Pictured: Chris Fowlie of the Hemp Store, with an assortment of pipes and bongs.

But there are few other specific changes in an "action plan" released yesterday by the Minister of Health, Wyatt Creech.

The plan confirms Government promises last week that cannabis will not be legalised or decriminalised and that Ecstasy will be made a Class A drug.

Other new measures include:

• Targeting doctors who prescribe too many controlled drugs.
• More research and information about Maori drug problems in the Far North and the East Coast.
• A review of school drug-education programmes.
• Government guidelines on how to hold safer dance parties.

But it warns that drug paraphernalia is hard to define because many harmless everyday items, such as knives and bottles, can be adapted for illegal drug use.

It recommends the Government stick to banning items - such as certain pipes or bongs - which can be used only for drugs.

The penalty for possession would be three months' jail or a $1500 fine or both, the same as for cannabis.

The law would come into effect next year or possibly sooner but a transition time would be needed to allow importers and sellers to get rid of "non-complying stocks."

The plan says the Health Funding Authority and the Ministry of Health should share information with the police to identify doctors who prescribe inappropriately to drug users.

Doctors who refused to change their ways could receive ministry warnings, be referred to the Medical Council or prosecuted if necessary.

It recommends a review of drug education, saying it is not clear which approaches actually work for young people.

The dance party guidelines are aimed at nightclub owners and patrons, after an Auckland woman died from an Ecstasy overdose.

The Government's response overrules a select committee report which recommended it should reconsider the legal status of cannabis.

The Minister of Police, Clem Simich, and police chiefs favour decriminalisation but many senior National ministers, including the Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, are firmly against it.

Mr Creech said yesterday that the Government was not going to review the law on cannabis because it did not want to send confusing messages to young people about drug use.

But a spokesman for the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) said the Government was trying to avoid what it saw as a vote-losing issue in election year.

"Everyone except the Government knows the law isn't working. It doesn't stop anyone from smoking pot and it doesn't help the few people who do have problems with it from getting help."

GOVERNMENT MEDIA RELEASE
3PM MONDAY 8 MARCH 1999

Hon Wyatt Creech
Minister of Health
8 March 1999

ACTION ON HARD DRUGS AND CANNABIS USE

Action to arrest the development of the hard drugs market and to limit the harm done by cannabis abuse - including cannabis abuse in the Far North and the East Coast - are the targets of the first round of National Drug Policy action released by the Health Minister today.

The National Drug Policy was released in July last year. The plan of action released today follows consultation with health and community groups in the Far North and East Coast and with a number of experts in the hard drugs area.

"This is the first step in an evolving process to reduce the harm drugs can do to the lives of New Zealanders." The decisions are reflected in the Government's response to the Select Committee Inquiry into the Mental Health Effects of Cannabis also tabled in Parliament today.

"As a nation we can't afford to let the effects of illicit drugs damage the lives of young New Zealanders. Drug use can be at the heart of death, suicide, accidents, injury, violence and family and social disruption.

"The solution involves a mix of active health promotion, enhanced assessment and treatment services, further research, and toughened up enforcement," Mr Creech said.

Key features of the action plan include:

• The Government deciding not to review the legal status of cannabis.
• Committing to priority areas for research, including the effects on Maori communities of cannabis use.
• Progressive ban on the importation and supply of drug paraphernalia.
• Continually reviewing and updating drug education programmes in schools.
• Producing guidelines on effective Drug Education.
• Implementation of a new Police Drug Control Strategy.
• Identification of gaps and overlaps in drug and alcohol treatment services.
• Co-ordinating the National Drug Policy initiatives with those supporting 'Strengthening Families' and other social, economic and community development programmes. Hard Drugs
• Reclassification of Ecstasy as a Class A drug. A Cabinet paper is being prepared to shift the classification of Ecstasy.
• Reviewing classification of controlled drugs.
• Development and distribution of relevant information including that for safer dance parties.
• Proactive gathering of intelligence related to inappropriate prescribing of controlled drugs. A pilot programme will be run in Christchurch.

"Young people need clear and consistent messages about drug use," Mr Creech said. "The visibility and availability of paraphernalia for example, in particular pipes and "bongs", specifically for illicit drug-taking activity, have the potential to send conflicting messages to young people regarding the appropriateness or safety of drug taking.

"We will make sure drug education programmes are well targeted and effective. The development of guidelines will help ensure the right and consistent messages are given to people about drugs."

Mr Creech also stressed that enforcement is essential to any work programme dealing with illicit drugs. The Police and Customs play a vital role in preventing the importation and supply of illicit drugs in New Zealand. A number of initiatives will target drug dealers and new technologies will improve border control techniques.

"The Government spends a significant amount on tackling drug and alcohol misuse. Over $200 million a year is spent on action including, treatment services, to track down those illegally supplying and using drugs and drug education programmes in schools.

