Letters: Reframing the use of drugs

Recent estimates indicate that approximately 5000 Maori men and women will be imprisoned in 2017.

According to a recent Waitangi Tribunal claim, Maori make up just 15.8 per cent of the national population, yet the percentage of those in prison who are Maori is 50.8 per cent, and the percentage of Maori women in prison is 63 per cent. Some 65 per cent of youth (under 20 years) in prison are Maori, up from 56 per cent a decade ago.

Recent estimates of the total prison population indicate that approximately 5000 Maori men and women will be imprisoned in 2017.

Current rates for Maori reconvicted after release from prison after two years is 63.2 per cent (49.5 per cent non-Maori), while the proportion of sentenced Maori prisoners reconvicted after five years is 80.9 per cent (67.7 per cent for non-Maori).

At the Parliamentary Drug Policy Symposium in Wellington last week, it was highlighted that 40 per cent of all Maori in prison were there for drug convictions as their main offence.

There was widespread agreement amongst the guest presenters, politicians and delegates that current drug laws have an inequitable effect on Maori, and that the current approach of treating drug use as a criminal matter was not working.

The effect of convictions and imprisonment has a profound effect not only on the individual sentenced, but also on the children, partners and rest of the whanau.

Last week, the NZ Drug Foundation released a new proposal for drug laws in New Zealand, reframing drug use as a health issue and one requiring a totally different approach.

On personal reflection, for much of last week's discussion, very little focused on the social determinants of health and how improving these will lead to greater social, health and economic equity for Maori and other marginalised groups. Evidence shows that only by focusing on improving these determinants will society truly reduce the inequities faced by these groups.

DAVE HOOKWAY
Health Promotion Adviser
Kerikeri