"'Revolutionary' legal high law means state regulated drug market"

[ErraneousHerbalist]

Kronic-style drugs are expected back on the shelves under the new legal high law being crafted by Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne.

Experts say the law will create one of the world's first open and regulated recreational drug markets with synthetic cannabis making a return.

The first legal highs will be offered for sale in 2014, based on estimates in papers released by health officials.

The new regime, announced by Mr Dunne last week, aims to end the uncontrolled legal high industry which is estimated to have made $250 million in 10 years. The unregulated market has seen drugs sold legally with effects mimicking illegal substances like P, cannabis and Ecstasy.

In the law Mr Dunne aims to have ready by August next year, legal high manufacturers will have to pay to have their substance proved "low risk". His office acknowledged it would create a legal drug market.

"That is the absolute intention behind this regime. The problem in the past has been that we had a totally unregulated market with who knows what substances in these products.

"I am quite unapologetic about leading changes that will make things safer for young New Zealanders."

Papers released by Mr Dunne's office show health officials estimate 10 applications would be made to have substances classified in the first year. Each application would cost up to $2 million and would include animal testing and human trials to ensure the drugs were low risk.

"There may only be one or two approvals in the first year or two," stated the briefing papers.

Health officials found the cost of the trials - which would be carried by the company wanting to produce the drug - did not put the industry off. They reported one company considering testing now even though the new regime was not fully developed.

Mr Dunne's paper to the Cabinet's social policy committee said users would still assume some risk but it would be an improvement on the current system which had no harm-prevention measures.

Massey University drug researcher Dr Chris Wilkins said the system was "revolutionary".

"Having a government-approved legal high industry is pretty radical. New Zealand is the only country in the world going down that path."

New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the proposal was "22nd century thinking" which posed serious questions for society.

"What happens when someone invents the pill or the powder that gets you the high you want, is completely non-addictive ... and is safe to drive on. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Original: http://www.nzherald....jectid=10822749

Thoughts?

[Seldom]

they can put the cannabis analogs next to the cask wine at woolies bottlo, their value is imo about the same

[qualia]

i thought "hang on why am i reading about sensible drug legislation?", then i saw it was new zealand.

oh well, any day now i'm sure .....

[chnt]

the thing that pisses me off about this is that no one will be allowed to test on cannabis to see how much of a risk it is (or is not...)

baby steps

[shruman]

Nice, still they have a few hoops in front of them, I will celebrate when they are for sale...

"they can put the cannabis analogs next to the cask wine at woolies bottlo"

This legislation looks to be aimed at more than just synthnoids & considering the amount of research already done on methylone in NZ I would think it would be a prime contender.

"What happens when someone invents the pill or the powder that gets you the high you want, is completely non-addictive ... and is safe to drive on. Is there anything wrong with that?"

[ballzac]

This is fantastic news. It will allow for the safest alternatives to illegal drugs, and will provide a model of successful drug legalisation which can be cited as similar laws are proposed elsewhere (like Australia). It may seem like a small thing to those who are not so interested in these chemicals, but think about it, this will be the first example of state sanctioned recreational drugs other than alcohol and tobacco in the west since the WOD began. Sure, all of these chemicals have been legal at some time, but it's always been temporary, and dependent on being kept under the radar. A law like this will save a lot of lives as people will have the option of using regulated substances and knowing exactly what they are taking and at what dose.

EDIT: Of course, it's possible that this is simply a cunning way to ban substances without having to play the arms race that is currently occuring. If the 'safety' bar is set too high, then effectively all of these chemicals will be illegal to sell without having undergone the banning process. My suggestion would be that if manufacturers are having trouble getting their products approved, someone gets a sample of alcohol examined under the same requirements.

Edited July 30, 2012 by ballzac

[qualia]

This is fantastic news. It will allow for the safest alternatives to illegal drugs, and will provide a model of successful drug legalisation which can be cited as similar laws are proposed elsewhere (like Australia). It may seem like a small thing to those who are not so interested in these chemicals, but think about it, this will be the first example of state sanctioned recreational drugs other than alcohol and tobacco in the west since the WOD began. Sure, all of these chemicals have been legal at some time, but it's always been temporary, and dependent on being kept under the radar. A law like this will save a lot of lives as people will have the option of using regulated substances and knowing exactly what they are taking and at what dose.

 

sure, but I'm not in favour of animal testing, particularly when a natural alternative can be regulated in the same manner without the need for such tests. which i suppose brings me to your second point, where the natural alternative is not being considered under the same legislation, and remains illegal under what i can only assume is purely ideological reasons.

