Council pushing hard on legal highs
28 November 2013
Waipa District Council has confirmed that it won't be able to ban legal highs from being sold in the district.
But it is already pushing to do all can to limit the sale of the drugs often known as synthetic cannabis or party pills.
Councillors have informally discussed a draft psychoactive substances policy aimed at restricting where legal highs can be sold.
Mayor Jim Mylchreest said he found it despicable that Councils even had to discuss a policy.
Let's be clear. As a Council we are totally and absolutely opposed to these drugs. But having a strong policy in place is the only tool we have available to us to try and limit their availability, he said.
Without having a policy, Waipa could potentially become a magnet for retailers of these drugs. That's the last thing anyone would want.
By law, Councils cannot ban the sale of the drugs or limit the number of premises selling them. But it can put in place a policy to restrict the locations they are sold from.
Decisions on whether or not businesses can sell legal highs are not made by the Council but by an independent body, the Psychoactive Substances Regulatory Authority. From early next year, possibly in March, retailers will have to apply to the Authority for a licence to sell psychoactive substances.
That's where the Council can have some influence. The Authority is highly likely to take our policy into account when making those licensing decisions about Waipa retailers so we need to be crystal clear on what our community wants, Mayor Mylchreest said.
Waipa's draft policy seeks to severely restrict the location of retail stores and to allow them only in the commercial zones of Te Awamutu and Cambridge. Legal high retailers would not be allowed within 100 metres of any library, museum, community hall, recreational facility, school, kindergarten, childcare centre, church or other educational institution. The policy would keep retailers away from any social welfare agency or any other facility or premises where exposure to psychoactive substances may be harmful.
If the policy is approved, retailers will not be allowed within 300 metres of each other. Council will also recommend that their hours of operation be restricted from 9am - 2.30pm so they are closed both before and after school.
Already by law, legal highs cannot be sold from dairies, supermarkets, service stations or liquor outlets and cannot be sold to anyone under 18. Mayor Mylchreest said Waipa's policy would make it even tougher for retailers to operate in the district.
I'm not making any apologies for that, he said. The feedback I've had is that Council needs to take as strong a line as possible on this issue.
Councillors will formally discuss the draft policy next week and it is likely to be approved for notification in mid-January. From mid-January through to mid-February, the community will be invited to have its say by making submissions on the draft policy.
If the people of Waipa want to help us send a very strong message to the licensing authority, they need to work with us and put in submissions making their views clear, Mayor Mylchreest said.
We might not be able to ban them, but let's make it as tough as we can for retailers to get traction.
There is currently only one retailer licenced to sell legal highs in the Waipa district, operating from Te Awamutu.
The government has recently launched a free phone hotline - 0800 789 652 - for the public to report concerns about the sale of psychoactive substances.
Ends
For more information contact:
Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of Council) 027 5077 599
