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Regional | Drugs

Govt set to remove remaining legal highs

Yesterday the Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced that when Parliament resumes, Government will introduce and pass under urgency legislation removing all remaining legal highs from sale.

The move to ban the sale of the 41 remaining legal high products was praised by the Deputy Chairman of the Manurewa Local Board.

However one synthetic cannabis user says the ban will only see other avenues where by legal highs will continue to be sold illegally to those who want it.

Rangi McClean of the Wiri Licensing Trust says this maybe a sign that the Government is finally listening to the people's concerns especially given that there have been protests against legal highs throughout the country, in Auckland as well as Manurewa in recent months.

Peter Dunne, Associate Minister of Health says although there has been a reduction in the number of these products (legal highs) available, and the number of outlets which they can be sold, reports of sever adverse reactions continue.

It looks as though Labour's own proposed synthetic cannabis legislation has come a tad bit late, and it is nearly identical to that in which Dunne proposes however the difference being that Labour's policy will not test the effects of legal highs on animals.

The amending of the Psychoactive Substances Act will be introduced and passed through all stages under urgency on May 8.