Options for state and local governments to regulate non-cigarette tobacco products

Most tobacco control laws were written to address the scourge of smoking--particularly smoking cigarettes. As a result, these laws frequently exclude non-cigarette tobacco products, which are becoming more prevalent on the market. These regulatory gaps jeopardize public health by increasing the possibility that these products will be used--particularly by minors and young adults. This article examines gaps in regulation using five products as case studies: dissolvable tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, little cigars, snus, and water pipes. In addition, this article presents policy options that state and local governments can adopt to regulate these products more effectively, including regulations relating to price, flavors, youth access, use in public places, point-of-sale warnings, and marketing. Furthermore, this article contains extensive discussion of the recently adopted federal Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which both limits and expands the power of state and local governments.     

Access to justice for New Zealand health consumers

New Zealand has evolved a just, sensible and balanced system for addressing adverse medical events. This article considers potential changes to enhance justice for health consumers after an adverse event. Patient motivations for claiming are described. Changes to the complaints regime are considered with the aim of opening up access to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. Modest change only is advocated, to avoid the potential for the tribunal to become a de facto appeal mechanism. The preferable solution is greater access to Health and Disability Commissioner investigations. The second part of the article considers changes, some implemented already, to the compensation regime to make it more affordable. These will compromise the ability of the scheme to address the remedial interest of injured patients in compensation. Undesirable consequences are likely to occur across the system. Policy-makers need to consider the ramifications of change for the system as a whole.     

The illicit preparation of morphine and heroin from pharmaceutical products containing codeine: 'homebake' laboratories in New Zealand

Since 1983 a large number of small-scale illicit laboratories producing morphine and heroin from commercially available, codeine-based pharmaceutical products have been encountered in New Zealand. The codeine demethylation procedure is based on the use of pyridine hydrochloride. Very simple laboratory equipment and reagents are required and these can be utilised by people with little or no chemical background, following a recipe-like procedure. The process yields a characteristic product known as 'homebake'. This process is fully described.     

Priority-setting processes for medicines: the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand

The agencies involved in the assessment and prioritisation of medicines for public subsidy purposes in Australia, England and Wales, and New Zealand are compared in terms of their processes; ultimate decision-maker and political involvement in decisions; price-setting processes; decision criteria and inclusion of economic assessment of cost-effectiveness; provision for the rule of rescue and separate treatment of potentially life-saving medicines and cancer drugs; levels of access; extent of consumer participation in processes and decisions; and provision for appeal from decisions. All countries face the key challenge of expanding access to important new treatments, while maintaining cost-effectiveness as a key criterion for public funding and safeguarding the affordability and sustainability of their programs into the future. New Zealand's model may have led to a greater focus on cost-containment and overall affordability than those of the other two agencies. Despite controversial decisions that have led on occasion to disappointment and challenge, the Australian and New Zealand agencies have survived and appear to have managed to date to maintain public and political support. By contrast, the United Kingdom's National Institute for Healthcare and Clinical Excellence is facing major changes to its role that could see it become more of an advisory organisation.     

A Mediator on the World Stage?—How the EU's Commitment in Foreign Affairs is Portrayed by New Zealand and Australian Media

Abstract: ‘European identity’ is as much a contested concept as is the role of the European Union in foreign affairs. This article combines the two concepts and introduces a third variable, ‘the Other’, in order to address the following questions: How do non‐Europeans perceive the EU on the world stage? Is a tentative identity as a mediator in foreign affairs conveyed in the EU's conduct of foreign policy? Analysing 10 newspapers, 4 television bulletins, and 830 public surveys from Australia and New Zealand in the first half of 2004, this article argues that the EU's efforts to further democracy and peace are often marginalised in Australian and New Zealand perceptions. Nevertheless, subtle traces of perceptions of the EU as a potent global actor promoting human rights and environmental sustainability and challenging unilateral US policy courses were detected.     

