Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to tatjna,
I'm guessing ‘synthetic heroin’ might be a mislabelling of opiods such as codeine,
Oxycontin/Oxycodone, I reckon. And as such, absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with legal high stores or the Psychoactive Substances Act.
In an ideal world, this kind of thing wouldn't make it to print. But it does.
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Hard News: The Language of Climate, in reply to Moz,
Hopefully Russell will remove the abuse from your post and let the rest stand.
Yes, I have. Tom, that was unwarranted and unhelpful and if you can't show respect to others I'll remove you from the conversation.
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From what I can tell, Lees-Galloway tried twice to remove what became Clause 71 of the Act, which makes personal possession of an unapproved substance an offence punishable by a $500 fine, on the grounds that "Making the possession of an un-approved substance an offence does nothing to advance the purpose of the Bill," and I think he was right. But that was making the bill more, not less, liberal.
The bill was introduced in February last year and reported back from select committee in June. Wiser heads than mine will have a view on whether that was long enough, but there was a problem that needed addressing asap.
The Act is here, btw.
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to Rebecca Williams,
there have been questions about whether or not manufacturers are including stimulants in the products, because of the number of presentations to ED where people are highly anxious, irritable, etc similar to stimulant presentations.
I think there have been some instances of cathinones being included in fake pot blends, but that’s not legal now under the Act, so it’s likely that what you’re seeing is what’s on the label.
Interestingly, methylone (M1), a cathinone, was sold legally for a while under the name Ease by Matt Bowden. It was a convincing, and apparently low-risk, ecstasy substitute. But then it was deemed an analogue of cathinone itself, a Class B drug, and withdrawn.
Ironically, it gave way to the considerably more problematic BZP, which was legal because it couldn’t be deemed an analogue of any banned drug. Bowden told me it was possible that he would seek approval for methylone under the new Act.
On the other hand: three fatal ingestions.
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There’s more coming, but for now here’s the Ministry of Health’s current Psychoactive Substances Fact Sheet:
Since the Psychoactive Substances Act came into effect on 18 July 2013
• Psychoactive products can no longer be sold in dairies, grocery stores, supermarkets, service stations and liquor outlets
• Licences are required to manufacture, research, import, wholesale or retail products that contain psychoactive substances
• There are restrictions on advertising, marketing and the purchase age (18+ years of age) of psychoactive substances
• The number of retail outlets selling psychoactive products has reduced by 95 percent (from 3-4000 outlets to fewer than 155)
• Over three-quarters of products for sale prior to the Act have been removed from the market
• From an estimated 2-300 products there are now 41, and to date these have been assessed to be of low risk of harmThe Psychoactive Substances Regulatory Authority set up under the Act
• The Authority is responsible for issuing all licenses
• It appoints enforcement officers who actively monitor compliance with the Act
• The Authority monitors clinical reports on psychoactive products from the Centre for Adverse Reaction Monitoring (CARM) and the National Poisons Centre
• An expert advisory committee made up of independent specialists in pharmacology, toxicology, drug addiction, ethics and public health has been established to approve product applications
• To date the Authority has removed five approved products from the market after new reports showed they pose more than a low risk of harm to usersTransitioning to regulations
• The Authority is operating a temporary system of controls, called an ‘interim regime’ while the Government develops the set of final, detailed regulations to enforce the Act which will come into force around the middle of 2015. Until that time no new products or retail licences can be issued.
