17th March 2014

This Week: International Drug Policy Innovators to Speak at New Zealand’s International Drug Policy Symposium

• Last Week: Legal Highs industry unite to take Hamilton City Council to the High Court
• Last Year: New Zealand Was First Country in the World to Legally Regulate New Drugs Last Year

On March 20th 2014, New Zealand’s inaugural international drug policy symposium, Pathway to Reform, will be hosted by The STAR Trust in Auckland.

The symposium will see world leaders, academics, and government officials come together to review and discuss the Psychoactive Substances Act and the global drug policy reform movement.

This comes a week after the ‘Legal Highs’ industry united in legal action to defend the Psychoactive Substances Act, and announced last Friday that they are taking the Hamilton City Council to the High Court seeking a judicial review of their Local Approved Products Policy [LAPP].

As quoted last week by General Manager of The STAR Trust, Grant Hall, “All the experts agree that prohibition causes more harm and that is why the government have chosen to take control of this industry and strictly regulate it.”

However, the action of the Hamilton Council last week goes against the recent passing of The Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 – a landmark law to regulate and control the legal highs industry. The first-of-its-kind law came into effect on July 18 2013, after being approved in Parliament by a 119-1 margin. The regulatory body is also required to implement and administer a licensing system for potential importers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and researchers.

The symposium will feature a range of thought leaders – two of the most prominent being Amanda Feilding from the United Kingdom and Ethan Nadelmann from the United States. The symposium will provide an opportunity to discuss the successes and challenges that New Zealand has seen due to the reform – and how it could affect the future of global drug policy.

The entire event will be streamed live to a global audience at www.thestartrust.org.

Pathway to Reform
Thursday, 20th March 2014 at The Nathan Club, Auckland CBD
Speakers include: Ethan Nadelmann; Amanda Feilding; Dr Brian Emerson; Fiona Patten; James Dunne; Dt. Insp. Stuart Mills; Hon. Peter Dunne; MP Kevin Hague; MP Iain Lees-Galloway; MP Dr Paul Hutchinson; Colin Craig; Martyn Bradbury; MP Tracey Martin

Follow us on Twitter @TheStarTrust (hashtag #pathway2reform), and link in on Facebook to The STAR Trust. The entire event will be streamed live to a global audience at www.thestartrust.org

The STAR Trust
The STAR Trust is a non-profit, NGO that advocates for regulatory systems which are evidence based and nurture harm minimization, whilst also respecting an individual’s right to access low risk social tonics.

The STAR Trust is funded by private contributions from individuals and industry members committed to drug policy reform and research. The STAR Trust represents the industry and monitors a voluntary code of conduct for responsible operators.

ENDS

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