From unequal conviction rates to a glimmer of light on synthetics, here’s what the Drug Foundation’s State of the Nation report tells us. Reports of raids, drug busts and arrests appear in headlines every day. The next biggest methamphetamine seizure is guaranteed to grab attention. But with all the hype, it’s hard to make out … Read more
In his latest book, Fentanyl Inc., journalist Ben Westhoff (The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Vice etc) goes deep on the epidemic of ‘legal highs’, including the notorious, deadly fentanyl. There’s an extremely intense bit where he poses as a buyer and infiltrates a Chinese drug lab. It was New Zealander Matt Bowden who invented the … Read more
A ‘health based’ approach to drug enforcement is one step closer to being written into law after the third reading of the Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment Bill. Don Rowe reports. The Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment bill has passed its third reading tonight in what MPs and harm reduction advocates are calling the most … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government pushes in two different directions with drug reforms, nitrogen runoff tool has serious flaws, and finance minister outlines ‘wellbeing’ budget. The government has launched a range of drug reforms, which somehow manage to pull in two completely different directions. In general terms, the differences in law … Read more
A new bill to increase the penalty for drug supply and distribution has passed its second reading in parliament. Green MP Chloë Swarbrick looks back on a decade of harmful drug laws. We are at a crossroads on drug policy in New Zealand. There is a real risk we take a backward step, further entrenching … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Health minister plans crackdown on synthetic drugs, new research and development tax credits announced, and Taxpayers Union rumbled for using fake names. Health minister David Clark has announced that he will push for synthetic drugs to be reclassified as Class A, reports Newshub. That would put them on … Read more
In Napier’s poorest suburb, empty lots sprawl where state housing once sat, unemployment dominates, and, each evening, with few street lamps around, ‘The Nui’ falls into darkness and synthetic cannabis joints are lit. By Anusha Bradley of RNZ. Read the full story here. Children as young as 11 are hooked on synthetic cannabis in the … Read more
New figures from the coroner show close to 45 people have died in the past year due to synthetic cannabis use – up from just two across the previous five years. Katie Doyle reports for RNZ. There’s been a huge spike in the number of people dying from synthetic cannabis. Provisional figures from the coroner … Read more
Instead of increasing prison time for the supply of drugs like synthetic cannabis, let’s focus on the solutions that have been proven to work, argues Victoria University criminologist Dr Fiona Hutton. Last week parliament debated an amendment to the 2013 Psychoactive Substances Act which would increase penalties for supplying new psychoactive substances such as synthetic … Read more
A new documentary released by VICE today reveals an underreported public health crisis. Don Rowe talks to assistant producer James Borrowdale about Syn City, an in-depth look at New Zealand’s synthetic cannabinoid epidemic. In a shitty flat somewhere in West Auckland, 20-year-old Tammara is getting high. Between her legs is a resin-stained bottle of L&P, … Read more