Election 2020 - Party Policies - Drugs
25th Jul 20, 5:53am
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Drugs
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- Evidence-based and age-appropriate drug education in schools; and non-judgemental evidence-based information available through health services and point of sale.
- Make cannabis legal for personal use; possession and personal use of cannabis and/or cannabis products and cultivation for personal use will no longer be illegal.
- Support policies to minimise harm caused by drug use – for example needle and syringe exchange schemes, and provision of sites where injecting drug use can be supervised.
- Replace the current alcohol tax regime with a tax that is directly proportional to the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink. (Currently wine is only taxed per litre of alcohol if it has an alcohol content of more than 14%, lower alcohol levels are taxed on total volume of the drink).
- Read more here and here.
Not yet available on their website.
- Tighten border controls with increased searching of containers and mail to prevent drugs coming into the country.
- Introduce additional drug dogs at airports and ports.
- Increase funding for drug intelligence to enable Customs, Police and Health to identify new drugs and bad batches sooner.
- Increase resourcing for passenger health screening in the COVID-19 environment.
- Read more here.
- Establish a transparent annual medicines budget that includes new investment in community and hospital medicines to meet the OECD average of up to 1.4% of GDP by 2023. This new investment includes establishment of a specific rare disorder medicines fund of $30 million per annum
- Fund new Diabetes medicines which have been proven to reduce the negative side effects that diabetics experience
- Establish a clear and transparent process with a 1-year timeline for technical review (health technology assessment) by the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) of medicines and establish a 90-day time limit for PHARMAC assessment of new medicines after a positive technical recommendation from PTAC
- Increase funding for Arthritis early intervention programmes to develop awareness and education workforce programmes for treatment and management of arthritis.
- Establish a $100 million rapid access scheme for innovative medicines
- Major clinical conditions to be funded for further research and investment to ensure they are managed effectively include Arthritis, Crohn’s, Colitis, Diabetes, Dementia and Depression.
- Establish a $50 million new medicines industry development partnership programme to match industry investment in local R&D, data analytics, manufacturing.
- Support the redevelopment of a New Zealand based pharmaceutical manufacturing industry
- Establish a New Zealand quality standard for New Zealand manufacturers and exporters in the Natural Health industry and other stakeholders to ensure that there is an appropriate regulatory regime for complementary medicines.
- Read more here.
- We should regulate all drugs according to actual harm.
- Drug rehab is a very cost-effective investment for the government. Anyone who wants help should be supported, and we think this work should take place in the community.
- We should expand the implementation of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts (that have so far only been trialled in Auckland and Waitakere) that focus on addressing the underlying addiction issues of offenders. We need to increase funding for more community rehabilitation providers, to increase the number of offenders who can be sentenced to treatment, not prison.
- New Zealand should be closely watching international clinical trials and contributing to the evidence base on the use of currently “illicit drugs” - e.g. psychedelics in psychotherapy. We should also be prepared to adopt those that are proven to work in a therapeutic framework. Early trials are showing promising signs in this area.
- Drug testing should be based on impairment, not whether a substance can be detected in a person’s body.
- Read more here.
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