UN report on NZ drug use alarming

Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock reiterated the party’s call for a change in drug policy after the results of the UN study into drug use was published in the ODT today. The report revealed our use of cocaine and cannabis was the 2nd highest in the 17 countries studied.

“If the drug ‘P’ had been included in the study we may have found an even worse result”, said Mr Baldock.

41.9% of the population reported having used Cannabis and 4.3% having used cocaine. P use has been estimated by other studies to affect between 4% - 7% of our young people.

“Given the widespread acknowledgment that drug abuse has a direct link to much of our crime rates, such as burglary, child abuse, and the increasing violent crimes which are shocking us all as a nation, we must place a major focus on our drug problem if we are to improve the safety and well being of our society”, said the Kiwi Party Leader.

“We need to urgently address the country's lack of detox centers. Families must have somewhere to place their loved ones in times of crisis such as these. We must do all we can to ensure they get the very best care to start on the road to being set free from the hideous addictions of ‘P’ and cocaine.

“Those who manufacture and peddle these horrible drugs could in fact be responsible for the destruction of many lives. Maybe the sentence for these crimes ought to be the equivalent of that imposed for murder?

The Kiwi Party will continue to fully support former policeman Mark Sabin's proposal that he placed before Parliament’s Law and Order Select Committee more than a month ago, said the Party leader.

Mr Baldock said that with more than four years personal experience with LSD and Marijuana as a teenager 35 years ago, he can say with some authority on the subject, that harm minimisation will never work.

"Mr Sabin’s request for random drug tests for students aiming at identifying, intervening and deterring drug use should at least be trialed in several schools so that the results can speak for themselves. We must be prepared to trial new methods because the harm minimisation approach has clearly not reduced drug use at all. Too many parents are left with the nightmare scenario of dealing with their teenage drug users with nowhere to turn for help,” he said.

The Kiwi Party is committed to establishing both detox centers and rehabilitation facilities because it has been proven over and over that law enforcement alone is not the way to deal with this. A multi- pronged strategy is needed to overcome a problem that has its roots in social orientation but ends in crime. Overseas experience shows that faith based and community centred models run by those with experience and neighbourhood connections show the best results.

ENDS