{"id":3573,"date":"2026-06-05T01:52:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T01:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/?p=3573"},"modified":"2026-06-05T03:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:58:26","slug":"could-drug-regulation-end-new-zealands-national-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/?p=3573","title":{"rendered":"Could Drug Regulation End New Zealand’s National Debt?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

I. Why I\u2019m writing this<\/h2>\n

I had a chat with Lloyd Burr on BYO at Stuff.co.nz<\/a> and dropped some controversial ideas this week in an interview, when asked whether sensible drug regulation could relieve international debt. I proposed regulating safer drug alternatives under a new NGO, building natural\u2011health communities to create homes for recovering addicts and the homeless, and changing New Zealand\u2019s debt economy by leveraging our isolation to position ourselves as a global authority in natural medicine.
\nI want to go into those ideas in more detail because I was spit\u2011balling a bit in the interview, but these are deeply held visions. I wasn\u2019t joking. My intention is to build on the foundations I\u2019ve already established in leading development of our world leading drug regulatory system and put it into practice.
\n—<\/p>\n

II. Could drug regulation absolve our national debt?<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s be honest \u2014 the debt is huge, close to two hundred billion, and the drug market here is maybe one percent of that. We\u2019re not going to fix that debt by selling anything domestically.
\nHowever, when we promoted our regulatory model globally at the UN, we had a number of larger nations begin to follow with interest. Could we make it work?
\nWe are a small, manoeuvrable country. The world looks to countries like us to develop solutions, and we owe it to them to grow into that role. Let\u2019s be seen as more than just fast runners with good ball skills. Let\u2019s offer the world a next\u2011level blueprint in social evolution.
\nNew Zealand\u2019s biggest exports are still meat and dairy, but the world is changing fast. Global protein markets are moving toward more efficient, lower\u2011impact food sources. If we stay tied to bulk commodities while other countries innovate, we\u2019ll be overtaken. We can\u2019t farm our way out of debt.
\nOur advantage is that we\u2019re small, geographically and politically isolated, and agile. The smartest thing we can export is our intellectual property \u2014 our ideas, our systems, our innovations.
\n—<\/p>\n

III. The global context: trauma as the crisis of our time<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve lived through a perfect storm \u2014 a pandemic, social fragmentation, information chaos, and now global instability. The scars aren\u2019t just economic; they\u2019re psychological. The crisis of our time is trauma.
\nThe trauma medicines available shut down emotional processing, and we can\u2019t afford a population dulled in that way. The only drug class showing promise for promptly addressing trauma are psychedelic drugs such as LSD, MDMA, and ketamine, but they also carry risks. There is absolutely a need for further product development \u2014 not just for therapeutic application, but also to explore whether we can provide softer, safer options for the millions who will use substances recreationally. That is a market of hundreds of millions of consumers currently being harmed, and billions of impacted lives of people around them.
\nThe only country in the world with a purpose\u2011built regulatory framework to support the rapid development and deployment of new psychoactive substances is New Zealand. The onus is on us to do something with that ball while we have it. It\u2019s a model that previously received \u201cfollow\u201d interest from the UK, Australia, Canada, and others. The eyes of the world were on us. If we develop some products, and a decent model to manage them and export that to those populations, we are definitely in the league of clearing some debts.<\/p>\n

IV. The cost of prohibition<\/h2>\n

Right now we spend billions dealing with the downstream effects of prohibition \u2014 crime, policing, courts, prisons, emergency services, and the harm caused by black\u2011market supply chains. All of that is wasted expenditure. And on the other side, we spend billions more trying to patch up the damage with health and social services that are constantly underfunded and constantly at risk of being cut every four years when governments change.
\nIf we want real solutions, we can\u2019t expect a single government to build them. We have to plant the seeds of a new kind of community ourselves. That\u2019s why keeping this work inside an NGO matters \u2014 it protects the mission from political cycles and ensures continuity, stability, and long\u2011term care.
\n—<\/p>\n

V. But should that be our primary goal?<\/h2>\n

What metric should we be chasing? Will simply clearing the debt heal the wounds in our nation, or is there something more dynamic we could offer while we have the world\u2019s attention?
\nNelson Mandela echoed Mahatma Gandhi when he said the true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable.
\nHomelessness and addiction \u2014 intertwined \u2014 are on the rise in our nation. What if profits from psychoactive substance development were channelled there instead?
\nMy vision is to first meet the needs of our most vulnerable locally and see whether there is a model we can build that will truly benefit the global community as an example.
\n—<\/p>\n

