Editorial: Time to outlaw 'highs'

Legal highs need to be banned.

I reckon the Government has not done enough to find a way to ban legal highs.

I am tired of hearing that it can't be done or it is too complicated or that the call to ban synthetic cannabis is a simplistic argument. The Government needs to find a way to do it before psychoactive substances destroy some of our more vulnerable communities.

It is good to see mayors, particularly Bill Dalton of Napier and Lawrence Yule of Hastings, coming out strongly against legal highs. As an aside, it is also quite nice to see those two on the same page for a change.

I feel sorry for local councils around the country which are trying their best to deal with the problem of controlling and regulating the outlets that sell this poison.

Local councils were really thrown a hospital pass by the Government on this one and now have to deal with the consequences of poorly constructed legislation.

So it was with great interest that I watched the head-to-head battle on television last week between Mr Dalton and the responsible minister, Peter Dunne. Unfortunately, it was a debate that many people I spoke to felt Mr Dunne won comfortably, and not because he had the better argument. I am sure when the mayor of Napier gets a chance to review the debate, he will see that he let the minister off the hook a bit.

However, the simple truth is that the Government needs to sort out the mess it created and find a way of banning these drugs.

In an election year, you would think the National Party-led Government would listen.

Andrew Austin is editor of the Hawke's Bay Today.