Damning review of synthetics law
The report said the law had not achieved its purpose of protecting health and minimising harm
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
The long-overdue review of the Psychoactive Substances Act paints a damning, but unsurprising, picture of the law’s failing. The Act was put in place in 2013, and amended in 2014, in response to new substances popping up faster than lawmakers could regulate. The law aimed to safely regulate the chemicals used in party pills, and then synthetics (synthetic cannabis). But a Ministry of Health review of what was supposed to be a ground-breaking approach to drug law, instead speaks at length about its failures – a view shared by Minister of Health David Clark. The results of the review come hot on the heels of Clark’s new plan to deal with psychoactive substances and a look at the failed Psychoactive Substances Act will come as part of a wider review of drug policy.
