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Police Association supporting Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill despite challenges

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 8 Aug 2019, 3:35PM

Police Association supporting Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill despite challenges

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 8 Aug 2019, 3:35PM

Police say there is a clear shift in the attitude towards drug use in New Zealand, but implementing the new Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill could prove challenging.

The bill allows police discretion over the prosecution of drugs and aims to treat drug use as a health issue.

Police Association president Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking it will be a difficult for officers to put in place, and they're bound to get challenged by the public.

Cahill says the police may have to justify their decisions to charge someone and that could differ from what the courts then decide.

“This is a clear signal from the government they want a health based approach, compared to a prosecution based approach.”

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