[Belching]

I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of 18 year olds willing to be human test subjects. Hell, have sign up sheets at Kiwi Schoolies. No need for animals.

[ballzac]

If a good regulatory framework was implemented, it could overcome some of the opposition to legalisation of cannabis by providing either a model for, or possibly even the exact, regulations that cannabis could be covered by as soon as it was legalised.

[Halcyon Daze]

Go you awesome Kiwis!!! Go science!

Funny how no one has a problem getting their cat stoned on catnip or silver vine, but giving it marijuana is seen as cruelty. It's all just a social construct.

-once again, Go Science!

[qualia]

Funny how no one has a problem getting their cat stoned on catnip or silver vine, but giving it marijuana is seen as cruelty.

could it be that cats are naturally drawn to catnip but not cannabis? so blowing out your cat with weed is not part of it's normal behaviour pattern, ergo cruelty vis a vis forced inebriation, concordantly not in keeping with societal values.

[santiago]

there is no chance at all of this happening, if you really believe it well let it be on the record i 100% dont and even if it does the only true reason i see the point it was so popular was to avoid certain drug testing protocols of which you can be certain will be included for example now as a main subclass ie it will be the top 6 tested for now, maybe just another way to get you the sack. plus isnt the medical jury out on long term effects already anyway, i know some will reference an equality to alcohol but at least the certain bad effects of alcohol are known, synthetics are as still as i know a big fat question mark, good luck but dont get your hopes up : )

[Darklight]

This is really interesting, will be good to see how it plays out

One consideration I'm wondering about... if Company A producing Product A pays for all the tests to be done and manages to pass the mark, would this automatically mean open slather for any other commercial entity to market the same compound without having done the original research as required by legislation?

This could be a disincentive for investment.

This is *not* a criticism of the proposed process. However the above is one of the disincentives that prevents the wider availability of plant based medicines

I'd be interested to see how this entire process will be handled from both a scientific and legislative perspective.

[shruman]

Ok so a bit of light reading on the progression to this stage for anyone thats interested, Looks largely to have been heavily influeneced by Matt Bowden.

Sorry if its in no particular order but I'm tired.

Heres da real shaznat make sure you check this one :

http://www.lawcom.go...ating_drugs.pdf

"The Associate Minister of Health has agreed that, in light of the truncated timeframes arising from the forthcoming general election and the need for further detailed policy work on many of the issues, the Government Response will be limited to in-principle decisions on the need for new legislation.

For other recommendations, such as those relating to the detail of the legislation, greater clarity about the potential impacts is required before any Government commitment can be made. Many of the proposed changes would have flow-on effects for the justice sector which require modelling by Justice and Police on the likely cost and resource impacts.

The most urgent concern for the Government is to address problems with the regulation of psychoactive substances emerging in the burgeoning legal high market. Government has signalled its intention to introduce a regime for psychoactive substances along the lines of the regime proposed by the Law Commission. Cabinet approval is being sought for in-principle agreement to develop a new regulatory regime to control these psychoactive substances in advance of the development of a new Misuse of Drugs Act. Priority will be given to policy work on the options for its implementation.

Until further policy work is completed, the Ministry is unable to calculate with any accuracy the costs of establishing a regulatory regime. There are no data on the demand for legally-available psychoactive substances. There are also scarce data on the number of applications a regulatory regime would be likely to consider. The Ministry has estimated that the workload of the regulator for the regime is likely to be far less than a hundred applications per annum but this figure is based on an estimation of the “legal high” market at its height of legal availability and may not reflect the true scale of future applications."

http://www.health.go...isuse-drugs-act

"A party pill advocacy group has put together a regulatory code as an alternative to banning party pills.

The Social Tonics Association of New Zealand (Stanz) has handed the code to Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton, calling for regulations about the purity of pills, the amount of benzylpiperazine (BZP) they contain and sales and advertising.

The code was put together after a December report from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs, which said the pills should be put under the same C classification as cannabis.

Stanz chairman Matt Bowden said the conditions his organisation was suggesting as a way of regulating party pills included:

* Tablets must contain no more than 200mg of BZP and a package no more than 600mg.

* BZP raw material must be 99 per cent pure.

* Sales would be limited to premises where entry is restricted to people aged 18 and over and to licensed premises other than convenience stores and supermarkets.

* Sales of BZP products would be banned within 250m of a school, recreational centre or playground.

* Restricting advertising to places where restricted substances are sold and where entry is available only to persons 18 and over, provided such advertising is not be visible from the street.

* Compulsory health warnings on packaging highlighting the importance of drinking plenty of water when taking pills, not mixing them with alcohol and not exceeding the maximum recommended dose.

