It could be a case of 'one law for all drugs' this year, with the Green Party urging that the government adopt a consistent approach to regulating alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other stimulants.

Health spokesperson Sue Kedgley and Drug Policy spokesperson Nandor Tanczos are presenting a united front to tackle the wildly inconsistent approach to the regulation of drugs that has developed ad hoc over many years. They are proposing a major overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act to cover all recreational drugs, including alcohol and tobacco with those already covered by the Act's schedule.

"Over the years we've developed bits and pieces of legislation to cover the use of drugs," said Ms Kedgley. "It's time we had a consistent and co-ordinated national strategy to reduce the harm of all drugs.

"Not nearly enough is being done to warn young people of the harm that alcohol can cause, yet the hysteria surrounding cannabis use prohibits valid information getting through to young people - neither approach has ever acted as an effective deterrent."

Currently alcohol is covered by the Sale of Liquor Act 1989, drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy and methamphetamine (P) are covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 and Tobacco is now under the Smokefree Environments Amendment Act 2003.

Green MP Nandor Tanczos said the Misuse of Drugs Act could be amended to include all drugs under one umbrella, in order to facilitate effective education and a consistent approach to aspects like advertising.

Although tobacco advertising has been banned in many forms since as far back as 1963, alcohol advertising has actually been relaxed since voluntary codes fell victim to deregulation of the media industry in the 1980s. "The Misuse of Drugs Act only has the ability to ban products entirely," said Nandor. "New schedules such as 'D' and 'E' classes where drugs were restricted but not criminalised should be introduced to give the Act flexibility to control all drugs from alcohol to the new wave of pepper-based party stimulants."

Ms Kedgley pointed out the hypocrisy of the current situation, where cannabis was outlawed and its users prosecuted while alcohol consumption continued to be encouraged through open-slather advertising laws.

"Both the World Health Organisation and the US Institute of Medicine have acknowledged that cannabis use is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco," she said. "Yet we continue to maintain prohibition against the adult use of cannabis when it has been demonstrated time and time again that alcohol and tobacco cause far more significant health and social problems."