Thursday, 27 November 2014

Council approves retail policy for legal highs

Christchurch City Council’s approval of a new policy which sets out where retailers of legal highs can locate in the central city is a balanced step in the right direction, says Councillor Andrew Turner.

The Council today adopted its Psychoactive Products Retail Locations Policy following a significant public consultation and hearings process held earlier this year.

The policy allows the Council to govern where approved retailers of legal highs can locate their premises in the central city once the Government’s temporary ban on the sale of psychoactive products is lifted, which could be as early as next year.

“The Psychoactive Products Retail Locations Policy recognises the need to provide locations for approved retailers of legal highs, while also balancing this with the community’s concerns about these products,” says Councillor Turner.

“It also reflects the considerable change that the central city is going through with the rebuild and that this will be ongoing for a number of years.

“The availability of retail premises, the location of ‘sensitive sites’ and the functioning of different parts of the city are all likely to change significantly in that time, so the policy will be reviewed after two years instead of the minimum five-year period required under the Psychoactive Substances Act.”

The Psychoactive Substances Act came into effect in July 2013 and regulates the importation, manufacture, sale, supply and possession of psychoactive substances – the active ingredients in party pills, energy pills and synthetic cannabis.

The Act allows the Council to develop a policy related to the location of approved psychoactive-product retailers in its district; however, it does not allow the Council to place a ban, cap or sinking lid on them.

The Council’s new policy addresses the location and density of licensed premises selling psychoactive products, and specifies that approved retail premises:

• Are permitted only within specific areas of the Central City (Central City Core and Central City Mixed Use Zones, as defined by the Christchurch City District Plan)

• Are not permitted within 50 metres of each other

• Are not permitted within 100 metres of a “sensitive site” – such as playgrounds, early childhood centres, schools, tertiary institutions and specialist drug and alcohol treatment and support services – at the time the application for a licence is made.

The Council approved a number of amendments to the draft policy made public earlier this year, including increasing the number of identified “sensitive sites” and reducing the policy’s review period from five years to two.

The Ministry of Health is currently developing regulations covering psychoactive product approvals, which are expected to be in place by mid-2015.

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Permitted_Area_Map.pdf

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