Symposium 2021: Agenda

Through the Maze: On the road to health

This programme is provisional until we confirm details of the last few speakers. Updated: 22 April 2021.

DAY 1, WEDNESDAY 12 MAY

9:00 Mihiwhakatau & Opening address from Minister of Health Hon Andrew Little.

9:45 Morning tea

10:15 A global shift to health after the war on drugs

Executive Director of NZ Drug Foundation Sarah Helm will interview Helen Clark, chair of the 26-member Global Commission on Drug Policy, and former Prime Minister of New Zealand about global progress towards a health-based approach to drug policy and practice.

10.45 The road to perdition: how science paves the way for the drug war
Professor Joseph Boden, Director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study, University of Otago.

11.15 Progress from across the ditch
Fiona Patten, Member for Northern Metropolitan Region in the Parliament of Victoria's Legislative Council and Leader of the Reason Party, will give us a progress update on Victoria and Australia’s path to health.

11.45 The politics of taking a health-based approach to drugs
A panel discussion on the politics of shifting to a health-based approach to drugs.

Chairperson – Kathy Errington, Executive Director of the Helen Clark Foundation
Arena Williams (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāi Tahu), sitting Labour MP for Manurewa
Chlöe Swarbrick, sitting Green MP for Auckland Central
Chester Borrows, Social agitator/commentator and head of the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. Former National MP for Whanganui, former lawyer and police officer
Fiona Patten, Member for Northern Metropolitan Region in the Parliament of Victoria's Legislative Council and Leader of the Reason Party (Australia)

12.30 Lunch & networking

1.30 Short snapshots from the field

This session shows examples of promising health-based approaches in the field as good examples of what a health-based approach currently could look like in Aotearoa.

Chairperson - Ben Birks Ang, Deputy Executive Director, NZ Drug Foundation
Haven safe space – Rachel Scaife, Programme Manager, Lifewise
High Alert early warning system – Dt. Inspector Blair MacDonald, National Drug Intelligence Bureau
KnowYourStuffNZ –Dr Jez Weston, Deputy Manager
Synthetics Community of Practice – Emily Hughes, Programme Lead, Drug Foundation
Tūturu – Jim Matheson, Deputy Chair, Drug Foundation

2.30 Imagining a comprehensive health-based approach to drugs: Policy
What would our policies, laws and regulations look like if we had a comprehensive health-based approach to drugs?

Chairperson – Khylee Quince (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Te Roroa), chairperson of the NZ Drug Foundation and Interim Dean of the School of Law at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Kali Mercier, Policy & Advocacy Manager, NZ Drug Foundation
Fiona Hutton, Associate Professor of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington

3.15 Stretch legs/afternoon tea

3.30 Stigma is a barrier on the road to health

How addressing stigma can help shift the dial to a health-based approach

Chairperson – Martin Burke, Programme Director Lived Experience, Ministry of Health
Why addressing stigma is important - Sheridan Pooley, CADS Consumer Advisor
Why we need a clean slate - Tuari Potiki, Director of Māori Development at Otago University
Stigma is a barrier to harm reduction – Wendy Allison, KnowYourStufNZ

4.30 Before the war on drugs

Chairperson - Russell Brown, journalist extraordinaire

We will play a pre-recorded interview with Johann Hari, a British writer who has authored two New York Times best-selling books. His first book, ‘Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’, was adapted into the Golden Globe-nominated film ‘The United States Vs Billie Holiday’.

Then Russell, alongside Tuari Potiki, will share their knowledge of drug regulation and use in Aoteaora ‘before the war on drugs’.

5.30 Cocktails & networking

Seedlip are the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, solving the ever-growing dilemma of ‘what to drink when you’re not drinking’. Seedlip are working with parliament’s caterers to develop a series of both non-alcoholic and alcoholic food and drink pairings for an evening of

Mix and mingle with MP’s, the press gallery and symposium attendees.

DAY 2, THURSDAY 13 MAY

9.00 Imagining a comprehensive health-based approach to drugs: Practice

What services, interventions and approaches to drug harm with drug users would be in place if we had a comprehensive health-based approach to drugs?

Chairperson – Ben Birks Ang, Deputy Executive Director, NZ Drug Foundation
Anna Christophorou, Development Manager, Odyssey Christchurch
Debby Sutton, Programme Manager (Manukau Court project), Odyssey
Philippa Jones, National Operations Manager, NZ Needle Exchange Programme

10.00 Morning tea

10.30 International speakers

Update on progress in the United States – Alison Holcomb, Political Director, ACLU Washington
Approaches to methamphetamine – Dr Nicole Lee, Adjunct Professor, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University Australia

11.00 What does a health-based approach to methamphetamine look like – what's working and what's missing?

Chairperson - Chlöe Swarbrick
Rewired– Seb Stewart, Lead Facilitator
MethHelp and Zoom to Noon– Andrew Munro, MethHelp coordinator, Odyssey Christchurch
Te Ara Oranga – Noeleen Chaney, Acting Professional Leader, Northland DHB
P-Pull – Andrew Hopgood, Senior Clinician, Watershed Addictions
Brave Hearts – Erin Scarlett O’Neill, Founder

12.15 Lunch and networking

1.15pm Health-based approaches in a range of settings: workplaces, justice, correction, housing, festivals and hospitality.

This session is being jointly chaired by Sarah Helm and Ben Birks Ang, NZ Drug Foundation and Richard Taylor, Ministry of Health. (Closed to the media.)

3.00 Barriers to health

Medicinal Cannabis – Dr Huhana Hickey, lawyer, academic and advocate

3.15 Break and stretch

3.30 What does a public health approach mean in the context of drugs?

Chairperson: Arena Williams (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāi Tahu), sitting Labour MP for Manurewa
Professor Papaarangi Reid, Head of Department of Māori Health at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland.
Professor Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago
Selah Hart, Chief Executive Officer at Hāpai Te Hauora

4.15 Wrap up and thanks
4.30 Closes.