The sale of legal highs in Rotorua could be restricted to shops within 200m of the police station, if the banned drugs ever hit the market again.
Rotorua Lakes Council's strategy, policy and finance committee will today deliberate the rules around where legal highs can be sold in Rotorua as part of a proposed new policy for the sale of Harmful Psychoactive Substances.
While psychoactive substances, such as party pills, legal highs and synthetic cannabis, are currently regulated under the Psychoactive Substances Act, retailers can now apply for a licence to sell approved products.
There are no approved products, and it is unlikely there will be for the next couple of years, but the new policy will mean the council is prepared if and when products hit the market.
When retail licences can be granted, the applicant will have to show compliance with their council Local Approved Products Policy (if the council has one in place).
The council's policy comes almost two years after it heard submissions on the policy.
Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post ahead of the meeting, committee chairwoman Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said the new policy went as far as the council could go in restricting the legal highs, without banning them completely - which wasn't within the council's powers.
The preferred option was to restrict sale to sites within 200m of the police station, and not near sensitive sites like schools or libraries.
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Ms Raukawa-Tait said the number of places legal highs could potentially be sold would also be restricted to two.
According to the report by the council's compliance solutions manager Neven Hill, the preferred option would make sure outlets were restricted to the inner city where not only CCTV coverage was available but also an active police presence.
"In addition to this council's City Guardians actively patrol these areas, along with increased foot traffic would ensure a higher visibility and monitoring."
During the submission phase the council received 541 submissions - of those 492 were in a petition style submission which was encouraged by one of the then holders of an interim licence.
Those submissions were all of the same theme - "keep legal highs within the district".
Hearings were held in 2015 during which committee members reiterated the council's preferred stance was a total ban on all substances from the district.
The draft policy will be debated at today's committee meeting before going to full council for signoff later this month.