In early May Government released the long awaited Controlling and Regulating Drugs report from the Law Commission.

This final report contains 144 recommendations for reform of our 36-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act.

Importantly, the Law Commission has recommended our current law get scrapped and replaced with a new health-focussed law administered by the Ministry of Health.
 
The report articulates a clear way forward for a modern drug law that is fit for the 21st century. The report proposes a new approach to dealing with so-called ‘legal highs’, and introduces a mandatory cautioning and diversion scheme for lower level offending.

The Government is required to provide a formal response in a few months’ time – we are urging them to give the report the considered attention it deserves.

The Drug Foundation has produced a consultation toolkit to provide you with a range of relevant resources, and our analysis of the Commission's proposals. The toolkit will help you formulate your position and construct your submission to the Law Commission. www.drugfoundation.org.nz/moda/toolkit/about-this-toolkit.

The Drug Foundation has published its submission to the Law Commission's issues paper - "Controlling and Regulating Drugs" - on the reform of New Zealand’s drug laws. Go here to view our submission.

In this first video (10 minutes on YouTube), Law Commissioners Warren Young and Val Sim discuss their issues paper, and explain some of their key proposals.  You can also read the interview - Getting our Act together - here.

This second video is from the same interview, but is 25 minutes long (on Vimeo) and covers MODA in greater detail.