Rotorua council delays legal high hearing following government announcement
As a result of the government's announcement on legal highs Rotorua District Council is postponing Thursday’s [1 May]
scheduled hearing of people and organisations who made submissions on the council’s draft policy on psychoactive
substances, until such time as government decisions have been finalised. Seventeen submitters had requested to speak to
the mayor and councillors about their submissions.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick says she was very encouraged by the government’s signal this week that it intends taking
immediate action to remove existing legal psychoactive substance products from the shelves of retailers.
New legislation is expected to be enacted in Parliament under urgency on 8 May and is likely to come into effect the day
following sign-off by the governor general.
“We’re pleased the government has listened to the strong messages from councils like ours and heard the concerns of
increasingly vocal communities on this issue," said Mrs Chadwick.
“It’s a common sense decision that we expect will substantially minimise the availability of these insidious and harmful
products in our stores, and help reduce the harmful impacts they are clearly having on so many people in our
communities.
However Mrs Chadwick said she expected that Rotorua District Council would still need to proceed with development of its
Local Approved Products Policy on psychoactive substances as some products could likely come on to the market later when
regulations for manufacturing have been adopted and a testing regime put in place.
“In the meantime we’re delaying our hearing of submitters on our draft policy to give us time to see what the
government’s proposed changes will mean and what impact the legislative amendments will have on regulations and council
policies.”
[ENDS]