A policy proposed by Tauranga City Council will allow it to have the ability to designate appropriate locations for the sale of approved psychoactive substances in the city.

Council is calling for people to have their say on the proposed Psychoactive Substances (Local Approved Products) Policy.

In 2013, the Psychoactive Substances Act came into force. The Act regulates the availability of psychoactive substances in New Zealand and protects the health of and minimises harm to New Zealanders who use psychoactive substances.
The Act authorises the Psychoactive Substances Regulatory Authority (PSRA) to issue licences for the importation, manufacture and sale of psychoactive substances in New Zealand.

The PSRA also controls which psychoactive substances are deemed to be ‘approved products' and can be imported, manufactured or sold in New Zealand, says a Tauranga City Council communications advisor.
There are currently no approved products in New Zealand.

However, products could be approved by the PSRA at any time. While councils are not able to altogether prohibit the sale of psychoactive substances in their localities, they have the ability under the Act to set rules on where these substances can be sold.

'That's what we are proposing to do through the policy.

'If we don't have a policy, licensed premises could open anywhere in the city. Instead, we want to have the ability to influence the location of where approved products may be sold in the future, if any became approved by the PSRA.”
Through the policy, we are proposing that:

• approved products can only be sold in the Tauranga city centre commercial zone (as defined in the City Plan)
• premises selling approved products cannot be within 50 metres of each other
• premises selling approved products cannot be within 75 metres of any early childhood centre (including kindergartens, playcentres and kōhanga reo) school, tertiary education facility (including associated accommodation), place of worship, or any council community facility (including parks and reserves)
• the PSRA consider restricting the hours of operations to 10am-5pm Monday to Friday, and 10am-1pm Saturday when granting a licence.

The draft policy is available at www.tauranga.govt.nz/PSP for review, along with an online submission form.

The submission period runs until 5pm on Thursday, 23 August 2018.
Paper copies are also available at the customer service centre at 91 Willow Street and in libraries.
What are psychoactive substances?
A psychoactive substance refers to a substance, mixture, preparation, article, device or thing that is capable of inducing a psychoactive effect in an individual who uses the psychoactive substance. Psychoactive substances can also be referred to as ‘legal highs' or ‘synthetics'.
The proposed development of a policy should not be interpreted as Tauranga City Council endorsing the use of psychoactive substances.