SPEED DEALERS FACE LIFE SENTENCE IF LAW PASSED

Wellington: Those who import, manufacture or supply methamphetamine will
face life imprisonment under proposals set to be quickly passed in
Parliament this month.

In a report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the health select committee
said it recommended the drug - known as speed - be moved from a class B drug
to class A.

Drugs are classified according to their risk of harm to the public, with
those deemed the most dangerous given a class A classification.

Committee chairwoman Steve Chadwick said changes proposed in a notice of
motion were likely to be debated on the first sitting day after the Easter
recess.

She said the process had been fast-tracked as "this is a very dangerous,
very dangerous, drug". We are very worried about the rapid growth here, Ms
Chadwick said.

"It isn't like the old amphetamines; it's not just an upper that gets you
through the night as a party drug.

"It has huge potential for harm, so we wanted to move fast."

There was likely to be a time-limited debate in the House, then a vote that
all parties apart from the Greens were likely to support.

It was anticipated the reclassification "should" reduce the prevalence of
the drug in New Zealand in the long-term, the committee said.

Crime statistics released last month showed a 28.4% increase in drug crimes
involving amphetamine-type stimulants, largely due to a rise in local
production and distribution.

Penalties would increase to a maximum of life imprisonment for importation,
manufacture or supply. Possession of the drug could result in a prison
sentence of up to six months, a $1000 fine, or both. MPs are all but certain
to back the changes. While the Green Party expressed a minority view, other
parties were thought to back the recommendations.

The Green Party said it did not believe "any sound arguments" had been made
to justify increasing the classification beyond that adopted by the United
Nations.

"We are astonished that there has not been a major educational campaign
outlining the risks of these drugs, and strongly support an educational
campaign as the most effective mechanism for reducing and discouraging its
use."

Ms Chadwick said changes in the notice of motion were just one arm of a
comprehensive strategy.

"Everything [the Greens] have called for in their amendments, we can't argue
about," she said. The report did talk about education, but the immediate
need was to act quickly, Ms Chadwick said. Information supplied by experts
consulted by the committee came as no surprise to Ms Chadwick.

"It affirmed what I had heard when I worked with mental health workers;
they're saying this is getting bigger," she said.

"When you are talking to [school] principals, they're saying we're worried
about this, this isn't a cannabis outbreak here, we've got a feel for that
one, this is something pretty evil and growing very fast."

National health spokeswoman Lynda Scott said the party was pleased with the
recommendation to reclassify speed.

"I am most concerned that the Greens, who get upset about arsenic in
playgrounds and are against treated timber in houses, oppose this harmful
drug being given a higher classification," she said.

The report also recommends classifying methcathinone as a class B1 drug,
4-methylthioamphetamine be classified as class B2, and pemoline and aminorex
be classified as Class C5.