As with all legislation, the party pill ban has to be reviewed for consistency with the Bill of Rights before it can be passed. Unfortunately, the BORA has no teeth, and the “rights” it describes can be violated by Parliament with impunity, as long as it is for the benefit of the “community.”
But it is interesting anyway that Michael Cullen, in his role as Attorney-General, has pinpointed the “supply” clause of the BZP ban as a breach of the Bill of Rights. It would violate the presumption of innocence by forcing anyone caught with more than 5 grams of BZP (or 100 tablets) to prove that they don’t have it for the purpose of supply. It is yet to be seen whether this review will actually make any difference.
In an ideal system, all drug prohibition would fail the Bill of Rights test due to the violation of individual sovereignty inherent in such laws. New Zealand survived for many years with all drugs legal, and society didn’t collapse. Drug prohibition only started due to a moral panic about opium-smoking Chinese immigrants. So this BZP ban is nothing more than a throwback to the “Yellow Peril”.
Banning a safe, legal alternative to illegal drugs is a horribly retarded example of government incompetence, as they demonstrate not only their utter inability to grasp reality, but their complete lack of concern for the health and safety of the drug users who they claim to be trying to protect. Shame on Jim Anderton and Jacqui Dean!
