Minister of Health makes a positive step towards drug related harm reduction

KnowYourStuffNZ welcomes the move by Health Minister David Clark, announced today, to seek advice about the removal of legal barriers to drug safety testing in New Zealand.

This follows recent Government moves to promote a health and harm-reduction focused approach to drug policy, as expressed by Prime Minister Jacinda Arden's statements to the United Nations this week. A model for this approach is outlined by the New Zealand Drug Foundation in their Whakawātea te Huarahi - A model drug law to 2020 and beyond.

KnowYourStuffNZ's experience providing harm reduction services at festivals and events for the last four years has shown that pill testing is an effective and pragmatic way to keep people safer. Our results match the overseas experience of organisations such as The Loop in the UK, Dancesafe in the USA, and the Drugs Information and Monitoring System in the Netherlands.

The Misuse of Drugs Act currently hinders people's access to pill testing at events. Section 12 of that Act makes it a criminal offense to knowingly permit a venue to be used for drug consumption. The presence of pill testing at events would demonstrate that the event organisers know that people use drugs there and that is the barrier. KnowYourStuffNZ would like to see the Act clarified to make these services explicitly legal. (Our page exploring this issue in more detail.)

This clarification could achieved by changing the wording of Section 12 of the Act to include an exemption for event organisers who engage drug related harm reduction services.

Wendy Allison, managing director of KnowYourStuffNZ says "Section 12 was never intended to prevent harm reduction services from happening at events. An unintended consequence of the Section has been to deter event organisers from providing harm reduction services such as pill testing. Removing this barrier is an obvious step towards keeping people safe."

KnowYourStuffNZ provides drug related harm reduction services including pill testing in partnership with the New Zealand Drug Foundation.

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