Mr Bowden said the Government should at least try this approach before banning BZP and related substances. Protecting the public was the issue.

"Prohibition has never worked, not in any country and not at any time, and will not work in New Zealand either. It will simply deliver the market to the gangs, and to hard drugs like P," he said.

"BZP was designed as a stimulant which - unlike P - is not addictive and does not provoke violent or criminal behaviour. A lot of the commentary from opponents has failed to grasp this essential fact: BZP is the safe alternative to P."

Mr Bowden said more than 24 million party pills had been sold in New Zealand since 2000. Many were bought by repeat buyers and the vast majority had a positive experience from them.

He said the expert advisory committee had said in its report that there were no guarantees that banning BZP would reduce use and there was a chance it might exacerbate the problems.

"Party pills are already safer than most of the alternatives, including alcohol. Tighter regulation of the sort that Stanz is proposing will make them safer still."

Mr Bowden said Stanz had also prepared a code of good manufacturing practice, a document based on the code of practice for medicinal products which incorporated matters such as quality control, testing and analysis of all batches, and training."

http://www.nzherald....jectid=10423505

"EASE

One of the most high profile Party pills products that Bowden developed was EASE. Bowden's organisation Stargate International began 'clinical trials' to distribute EASE, later identified as methylone, after receiving confirmation from the New Zealand Ministry of Health that the product was legal to import and sell.^[19][20]

The initial advisement from the Ministry of Health stated:

Methylone is structurally and pharmacologically similar in some respects to the illegal and neurotoxic drug of abuse MDMA, although its structure falls outside the definition of “Amphetamine analogues” as defined in Part 7 of Schedule C of New Zealand’s Misuse of Drugs Act.^[19]

Following the screening of a locally produced documentary into EASE entitled The Truth Files, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton released a statement classifying EASE as an illegal product,^[21] and provided the following assessment:

Yesterday, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said advice from the chair of the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, showed Ease contained a substance called methylone, an “analogue” – similar to – cathinone, which is a Class B amphetamine controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.^[21]

This announcement resulted in the termination of the trial,^[22] on the basis that although methylone was not explicitly scheduled and fell outside the strict definitions of an "amphetamine analogue" in the Misuse of Drugs Act, it was considered to be "substantially similar" to methcathinone and thus considered by law enforcement authorities to be a Class C illegal drug."

http://en.wikipedia....-biography29-12

And heres some of how stargate advoctes it should work:

http://www.stargatei...e-to-market.pdf

"The Government is expected to announce a new regime for party pills and fake cannabis which will require makers to prove their products are safe before they can be put on the market.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne is due to announce the new measure today - a change to the current law under which such untested products can be sold unless proven to be harmful, as happened with Kronic.

The change was recommended by a 2011 Law Commission report on the Misuse of Drugs Act.

At the time Mr Dunne said the change would take some time because it was a complex area and set up temporary 12-month bans on substances for which the health risks were unknown. That resulted in about 50 synthetic cannabis products being taken off the market - as well as some weight loss and sports performance supplements.

Yesterday Labour drugs spokesman Iain Lees-Galloway welcomed the change, but hoped it was just the start of a complete overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 as the Law Commission had proposed.

"We think it's ridiculous that we've basically been experimenting on our kids by allowing the substances to come on the shelf and then trying to constantly chase our tails trying to get them off the shelf again."

Green Party drugs spokesman Kevin Hague said he supported the shift in principle, but the safety standards should not be unrealistically rigorous.

"It will be important to establish a reasonable standard of safety which accepts that there may be harms associated with consuming a particular product, but that adults should be free to make a decision to consume them," Mr Hague said.

If it was so strict that it amounted to effective prohibition, it could push party pills users toward harder, more dangerous drugs, he said.

He also believed that party pill makers could find ways to sidestep the new standards unless it covered all products made for human consumption.

"The industry has proved very adaptable and will attempt to define their products outside of the new provisions."

A total of 28 substances are currently on the temporary banned list, which was added to as recently as last week with a further four ingredients.

Mr Dunne said the bans would be rolled over as they expired to ensure there was no window for such drugs to go back on the market before permanent legislation took effect. The first lot is due for renewal next month.

Makers of the drugs said the temporary bans were futile because new products could be on the shelves for a while before the authorities noticed them."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10819822

Edited July 30, 2012 by shruman

[goneski]

So uh... why don't they just end prohibition on well researched illegal drugs rather than expecting non-existent / minimal research on RCs?

I don't get it.

[2Deep2Handle]

for the record, it is quite possible, for a cat through being social and hanging around marijuana users, to become addicted and "want" the substance, and actively seek it. Not my cat though....just cat mint seven hills giant for her.