Pot smoking still a crime and pipes banned

By Andrew Laxon

political reporter

Drug-smoking paraphernalia will be banned by next year under a Government plan to crack down on cannabis and other drugs.

But there are few other specific changes in an "action plan" released yesterday by the Minister of Health, Wyatt Creech.

The plan confirms Government promises last week that cannabis will not be legalised or decriminalised and that Ecstasy will be made a Class A drug.

Other new measures include:

* Targeting doctors who prescribe too many controlled drugs.

* More research and information about Maori drug problems in the Far North and
the East Coast.

* A review of school drug-education programmes.

* Government guidelines on how to hold safer dance parties.

The plan, prepared by the Ministry of Health, says the visibility and availability of drug paraphernalia, particularly pipes and bongs, could give young people conflicting messages about taking drugs.

But it warns that drug paraphernalia is hard to define because many harmless everyday items, such as knives and bottles, can be adapted for illegal drug use.

It recommends the Government stick to banning items - such as certain pipes or bongs - which can be used only for drugs.

The penalty for possession would be three months' jail or a $1500 fine or both, the same as for cannabis.

The law would come into effect next year or possibly sooner but a transition time would be needed to allow importers and sellers to get rid of "non-complying stocks."

The plan says the Health Funding Authority and the Ministry of Health should share information with the police to identify doctors who prescribe inappropriately to drug users.

Doctors who refused to change their ways could receive ministry warnings, be referred to the Medical Council or prosecuted if necessary.

It recommends a review of drug education, saying it is not clear which approaches actually work for young people.

The dance party guidelines are aimed at nightclub owners and patrons, after an Auckland woman died from an Ecstasy overdose.

The Government's response overrules a select committee report which recommended it should reconsider the legal status of cannabis.

The Minister of Police, Clem Simich, and police chiefs favour decriminalisation but many senior National ministers, including the Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, are firmly against it.

Mr Creech said yesterday that the Government was not going to review the law on cannabis because it did not want to send confusing messages to young people about drug use.

But a spokesman for the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) said the Government was trying to avoid what it saw as a vote-losing issue in election year.

"Everyone except the Government knows the law isn't working. It doesn't stop anyone from smoking pot and it doesn't help the few people who do have problems with it from getting help."

Pictured: Chris Fowlie of the Hemp Store, with an assortment of pipes and bongs. HERALD PICTURE / GLENN JEFFREY