Minister pledges to plug drugs loophole

Press, 17 November 1981, Page 12

Minister pledges to plug drugs loophole

PA Auckland The Government will tighten up the law on drug dealing if a recently discovered “loophole” is upheld by ■the courts, says the Minister of Justice (Mr McLay). A High Court judge ruled recently that a charge of possessing cannabis resin for supply should be dismissed because the substance was not analysed to give a weight of cannabis only. It included other substances. ■

Mr McLay said that as .a result a man who had been found in possession of a substantial quantity of resin, a quantity that would normally be deemed to be for the purpose of supply, had had his appeal allowed. “If thab proves to be the law (and there is a possibility of appeal) then I will recommend to my National Government that the law be changed," he said. “It is a loophole that is not intended, and if necessary it must be plugged.” Speaking at a meeting in Epsom Mr McLay also criticised the chairman of the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, Dr Rodney Harrison, who has spoken out against the 1978 amendments to. the Misuse of Drugs Act, which gave the police the.

right to use electronic surveillence to detect drug dealers. "While I can understand Dr Harrison’s concern to ensure that the privacy of the citizen is not invaded, it is generally accepted that more than adequate safeguards were written into the law when it was passed," he said. If necessary, a National Government was. prepared to expand further the laws that were required to detect drug dealers.