Ruapehu Ready for Legal Highs
Ruapehu District Council (RDC) adopted its Local Approved Products Policy which dictates where legal highs may be sold
from within the district at its meeting this week (Tue 26 Apr 16).
Mayor Don Cameron said that despite public requests to do so council was unable to ban the outright sale of legal highs
but must work within the Local Approved Products Policy (legal highs) legislation that only allows for regulation of
their sale.
“Feedback from the community during the consultation on council's proposed legal highs Policy was that many people
wanted council to simply ban their sale outright.”
“Unfortunately we are unable to do this,” he said.
“The only controls we have under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 (the Act) is to regulate their availability by
controlling where approved products (legal highs) may be sold from.”
“The Policy achieves this by dictating the areas and streets within the district that approved products may be sold from
and providing a restriction on the distance between the legal boundaries of premises where wholesalers and retailers of
approved products operate.”
“In Ruapehu legal highs will only be able to be sold on Hakiaha St Taumarunui, Seddon St Raetihi, Clyde and Goldfinch
Streets Ohakune and SH1 Waiouru and not within a 100m of another outlet or sensitive site such as a school, community
facility or train or bus station.”
Mayor Cameron added that before a legal high product can be sold it must first become an approved product by passing
through a full testing and approval process managed by the Ministry of Health.
“Fortunately no product has as yet made it through the testing regime.”
“It is worth noting that no one was selling legal highs in Ruapehu when the government banned their sale in May 2014 and
introduced the testing and approval process.”
“If a product does finally gain approval anyone wanting to sell it in Ruapehu they would need to apply to council
first.”
“One would hope that community pressure would be such that anyone considering applying to sell a legal high (if
available) would have cause to think twice and not do so.”
ENDS