VI. What about addiction?<\/h2>\n

Is it responsible to have regulated drugs without creating addicts?
\n(Well, what worked with party pills is we substituted non\u2011addictive drugs, so we didn\u2019t have addicts. But let\u2019s say we had some drugs available through special clinics with qualified counsellors \u2014 not corner stores.)
\nHow do we deal with the impact on our most vulnerable?
\nLook up \u201cRat Park\u201d and you\u2019ll see the famous experiment where drug\u2011addicted rats were taken from their lonely little white cages and put in a community with activities and other rats \u2014 and they stopped their addictions. Just putting street people in state houses doesn\u2019t cure what got them there.
\nCommunity and environment are the key drivers for addiction. Gabor Mat\u00e9 rocked the world with his revelation that addiction is not a crime or an illness, but a symptom of trauma.
\nIf addiction is a symptom, then trauma is the driver. And if trauma heals in connection, then the world doesn\u2019t just need new drugs \u2014 it needs new models of community. Let\u2019s give them the whole package.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1780631782351{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-right: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-top-width: 5px !important;border-right-width: 5px !important;border-bottom-width: 5px !important;border-left-width: 5px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #81D74236 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 2px !important;border-color: #1E73BE !important;}”]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is not why the addiction, but why the pain.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

– Gabhor Mat\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTrauma is healed through safety, connection, and embodied experience.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

– Bessel van der Kolk (author of The Body Keeps the Score)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

– Johann Hari<\/a><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

VII. The solution: community as medicine<\/h2>\n

What happens if we keep our drug development, our intellectual property, and our licences inside an NGO whose purpose is to convert land into healing spaces?
\nPlaces where people can live in community, grow food, reconnect, and receive mental\u2011health support. Land that feeds the people living on it, a community gathering space, and land that grows plant medicines.
\nThat\u2019s the model I want to build: an NGO that researches plant medicines, develops sustainable food crops, and brings our lonely back into community.
\nYears ago, when I was selling party pills, I used the money to fund research into natural technology to interrupt addiction and support brain recovery \u2014 and we were getting results. I\u2019d like to carry on that work, not just for those who use drugs, but also for those who say \u201cno\u201d to drugs and commercial medicines.
\n—<\/p>\n

VIII. Natural health, land use, and NZ as sanctuary<\/h2>\n

Over the last five years we\u2019ve seen a huge resurgence in wellness culture and a massive swing back toward natural health. More and more people are exploring their bodies\u2019 relationship with plants and vitamins, choosing natural medicine, questioning commercial science, and asking hard questions about the influence of private interests in public health messaging.
\nAnd here\u2019s the economic reality: medicinal and natural\u2011health crops can generate ten times the revenue per hectare compared to traditional farming. For a small country with limited land, that\u2019s not just an opportunity \u2014 it\u2019s a strategy.
\nIn a world that\u2019s becoming more unstable, our geographic isolation becomes one of our greatest assets. If there were ever environmental spillovers from conflicts in the northern hemisphere, New Zealand\u2019s distance and relative safety would make us a critical sanctuary \u2014 a place where the natural healing capacity of the earth can still operate. Protecting the pristine nature of this land isn\u2019t just a national value; it\u2019s a global responsibility.
\nFor those coming into our facilities for support, becoming a custodian of the land \u2014 joining a vision\u2011focused community \u2014 isn\u2019t just an employment opportunity or the buzz of producing food that feeds the wh\u0101nau. It fulfils a deeper sense of purpose and connection to all fellow humans.
\n—<\/p>\n

IX. Closing: Community as exportable medicine<\/h2>\n

If the world needs trauma solutions, and trauma heals in community, then community itself becomes part of the medicine. And that\u2019s something New Zealand can build, refine, and export.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] I. Why I\u2019m writing this I had a chat with Lloyd Burr on BYO at Stuff.co.nz and dropped some controversial ideas this week in an interview, when asked whether sensible drug regulation could relieve international debt. I proposed regulating safer drug alternatives under a new NGO, building natural\u2011health communities to create homes for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everlasting-foundation","category-49","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Natural-Medicine-Community-Center.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3573"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3587,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions\/3587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everlastingfoundation.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}