95bFM 68 percent of New Zealanders support a health-based approach to drug reform, according to new poll
29 June, 2022
Interview by Emilia Sullivan, adapted by Jessica Hopkins
NZ Drug Foundation Executive Director, Sarah Helm, says New Zealanders want an evidence-based approach to drug reform. Aotearoa is also the first country in the world to have explicitly legal drug checking. Photo: NZ Drug Foundation.
A new NZ Drug Foundation poll found that 68 percent of New Zealanders support changing the country's drug laws and favour a health-based approach.
61 percent support removing criminal penalties for drug use.
The 1975 Misuse of Drugs Act currently allows police discretion over whether to prosecute for personal possession of drugs.
The Drug Foundation's Executive Director, Sarah Helm, told Emilia Sullivan on 95bFM's The Wire that their findings show New Zealanders want an evidence-based approach to drug reform.
"The public increasingly understands that criminal penalties get in the way of people seeking help, and that Police time would be better spent on more serious crime."
Helm said there is cross-party support for effective health-based approaches.
"Te Ara Oranga, the highly successful methamphetamine programme, which has proven a health-based approach, was started by the former National Government and expanded by the current Labour Government."
The polling also shows there is even more support for more funding to be provided for treatment and education (82 percent) and harm reduction initiatives like drug checking (74 percent).
"New Zealanders know it's not just about changing the law. It's about shifting the money we spend on punitive measures into treatment, harm reduction initiatives, and programmes like Te Ara Oranga that struggle for funding at present."
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
