Ross Bell: Public safety the most important thing when it comes to debate on drug law reform

In the lead-up to the referendum on cannabis, we look forward to debating workable solutions that put health and safety first. Photo / 123RF

In response to a piece from Herald columnist John Roughan, the Drug Foundation's Executive Director Ross Bell argues that public health and safety should be our starting point for debate on drug law reform, not the cost of enforcing the law.

Legalising and regulating cannabis is something John Roughan says would be like reliving the bad early days of the ill-fated Psychoactive Substances Act. But what happened after the passing of the Act in 2013 is a bad predictor of the prospects for drug law reform.

When outlets selling "legal highs" were drastically cut overnight we witnessed people congregating outside the few stores still selling the substances. The public outrage was palpable. It was a classic PR disaster. Public education about the purpose of the Act was sorely missing and a beleaguered regulatory authority struggled to put proper rules in place.

To assuage the public, MPs amended the Act, making it unworkable. Sadly, we are now reaping the results of this. Rather than low harm substances being regulated for sale with government oversight, all substances are illegal.

The result is a myriad of novel psychoactive substances now for sale on the black market, where their safety cannot be assessed. As was extensively reported last year, some of these new drugs are deadly.

The other law covering illicit drugs is the Misuse of Drugs Act. This was written in 1975 to deter people from using drugs like LSD, heroin, cocaine and cannabis. It is just not working. Every year thousands of people are convicted for possessing or using drugs, but New Zealand still has some of the highest rates of use in the world. Police, many MPs and researchers all say that we can't arrest our way out of this situation.

Fortunately, we have plenty of examples to draw on of countries that have reformed their drug laws. None of the dire things predicted have come to pass.

The Drug Foundation - established by doctors in 1989 – argues there is a strong case for significant law reform. This will take more than changing the status of cannabis.

Building on the Law Commission's 2011 recommendations to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act (1975), we argue the current law should be replaced with one focused on health. There are three pillars.

The first of three is the removal of criminal penalties for possession or use of ANY drug. This is what we mean by decriminalisation. A caution would be issued by Police if they come across someone using drugs. A referral for a health intervention would be part of this.

Police could then concentrate on serious crime, including the supply of dangerous drugs, and people could get help early before their drug use becomes a serious problem. Conviction and punishment is restricted to those supplying drugs.

With lower risk cannabis, we call for a different approach – legalisation rather than decriminalisation. It would be legal to grow, sell or use cannabis, within a carefully regulated market. Measures would be taken to protect young people and keep health protections central. The finer detail requires thorough debate.

The cost of enforcing these regulations shouldn't be seen as an obstacle to sound policy. For instance, under a legal model the costs of administering regulations can be recovered through a levy on sales.

As a society we regulate many things that are risky, including alcohol sales, tobacco use, sky diving, the list goes on. Even if we don't agree with the choices some people make, a caring society looks out for everybody, including those that use drugs. The suggestion that people are on their own if they do this is devoid of the compassion we so desperately need.

In our proposal Whakawātea te Huarahi: a model drug law to 2020 and beyond, we show that in countries which reformed their drug laws significant public health and safety gains have been made. This is why Canada is just months away from allowing legal cannabis sales to adults.

The first two pillars will only work if the third is implemented: increase funding and capacity of those delivering education, prevention and treatment.

In the lead-up to the referendum on cannabis, we look forward to debating workable solutions that put health and safety first.