Misuse of Drugs Legislation
In mid-November 2000 the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act was passed.

This new law enables New Zealand to respond more quickly to emerging drug threats than was previously the case. Previously, scheduling of substances under the Act could only be done by way of Parliament amending the Act in the normal way. The passage of amendments to legislation can take some time.

While under the new process parliament will still have the final say, the scheduling of substances will be able to be made on a regular basis and faster than before.

Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs
A vital part of this process will be the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD), which was been established to advise the Minister of Health. The EACD will:

• Conduct evidence-based reviews of controlled drugs and other narcotic, or, psychotropic substances
• Recommend to the Minister about whether and how such substances should be classified
• Increase public awareness of its work by (for instance) releasing papers, reports and recommendations

Membership of the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs

Dr Bob Boyd	Ministry of Health Chief Advisor Public Health Directorate (chair)
Dr Stewart Jessamine	Medsafe Senior Medical Advisor
Det Insp Harry Quinn	NZ Police
Mr Andrew Coleman	NZ Customs
Dr Keith Bedford	Expertise in toxicology
Assoc Prof Tim Maling	Expertise in pharmacology
Dr Helen Moriarty	Expertise in community medicine
Dr Geoffrey Robinson	Expertise in drug and alcohol treatment
Dr Douglas Sellman	Expertise in psychology
Mr Keremete Warbrick	Representing the views of consumers of drug treatment services

Terms of Reference
Under the Terms of Reference, there are two ways in which a drug maybe considered by the committee. First, the Minister of Health or the EACD Secretariat may refer a drug to the EACD for consideration. Members of the public can also feed into this process by writing to the EACD Secretariat in the Ministry of Health ww.ndp.govt.nz). Second, the EACD may itself decide to examine the classification of a particular drug.

Details of the drugs to be considered at future Committee meetings are to be published on the National Drug Policy website, and interested parties can make written submissions on drugs the EACD have decided to examine.

However, all written submissions should follow a set format and the EACD will appreciate evidence-based submissions. Full details about the process for written submissions will shortly be available on the National Drug Policy website (ww.ndp.govt.nz).

Hospitalisation through use of Fantasy
A regional breakdown of figures is not available nationally. Local DHBs may be able to assist in this area, however, accuracy cannot be guaranteed, as patients seen or admitted to hospital must voluntarily identify that they have used Fantasy.

Class B
Class B has three parts, B1, B2, and B3. When drugs are classified as B1 as opposed to B2 or B3 police have wider enforcement powers including the ability to search premises and people without a warrant if they have reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been committed under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. The same enforcement powers are applied to drugs scheduled in A and C1.