Pubdate: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 Source: Timaru Herald (New Zealand) Copyright: 2014 Timaru Herald Contact: http://www.timaruherald.co.nz/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1039 Author: Esther Ashby-Coventry Page: 1 2 WEEKS TO PULL SYNTHETIC DRUGS All synthetic drugs will be pulled off the shelves within two weeks until individual testing has proven each brand is "low-risk", the Government has announced. Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne told Fairfax Media: "While there has been a substantial reduction in the number of these products available and the number of outlets from which they can be sold, reports of severe adverse reactions continue to be received by the National Poisons Centre and Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring. "It has been impossible to attribute these adverse effects to any particular products and in the absence of that ministers accepted my recommendation at Cabinet last Tuesday to end the transitional period, taking all products with interim approval off the market. "I will bring to Parliament amending legislation to put this measure in place, to be introduced and passed through all stages under urgency on May 8 and come into force the day after receiving the Royal Assent." The legislation would see the remaining 41 products removed from shelves until testing had confirmed they carried a low level of risk. His announcement has taken the wind out of the sails for Labour, which was set to release it's own policy on synthetic cannabis tomorrow. Leader David Cunliffe announced earlier yesterday that Labour would also be seeking to introduce a total ban on psychoactive substances until testing had proven they were relatively safe. He told Fairfax the Government had "fallen asleep at the wheel" over introducing a testing regime. "Had we known 18 months down the track that no regime would yet be in place, we would have insisted back then that all drugs had to go through the testing process before they were allowed on to the market." Dunne has said he expected the new laws to be passed within the week, and for stock to be pulled off shelves almost immediately. Cunliffe said Labour would still be announcing its full policy on Tuesday, which also included a ban on animal testing. "I'd call this a victory for the Opposition, rolling the Government on a situation that was doing immeasurable harm to young New Zealanders. "We are pleased that other parties have joined the fight against synthetic cannabis, which we have now announced." The harm caused by the legal highs has been widely reported. In April last year Timaru mother of two Sue Eade went public about her sons using legal highs in the hope she could get the help they needed. Hers has been a success story, but she fears that taking the legal highs off the shelves now is a little too late and she is concerned for addicts. "Those addicted will need a lot of support. Not just those on it but their families too," she said. Taking the drugs that have not been proven safe off the shelf should have happened a long time ago, according to Eade. "The whole country has been affected. There has been a lot of media coverage which should have been a wake-up call. If they had done this (taken them off the shelves) initially we would not have had so many issues." There are 150 outlets selling legal highs. - - Fairfax - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom