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 | NORML News: Drug Foundation says ''Let's Talk About Pot!'' |
 NORML NEWS SUMMER 2008
The New Zealand Drug Foundation says too much time and energy has been spent on party pills, at
the expense of a rational discussion on New Zealand’s third most popular recreational
substance. It has launched “Let’s Talk About Pot”, calling on the public of New Zealand to
focus on a subject most politicians would rather ignore, writes WILL DE CLEENE.
Executive Director of
the NZ Drug Foundation,
Ross Bell, says “while
politicians ignore the pot
problem, its associated social
harms continue. We need
Government to take the lead
in formulating good, well-researched
policy discussion
based on best evidence. We
need the addiction treatment,
public health and drug policy
sectors to get vocal and inject
their knowledge into the
debate as well.
“Misinformation and
hysteria don’t help a society
deal effectively with cannabis
use, and stigmas around use
and fear of prosecution often
prohibit cannabis-dependent
people from seeking much
needed help.”
The Drug Foundation echoes
what NORML has been saying
since its inception in 1980.
The Misuse of Drugs Act is a
failure. In spite over half the
country having tried cannabis,
one eighth of kiwis giving it a
go in the previous year alone,
the parliamentarians remain
stone deaf.
Support for the conversation
on cannabis has come from the
Alcohol and Drug Association,
who agreed it was time the
debate was relaunched.
Professor David Fergusson,
head of the University of
Otago’s Christchurch Health
and Development Study,
said the debate had been
politically thwarted. New
Zealand needed to develop a
“grey position of tolerance”.
Cannabis sale, supply or
purchase should remain
criminalised, he said, but the
possession of cannabis by
responsible recreational users
should be legal. Cannabis was
imbedded in New Zealand
society: “Now New Zealand
has to learn to live with it.”
The latest Drug Foundation
magazine , Matters of
Substance, devotes the
majority of its content to the
Let’s Talk About Pot theme.
Professor Wayne Hall from
the School of Population
Health at the University of
Queensland discussed the
policy challenges involved
with reforming cannabis
laws. NORML President
Chris Fowlie explained
how the current prohibition
regime creates more harm
than it prevents. Deputy
Director at the National
Drug Research Institute in
Perth, Associate Professor
Simon Lenton, compared
different penalty regimes
from around the world.
National Party Spin-Meister
Matthew Hooten argued
that although the political
will to reform the cannabis
market isn’t there in the short
haul, sufficient leverage may
become available in the next
parliamentary term. There is
also the rather tragic story of
one guy who lost the plot on
pot, not seeking professional
help until years after he
realised he had a problem.
The articles are also available on the NZ Drug
Foundation’s website. In the spirit
of fostering open public debate
on the matter, comments are
encouraged. Log on and tell
your story!
TALKING POINTS: PROHIBITION VS. REGULATION
• Prohibition creates far more harm
than the use of marijuana itself, and it
simply doesn’t work. New Zealand has
the world’s highest cannabis arrest rate,
yet more people use cannabis now than
ever before.
• Prohibition encourages use by
glamourising pot and removing control
over how and to whom it is sold. The
hypocrisy of Prohibition undermines
effective drug education.
• Prohibition creates a lucrative
black market. It breeds violence and
corruption and supports the growth of
organised crime.
• Prohibition erodes respect for the
police and the law, and diverts police
away from real crimes that matter.
• Prohibition denies patients the
benefits of medical marijuana.
• Prohibition tramples over everyone’s
rights and freedoms.
• Drug policy should be based on
evidence, not moral judgements. Let’s
stop the arrests and allow adults to use,
grow and buy their own.
• Legalising cannabis would not cause
an increase in use, and will save more
than $50 million per year.
• A strictly-enforced legal age of
purchase would most effectively limit
juvenile access to cannabis.
• Sales taxes could fund more effective
drug education, more research and
better treatment for those who need it.
HAS SUPPORT FOR LAW REFORM REALLY DROPPED?
Media reports of a slump in support for cannabis law reform may not be true. The new poll conducted by UMR for the NZ Drug Foundation
asked a different question to previous polls, so it’s no surprise it got a different result.
The new poll asked should
cannabis laws be made
“tougher” or “more liberal”.
It found only 19% support for
liberal laws, compared to 46%
support for tougher laws. A UMR
poll from 2000 had found 60%
supported decriminalisation
or legalisation.
But “tougher”
and “more liberal” are loaded
terms that mean different
things to different people
- especially in the context of the
current debate around P labs
and drugged driving. Tougher
laws could mean, for example,
executing drug users like they
do in China. Prohibition merely
gives us the illusion of being
tough on drugs, but behind the
charade, drugs are available to
whoever wants them.
NORML believes the toughest
approach would be legalising
and regulating cannabis sales to
adults. With a strictly enforced
age limit, minors would find
it much tougher to purchase
cannabis. Under the current law
they can go to a tinnie shop and
purchase cannabis (or other
drugs) at any age.
And don’t forget, a poll by TV3
in November 2006 showed 63%
support for “legalising cannabis
for pain relief”.
More information: see the New Zealand Drug
Foundation’s website
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