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The government has passed a new law that makes pill testing services legal before the summer festival season urgently.
The changes will expire in 12 months, when the government aims to have a longer-term solution.
The law change came after a furious debate between National Justice spokesman Simon Bridges and Green Party drug reform spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick.
National was the only party to oppose the bill, and Bridges said it would encourage increased use of illicit drugs based on increased use in the UK. He said Swarbrick was only offering to “stir anger” rather than challenging this point.
“We are talking about the studies and, in fact, despite all the protests and, frankly, the anger – aroused – of Chlöe Swarbrick has not been seriously questioned in any of those statements or studies,” Bridges said.
Swarbrick pointed to a 2018 study from the International Journal of Drug Policy that showed legal drug testing had reduced hospital admissions for illicit substances by 95 percent at a festival in the UK, and accused Bridges of “overly moralizing “.
“Please describe how you want to reduce the harm, because so far all I’ve heard is that you want to be an impediment to improvements in the law: look at the research, look for the evidence, see what is happening internationally.” Swarbrick said.
“I am happy to give my last speech on this bill, because we are going to do it and we are going to have to stop listening to the moralization of the National Party, that because of the sounds of the way they are talking about substances, I have never been involved in them “.
Pill testing allows teams like Know Your Stuff NZ to test illicit drugs at festivals and tell users what they contain, as some drugs are sold as MDMA but actually contain other substances, for example bath salts, that increase the risk of psychosis.
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The pill test allows users to check if their medications are what they thought they were.
The practice currently exists in a legal gray zone, where festival hosts are technically liable for prosecution if they knowingly provide a venue for illicit drug use. NZ First halted efforts to legalize it in the last period.
The bill passed 87-33, with Labor, the Greens, ACT and the Maori Party supporting it and National opposing it.
It showed up on Tuesday and it passed less than 24 hours later.
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Health Minister Andrew Little said the new law recognizes the reality that young people are using illicit drugs and tries to make it safer.
“People will come to these events with illicit substances. We know that some of these substances run the risk of being unsafe and causing harm to the potential user of them. And we want to minimize that damage and we want the ingestion of those substances or the risk that is run by ingesting those substances to be as low as possible, “Little said.
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The new Health Minister, Andrew Little, approved the new law within 24 hours.
“We can all be horrified that some people really want to participate in activities that are outside the law. But I think when it comes to drug use and the health effects that it entails, I would rather we focus on taking a health approach, not criminalizing more and more people. “
National Justice spokesman Simon Bridges said the bill would encourage drug use and make young people who use dangerous substances feel safe.
“This bill is part of a larger agenda that is coy and soft on drugs,” Bridges said.
National’s youth wing, the Young Nats, have been outspoken in their support of the pill trials.
Green Party drug reform spokeswoman Chlöe Swarbrick said the change was similar to the legalization of needle exchange in New Zealand in the late 1980s, which lowered HIV infection rates.
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ACT Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden said ACT supported the law and recognized that young people were risk takers.
“These are not bad kids. Young people are simply taking risks, some with adverse consequences. Nobody wants to be the beloved of a tragic fatality that could have been avoided. This bill will greatly reduce that risk. The passage of this bill will reduce the harm caused by drug use. “
