Review of the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966

Review of the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966
Date of publication: March 1999

Introduction
The purpose of this discussion paper is to ask for submissions which will help the Ministry of Health determine a direction for the review of the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966 (the ADA Act)*.

This review of the ADA Act is one of the directions in the Government's National Drug Policy which was released in July 1998.

The ADA Act provides for the compulsory detention and treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts at certified institutions, and is administered by the Ministry of Health.

This Act is now over 30 years old and there are questions about how effective it is in achieving its goal which is “to make better provision for the care and treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts” (Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966)

Over recent years, the Ministry has become aware of a number of practical and legal problems with the ADA Act. These include:

the inability to match treatment type to client need
a lack of certified institutions
institutions being unable or unwilling to accept clients
inconsistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990* and the compulsory assessment and treatment regime under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment Act) 1992*.

There are also questions about whether the views of society have changed and whether alcoholism and drug addiction are significant enough conditions that society needs to intervene to remove people’s liberty in order to enforce assessment, detoxification and treatment. This is especially relevant in view of the fact that international research shows that the medium- to long-term outcomes of compulsory treatment are generally poor and often inconclusive.

This document provides a background to the ADA Act and poses questions about how it may be amended if it is retained. It also asks whether there is a need at all for legislation to compulsorily treat people who are addicted to alcohol or other drugs, and if not what powers should society have to manage people who do not have the ability or are unwilling to give informed consent to treatment.

*The full text of this legislation is available at: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/
To find the legislation you require, once at the site click on the "Statutes" link then search by name under the A-Z tab or the Search tab.

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