A new index challenges common beliefs about drug use and harm in NZ

A new index challenges common beliefs about drug use and harm in NZ

Sai Aung/Getty ImagesNew Zealand’s mainstay drug law turned 50 this year – yet we still don’t have a clear, comprehensive picture of the social harms different drugs pose. When the Misuse of Drugs Act was introduced in 1975, it codified a set of prohibitions shaped not only by evidence of social harm, but also by the politics and anxieties of the time. Drug bans have historically reflected a mix of genuine harms, moral panic, political expedienc…