So far I have not had much reason to get angry with the new National led government, that was until this morning.

As the herald reports: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10604475

In the passing of the Boy Racer Legislation there was a “last-minute inclusion of a ban on driving while affected by benzodiazepine, a prescription sedative and anti-anxiety medication that is often used as a sleeping pill.”

The government has brought this change in as a Supplementary Order Paper with no public consultation. This is outrageous and one of the many issues that people had with the previous administration. It is simply not right to bring in such a law that affects so many people without letting the people have a say on it, doing so turns the Government from a democracy to a dictatorship and removes peoples rights to making their own decisions and having their own free will.

The Act party sums up my feels and response to this in a much more controlled tone than what I am feeling right now:

http://www.act.org.nz/blog/benzodiazepine-ban-short-sighted

This is short-sighted and will place hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders on the wrong side of the law for no good reason. Under this addition to the ‘Boy Racer’ Bill currently before parliament people who are legally taking this prescription medication will be placed in the same category as those who use Class A narcotics – they will have to prove through a blood test and presumably in court that they were taking what they were prescribed.

During Select Committee submissions, the dangers around benzodiazepines were not raised at all, by anyone – but a lobby group raised concerns just before the Bill’s final reading and Mr Joyce has now decided to tack an amendment to the Boy Racer Bill before Parliament.It is irrational to lump law-abiding citizens in with P-crazed drug addicts and defeats the purpose of having prescription medications. Evidence around the effects they have on driving is extremely weak – an ESR study of deceased drivers from July 1 2004-June 30 2008 showed that only 22 of the 826 drivers deceased during this period had benzodiazepines in their bloodstream, and of those less than one percent had benzodiazepines alone.

Benzodiazepines are one of a number of commonly used anti-anxiety agents and sedatives. One thing the Minister hasn’t considered is that sleep deprivation is also a significant factor in road accidents – but he need only read his own road-side signs to get this message.

If Mr Joyce is seriously telling New Zealand that sedatives are significant contributors to our road toll he had better start examining anti-histamines, phenothiazines, tri-cyclic anti-depressants, and a host of other legally prescribed drugs that cause sedation. By eliminating half the population from driving he probably will make a hefty dent in the road toll.

Act really do a good job of putting this into context. The reality is Benzodiazepines does have an effect on you, that is why they are used for anxiety, panic disorders and other related problems, it is one of the modern day medicines that still actually works!

I have used Lorazepam (aka Ativan and Temesta) which is a form of Benzodiazepine on a irregular basis for close to two years to control an anxiety/panic disorder. My primary use of it is to control anxiety before flying.

For instance a few months back I flew to Christchurch and upon arrival hired a car to travel to the ski field. Before the flight I took a Lorazepam to calm myself down. Under the new law I would not be able to drive when I arrived because the Lorazepam would still be in my system and I would still be affected by it.

And this is where the main issue with this law is. I doubt many people would be silly enough to take a Benzodiazepine and then immediately drive, in fact the medicine bottle is clearly labeled may cause sleepiness do not drive or operate heavy machinery, limit alcohol. However like any form of medication it has its primary effect on you and then takes time to drain itself from your bodily system. For myself it normally has a maximum feeling for around 2 hours, mostly gone by 4 hours and on occasion I can still feel a little different after 8 hours. Depending on the interpretation of the word “affected” I could potentially be unable to drive for a day after taking a prescription medication to control a problem that would be as common as asthma or Celiac.

All medicine has its positive and negative elements. All medicine has some form of effect on you. It is how you manage those effects that is important. Simply outlawing a medicine in this manner takes the ability for the individual to make decisions for themselves and gives it to the government.

“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” - V for Vendetta

Tags: Act Party, Government, Medication, National Party

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 7:31 am and is filed under Comment and Opinion, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.