DRUGS PLAN MAY CREATE 'USER BREEDING GROUND'

A Law Commission report on controlling and regulating drug use signals
that New Zealand is moving ever closer to decriminalised use of
illicit drugs, a Northland drug educator says.

Northland based MethCon Group director Mike Sabin warned that
proposals in the review of the Misuse of Drugs Act could lead to a
"breeding ground" of new drug users .

"Of significant concern to me is that the flavour of this report is
very much toward regulating illegal drug use and possession of this
rather than preventing it and halting it where it is occurring," he
said.

Mr Sabin said the more flexible approaches suggested in the report
were in line with the decriminalised possession of drugs for personal
use as seen in Portugal in recent years which has led to increased
cannabis use and increases in the overall numbers of drug users.

The commission said it agreed with vigorous law enforcement on
commercial drug dealers, but that there should be less emphasis on
punishment of personal possession and use and more emphasis on
delivering effective treatment to addicts. It called for a more
lenient approach to people caught with small amounts of illegal drugs
for personal use, saying that issuing caution or infringement notices
should be an option available to police and also recommended allowing
cannabis use for medicinal purposes.

Justice Minister Simon Power dismissed the recommendation straight
away, saying "there's not a single, solitary chance that as long as
I'm the Minister of Justice, we'll be relaxing drug laws in New Zealand".

Mr Sabin, of MethCon, a company which provides drug education, advice
and training programmes relating to methamphetamine, said the
commission was missing the point that drug dealers did not exist
without users.

"By creating laws and regulations that apply minimal or no deterrence
and accountability to using and possessing drugs we are providing the
ideal breeding ground to increase the overall number of people who
will be using drugs, therefore more drug dealers," he said.

But Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the commission's
proposals were a major step towards modernising drug laws it called
obsolete and that politicians should "avoid pointless ideological
grandstanding".

It said the proposed changes would focus police efforts on drug
trafficking, manufacture and large scale dealing while ensuring that
users were given appropriate levels of help, including referring
people to drug treatment.

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said current drug laws were
hurting families.