Racial bias to drug enforcement

There’s a warning any relaxing of drug laws needs to be done in a way that Maori benefit.

The Government is indicating a more tolerant approach may be taken to minor drug offending.

The executive director of the Drug Foundation, Ross Bell, says there is a growing realisation around the world the so called war on drugs hasn’t worked.

He says police are already becoming more tolerant to some drug use, but the tolerance is not evenly spread.

"If you’re me, a middle aged Pakeha guy, and I was smoking cannabis, police aren’t going to bother me. If you are a young brown man, you are four times more likely to get a conviction. There is absolutely a racial element to the way our drug law is enforced," he says.

Mr Bell says New Zealand will eventually join the move to treat drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal problem.