This funding includes:

• Approx $140 million a year is spent on drug and alcohol law enforcement.
• Approx $40 million a year is spent by the Health Funding Authority for drug and alcohol treatment services.
• Approx $4 million a year for drug and alcohol public health programmes $3 million over three years for drug education in schools
• $4.5 million a year for the DARE programmes

For further information please contact Anna Hughes (04) 4719 819 or (025) 477 987.

Copies of National Drug Policy work plan and fact sheet attached.

National Drug Policy

FACT SHEET

Costs associated with drug use Drug use imposes many health, social and economic costs on New Zealand society each year. The major areas of drug-related harm are deaths and illness, accidents and injury, violence and crime, family and social disruption, and loss of productivity in the workplace.

Mortality

Just over 28,000 people died in 1997, according to provisional results from the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS). Of these, approximately 5000 New Zealanders died as a direct or indirect result of drug use. This means that roughly one out of every five or six deaths is drug-related.

It is estimated that around 4500 people die each year from tobacco-related causes (eg. lung cancer). Alcohol-related mortality is thought to account for around 500 deaths each year, both from primary cause conditions (eg. alcoholic liver disease) as well as alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities, etc. For example, a study by Scragg (1995) estimated that about 30 percent of the 314 drivers/passengers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes during 1995 were above the legal blood alcohol limit.

Fewer than 50 deaths each year - or less than 1% of all drug-related deaths - are currently associated with illicit and other drugs. For example, provisional data for 1996 indicate that 13 people died as a result of "accidental poisoning" (ie. overdose deaths) by illicit and other drugs (eg. prescription medication).

Morbidity

Drug use can cause a range of ill-health effects, which in severe cases may require hospitalisation. For example, according to provisional figures obtained from NZHIS, during 1997 there were 1530 [admissions and] discharges from public hospitals for alcohol-related disease throughout the country. A further 379 [admissions and] discharges were recorded for "accidental poisoning" by other drugs.

Other costs

The direct and indirect economic costs of drug use are also high. For example, a 1987 study estimated that 7.8 percent of total hospital operating costs were attributable to alcohol (for example, from the care of people injured in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents). A 1997 study found that the misuse of alcohol imposed tangible costs to New Zealand society of around $2.9 billion in 1990.

Estimating the cost of illicit drug use is more difficult, however some direct costs are quantifiable. For example, a 1996 survey of people on the waiting list to enter the Christchurch methadone programme found that, in order to sustain their dependence on opioid drugs, each person generated an average of over $1,000 each week from various types of criminal activity.

Supply control costs

The Police estimate that during 1996/97, the total cost of drug and alcohol related law enforcement was approximately $135 million - with most of these costs being personnel time attending incidents, conducting investigations or offering advice/assistance.

For example, Police records indicate that over 10,000 hours were spent on incidents involving intoxicated persons, at an estimated cost of over three-quarters of a million dollars in personnel time. Law enforcement costs for offences involving cannabis and other illicit drugs are also significant. During the 1996/97 year, there were just over 23,000 reported drug offences that involved cannabis, which required over 61,000 hours of Police officer time to investigate and process.

It is estimated that $2-3 million is spent on drug interdiction work by the Customs Service each year. This includes the cost of maintaining the separate National Drug Intelligence Bureau in Wellington.

Additional drug-related law enforcement costs are also incurred by the community corrections and public prison system. Figures supplied by the Department of Corrections indicate that there are approximately 502 prison inmates who have a conviction for an alcohol or drug-related offence. The average overall cost of imprisonment is $47,165 per inmate per year. The Department also received $1.5 million in 1997/98 to implement a national strategy to reduce drug use in prisons, with most of this expenditure being allocated for drug testing and enforcement activities.

Further drug-related law enforcement costs are incurred by the judicial system, although it is difficult to estimate how much Courtroom time is spent on hearing cases which involve drug-related offences.

Demand reduction costs

From Vote:Health, the Health Funding Authority (HFA) allocated over $40 million for the purchase of drug and alcohol treatment services in 1997/98. In addition, the HFA purchased slightly less than $4 million worth of drug and alcohol public health programmes.

Through Vote:Education, the Government has made available $3 million over three years for school-based drug education programmes. A further $1 million a year on average is made available for such work through the special "Alcohol and Drug Fund" administered by the Lottery Grants Board.

The use of Police officers to deliver the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programme in schools, as well as community alcohol action programmes which focus on drink-driving education, is reported to have taken 65,000 hours of personnel time in 1996/97, at a cost of just over $4.5 million.

Further funding for drug and alcohol programmes is provided by other Government departments. For example, the Department of Corrections plans to spend approximately $265,000 during 1998/99 on drug and alcohol programmes for offenders serving community-based sentences or on parole. Another $335,000 will be spent on programmes containing a drug and alcohol treatment component. Within the public prison system itself, the Department provided approximately 70,000 hours of drug and alcohol programmes to inmates during 1997/98, at a total cost approaching half a million dollars.

________________________________________________________________________ This is an official release from a NZ Minister of the Crown. An archive of releases can be viewed at http://www.cabinet.govt.nz/news/