The Hon Anthony Roberts MP

Minister for Fair Trading

MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 10 September 2013

NSW GOVERNMENT TO OUTLAW SYNTHETIC DRUGS

The NSW Government today announced new laws to outlaw synthetic drugs with psychoactive properties. Minister for Fair Trading Anthony Roberts said the laws will be the most comprehensive and wide-ranging in the country. There is no silver bullet to protect people from the scourge of psychoactive drugs, but the NSW Government has developed ground breaking laws to tackle the problem, Mr Roberts said. The NSW Government will prohibit the manufacture, supply and advertising of psychoactive substances (colloquially known as synthetic drugs). NSW will adopt Schedule 9 of the Commonwealth Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons, making it an offence to sell, manufacture, supply and possess any Schedule 9 substance. These offences will be added to the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985. Penalties include up to two years imprisonment, more than $2,000 in fines or both for the manufacture or supply of these substances. The penalty for possession for Schedule 9 drugs will be set at up to 12 months imprisonment, more than $2,000 in fines or both. The new offence provisions will not apply to substances already listed in Schedule 1 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985. These will continue to be dealt with under those harsh provisions. This is a whole of Government response to the NSW Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee Report on Law Reform Issues Regarding Synthetic Drugs tabled in Parliament on 30 May 2013, an Inquiry that started in February 2012. The Drugs and Poisons Legislation Amendment (New Psychoactive and Other Substances) Bill to be introduced into Parliament will ban retailers selling these potentially harmful chemical substances as legal highs. Under current laws, drugs can only be banned by adding substances to the list of prohibited drugs in the legislation when they are identified, but these new laws will ban all psychoactive substances as well as substances that are yet to be developed, with appropriate exemptions. Attorney General Greg Smith said as new substances are identified they can be added to the prohibited drug list, allowing the existing high penalties to apply and ensure they match the seriousness of the crime. Manufacturers may try to alter drugs to avoid detection but these new laws mean Police have greater certainty in seizing substances where they have formed a reasonable suspicion that it is a drug or psychoactive substance, Mr Smith said. The NSW Government will also ban the advertising and promotion of a substance to be consumed for its psychoactive effects, or information that provides how or where to acquire the substance.

This will stop retailers from being able to sell these products, and if they do they risk going to prison. The Bill defines psychoactive substances broadly, but will exempt some products such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, foods and herbal items. Complementary medicines and other therapeutic goods already strictly regulated will also be exempt as will substances given in the provision of health services or by health care providers. The NSW Government announced an interim ban on synthetic drugs on 9 June 2013 and the former Federal Labor Government supported this with a national interim ban on 18 June. Mr Roberts said NSW Fair Trading inspected more than 1,000 retailers to ensure synthetic drugs were removed from sale. Six websites were stopped from selling these products and four traders allegedly caught selling banned products are now under investigation. The community is seeing the benefits of removing harmful synthetic drug products from sale and these new laws capture the whole process, Mr Roberts said. Between January and June 2013, Newcastle Police reported an average of 26 incidents each month where severe behavioural disturbances were attributed to synthetic drugs, but following the interim bans, this has dropped to an average of just 2 incidents per month. Minister for Mental Health, Kevin Humphries, said the interim bans have had a significant effect. Preliminary Health data shows Emergency Department presentations linked to synthetic drugs have fallen, Mr Humphries said. Between March and June 2013 there was an average of 75 presentations per month and that has dropped to 39 in July. The NSW Government will continue to warn the community about the dangers posed by these substances. NSW Police and NSW Health will launch a joint campaign to inform the community about the new laws and the dangers associated with these heinous substances. Father Chris Riley, CEO and Founder of Youth Off The Streets, said the new laws are a move in the right direction. The NSW ban needs to be permanently embraced nationwide, Father Riley said. It has proved to be effective with synthetic drug availability and use in huge decline. Gerard Byrne, Clinical Director of The Salvation Army Recovery Services, said there has been a reduction in the reporting of the use of these substances by its clients. W e support the NSW Government's proposal to ban these substances, the longer term harms of which are still largely unknown," Mr Byrne said. In line with the new law, NSW will also add 40 additional substances to the prohibited drugs list, including NBOMe, the highly dangerous drug which contributed to the death of Sydney student Henry Kwan.
MEDIA: Tim Potter 0417 822 957