Y STR haplotype data for New Zealand population groups using the Y-Plex 6 kit

Allele and haplotype frequencies were obtained for the six Y STR loci DYS19, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS393 and DYS385 in the New Zealand population. Ninety-two different haplotypes were found. The Maori population had a specific haplotype that occurred in over 30% of the population. The Pacific Island population exhibited a triple repeat at the DYS385 locus in 26% of individuals, something rarely observed in other population groups.     

The highs and lows of working with sexual offenders: A New Zealand perspective

Abstract

The positive effects on clinicians responsible for the treatment of sexual offenders are little understood. The few available studies have focused upon the negative sequelae of this work. The current study of clinicians working therapeutically with sexual offenders at a community-based organization aimed for a more balanced picture of the effects of sex offender treatment provision. Using qualitative methods, both negative and positive aspects of this work emerged within three main themes: taking an optimistic perspective, working for community outcomes and supportive agency culture. Although the study revealed many challenges for therapists, these were found to be counterbalanced against rewards, affording a high degree of personal and professional fulfilment from working within this field.     

Liability of health professionals for a breach of the abortion law of New Zealand

The abortion law of New Zealand appears to have been interpreted very liberally over recent years by sectors of the medical profession. Indeed the interpretation of the law appears to have been so liberal that it raises questions as to the lawfulness of many of the abortions carried out in New Zealand. The current practice and application of the abortion law is such that it may expose some medical consultants certifying and performing abortions to criminal proceedings and civil claims.     

Uniform administrative requirements for grants and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals and other non-profit organizations, and with commercial organizations, foreign governments, organizations under the jurisdiction of foreign governments, and international organizations--DOL. Final rule

The Department of Labor is issuing these regulations pursuant to the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-110 (Revised), which provides standards for obtaining consistency and uniformity among Federal agencies in the administration of grants and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other non-profit organizations. This rule also applies to the Department of Labor's grants to commercial organizations, foreign governments, organizations under the jurisdiction of foreign governments and international organizations. OMB issued Circular A-110 in 1976 and, except for a minor revision in February 1987, the Circular remained unchanged until revised in 1993. To update the Circular, OMB established an interagency task force to review the Circular. The task force solicited suggestions for changes to the Circular from university groups, non-profit organizations and other interested parties and compared for consistency the provisions of similar provisions applied to State and local governments. The revised Circular and these regulations reflect the results of these efforts.     

New relaxed regulatory regime for private international charities: the Manx Private Charitable Foundation

The Manx Private Charitable Foundation has become a highly attractivevehicle for private charitable arrangements following on a changein the regulatory legislation in the Isle of Man in 2008, especiallywhere there is no UK inheritance tax or US estate and gift taxissues for donors. In the Isle of Man which has its own unique legal system, since1986 non-local charities have been almost impossible to establish,consequent upon the passing of the Charities Registration Act1986. However, with the adoption of the Charities (Exemption)Regulation 2008 that has now changed. Manx law has followed English law in the past. However, thenew English legislation of 2006 has not been followed. The old‘Pemsel Case’     

Global Simplification of Extradition: Interviews with Selected Extradition Experts in New Zealand,Canada, the US and EU

This paper explores the discernible long-term trend towards the simplification of the conditions for extradition in the law of many states. The process of simplification appears to be justified by the necessity of taking more effective action against transnational crime. It appears to be taking place in three main areas: the recharacterisation of extradition from a criminal to an administrative process, the reduction of the substantive conditions for extradition and the expansion of the international platforms for extradition. The process is being tempered by and partially justified by greater individual human rights protections. In an effort to gain a better grasp of the nature of this process, what is driving it, and where it is heading, this paper records the views of a number of expert practitioners from the state, defence, and judiciary in seven different countries with significant extradition practice on these justifications, changes, and human rights protections. The paper synthesises their views thematically before drawing some conclusions about the nature of the process of simplification of extradition and whether there is an emerging global standard for extradition. The research was funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation International Research Fellowship for 2015.