To: s.joyce@ministers.govt.nz
Date: Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 8:52 AM
Subject: Benzodiazepine Ban
Dear Hon Steven Joyce,
I am outraged at the news this morning that the Government last night rushed through a ban on Benzodiazepine while driving without any public consultation.
I have been using Lorazepam for the past two years to control an anxiety/panic disorder which is primary associated with flying. For instance in August I flew to Christchurch to go skiing. I flew out of Auckland at just after 6am and landed in Christchurch around 8am before hiring a car and driving an hour to the ski area. Under this new law I would be unable to drive because I would still be under the influence of the Benzodiazepine.
This is where the law fails and the lack of public consultation shines through. I would suspect very few users of prescription Benzodizepines would be silly enough to take the medicine and then immediately drive. In fact the label on my container of it clearly states that it may cause sleepiness, to limit driving and the operation of heavy machinery, and to limit alcohol. The reality of this medicine, however, is that it takes a long time to wear completely off. While I would never drive within two hours of taking it, any time beyond that I would consider myself safe to drive provided I took the same precautions as when you have taken any other medicine (cold/flu tablets, anti-depressants, pain killers) or any other issue is affecting your ability to think straight (for instance an emotional crises).
It makes me very angry and annoyed that the Government has passed this law without weighing up all the facts. As the Act party as highlighted “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.” What the government has done is turn ordinary New Zealanders who rely on this medication to manage a major but controllable problem in their lives into criminals.
It should be noted that one of the reasons the previous administration was voted out of office was the failure to listen to the public over issues. It became arrogant and instead of listening to the people as a democracy it appeared to be acting more like a dictatorship. I hope that this new government does not head down the same path.
I look forward to your response.
Kind regards,
Bradford Heap
Albany,
Auckland,
New Zealand