• The new regulations will include details about the licence application processes, product approval processes, and feesLocal government controls over where retail outlets can operate
• The Act allows councils to work with their communities to develop local approved product policies (LAPPs) that identify where licenced retail outlets can be located within a district or city
• The Authority is working with local governments and Local Government New Zealand to support the development of LAPPs
• All interim retail licences are subject to any LAPP introduced in their local district or cityAgencies involved in the regulation of psychoactive substances
• The Police and enforcement officers based in District Health Boards work with the Authority to enforce the Act and monitor psychoactive substance manufacture, sale and use in New Zealand
• The New Zealand Customs Service has lead responsibility for ensuring unapproved psychoactive substances do not enter New ZealandThe objectives of the Act in summary
• The purpose of the Act is to minimise harm by providing safe access for users to approved low risk psychoactive products. When users are confident of supply, the demand for illegal and untested drugs is likely to reduce
• Under the Act, the Authority, enforcement officers, Customs, the Police regulate and monitor access to approved products to ensure the products pose a low risk of harm to users and the community
• All profits are taxed, and manufacturers and suppliers will have to demonstrate that their products are safely manufactured, clinically tested and have a low risk of harm before products will be approved for saleWho to contact to report concerns and for help and advice
• The community plays a vital role and the Authority needs to be made aware of party pills or synthetic cannabis being sold from dairies, convenience and grocery stores and other prohibited premises, or from any premises to anyone under the age of 18.
• People can call the psychoactive substances hotline 0800 789 652, contact their local Police or email [email protected] to report any concerns or seek advice about psychoactive substances
• For advice about drug problems people can call the nationwide toll-free Alcohol Drug Helpline service on 0800 787 797 – a trained counsellor answers every call and provides advice on where to go to get further help
• The Alcohol and Drug Association of New Zealand also has a directory of local services listed on its website www.alcoholdrughelp.org.nz -
Southerly: How I Became a Grumpy Old…, in reply to David Haywood,
Apologies to Russell for going the way of The Listener in terms of subject matter.
Not at all, David!
Home renovation is pretty much the media's salvation at this point in humanity's long cultural march.
That's why The Block will be on TV3 three times a week this year -- it's the only thing people will watch any more. And I see this as a very long, very slow version of The Block.
But I do think there's a missing competitive element here. I propose that I use the proceeds of Public Address's recent crowdfunding to acquire an adjacent property and install a family in which another highly-credentialed householder -- a physicist, say -- pursues a similarly endless, admirable restoration mission, writing occasional blog posts about his fitful progress.
At weekends, Dunsandel's roading network would be jammed with Public Address readers driving past for a look. I am quite sure this presents a unique opportunity for the right sponsor.
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Well, shit. This is pretty amazing.
A Frankie Knuckles set from 1981 at The Warehouse
Around 44 minutes, there’s Modern Romance’s ‘Everybody Salsa’ – a UK chart hit for the group formerly known as the Leyton Buzzards – which was remixed by the late Richie Rivera and released in America as ‘Can You You Move’. It’s quite a tune!
I totally confess, I didn’t just know this off the top of my head, but it’s been fun working it out.
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Hard News: The Language of Climate, in reply to David Haywood,
Key point: there’s nothing inherently high CO2 about rapid air travel.
That's a very interesting point indeed, David.
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to debunk,
Suggest you read “‘Legal high’ production gathers pace” 4 June 2013 by Maria Burke in chemistryworld http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/06/europe-legal-high-report-production
these products are not as benign as comments here suggest.
The article concludes with a section titled ’New Zealand leads the way,” which explains the Psychoactive Substances Bill (as it was then). And the whole thing is really about why such an approach is the rational option:
Manufacturing NPSs is relatively simple. ‘Pharmaceutical drugs require between five and 12 steps to synthesise, whereas these need only two to three,’ explains Nichols. Treble agrees: ‘The chemical manufacturers, typically in China, can pretty much make anything you want – with no questions asked. These molecules are relatively small so they are relatively easy to make. Any competent synthetic chemist can follow the recipe.
A stream of new psychoactive substances, all with different effects and dosages, most poorly understood – and always one to take the place of the last. At some point governments have to think about how best they can minimise public harm, and it’s pretty clear that just criminalising things as they appear isn’t going to be their most productive option.
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Hard News: The Language of Climate, in reply to David Haywood,
David!
Tell me, is carbon sequestration any more real that it was five or 10 years ago? Because people sure do talk about it a lot.