines with pseudoephedrine that could address the ailments of whānau.
In 2009, Key argued New Zealand was in a crisis due to P consumption, which at the time was largely being cooked domestically, often using pseudoephedrine extracted from medicines obtained legally through pharmacies.
Seymour this afternoon told journalists it was an “unfortunate reality” that organised crime groups could access and facilitate cheaper meth production now than in the past.
“It seems incredibly implausible that people are going to go back to something that costs more gives them higher prices and less supply than what they’re doing right now.”
Seymour was confident four weeks in select committee was long enough for what he described as the “shift of one word from one page of the law to another”.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon agreed and said part of the reason why the bill was being progressed under urgency was to give manufacturers and importers certainty and sufficient time to ensure the medicines were available by next winter.
Pharmaceutical companies would have to apply to Medsafe, which would use an expedited process to approve the sale of such medicines.
The ban was also intended to end the flurry of robberies and ram raids targeting pharmacies at the time.
Luxon said the risk of pharmacies being targeted had been a matter discussed by Seymour and Police Minister Mark Mitchell to ensure the issue was monitored.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell was surprised by the PM's comments. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Luxon’s comments appeared to surprise Mitchell, who said he and Seymour hadn’t had any conversations about it but assumed the Prime Minister was referring to communication between Mitchell’s office and Seymour’s office.
The Herald has confirmed no such communication occurred between the two offices and the only correspondence Luxon could be referring to was conversations held in Cabinet.
Nevertheless, Mitchell said he had received no advice from police expressing concern about the ban reversal and its potential to lead to a crime spike against pharmacies.
He said pharmacies wouldn’t receive financial aid for security once the ban had gone, but accepted that could be revised if a problem arose.
In November, Associate Professor Chris Wilkins, leader of Massey University’s drug research team, told the Herald the ban was not making a difference anymore in terms of meth control.
“We used to talk about busts of 10kg as being big, now it is 100s and even a tonne of meth.
“Wastewater testing shows usage is not falling and surveys show the cost is lower than it has ever been, usually a good sign the market is awash in meth.”
Initially, the ban appeared to have an impact as the price of meth stabilised, the number of local clan labs decreased and pharmacy-related crime reduced.
But, according to a 2021 police report, within years criminal groups had adapted to the new environment, first importing the medication and then pseudoephedrine in raw form.
According to the Key Government’s baseline indicators report, in 2009 methamphetamine cost $700 to $1000 a gram.
Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $1000 to $1400.
As of November, police say it could be purchased for as low as $200 a gram.
Current Police Association president Chris Cahill said while the ban was necessary 15 years ago when domestic meth production was high, he didn’t believe reversing the ban now would cause significant issues.
In a statement, Pharmacy Guild chief executive Andrew Gaudin said he supported the proposed change to the sale of medicines.
He acknowledged there were safety concerns in the industry but said pharmacy staff regularly dealt with security risks.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
