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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

01-02-17

Thinktank releases new policy proposal for wide-reaching narcotics policy reform.

The New Zealand Powerhouse Institute, a classical liberal think tank, has released a new policy proposal to address the issues with New Zealand’s existing legislative and regulatory framework for dealing with drug issues.

The Chief Executive of the Institute, Mitchell Palmer, says that their proposal, entitled ‘Legal Highs: Fixing Our Drug Laws’ aims to build on the discoveries of those other nations which have liberalised their drug policy. He says the proposal draws specifically from examples set in Portugal, the Swiss Confederation and many states in the United States.

The proposal from the Institute is the most recent in a line of reform proposals which have to date addressed legal aid, planning laws, state-owned enterprises and superannuation.

Mr Palmer says that his organisation believes in the ability of individuals to make independent decisions and that Government’s job isn’t to regulate morality. He summarises their view of government as “the role of government is to protect me from my neighbour, not my neighbour from himself.”

Palmer says that the drug reforms the Institute has proposed stay faithful to these principles while remaining acceptable to the general public.

The full policy proposal for drug liberalization from the NZ Powerhouse Institute can be read on their website: https://nzpowerhouse.org.

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