Why is NZ so far behind the world on Cannabis reform when we lead on legal high regulation?

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Ministers look at new solution to legal highs
Ministers are considering whether to give up on banning new psychoactive drugs known as “legal highs” and instead regulate the booming trade in the substances which are emerging on the market at the rate of more than one a week.

A short review is to be undertaken by the Home Office to see if it possible to rethink the approach, which has been described as “panic and then permanently ban”, although legal highs such as Benzo Fury and NBOMe were connected with 52 deaths in Britain in 2012.

Options to be considered by the four-month inquiry will include looking at the New Zealand regime of regulating the manufacture and sale of “low risk” psychoactive substances. Manufacturers pay for clinical trials of their products before they can go on sale to adults over 18.

As you can tell from my review of the Drug Foundations yawn fest this year, I am deeply disappointed by the lack of real leadership on cannabis reform in NZ. As this article points out, we lead the world on regulating legal highs like adults minus the moral panic knee-jerk yet can’t get our act together on Cannabis?

I am looking forward to hosting a new Pathway to Reform conference in March of next year in the hope of putting drug reform back on the political agenda in an election year. The arguments are in and the war on drugs has been an utter failure, it’s time for smart adults to rethink and reshape the debate.

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13 COMMENTS

    • I recall a House of Representatives Health Select Committee hearing where the methodology for change was advocated. Sent the committee into a tailspin. Defering to legal-eagles the Chair was to hear those crucial words “He’s Right” – leading to the crucial Order in Council that gave us Class D, Helen Clark/Jim Andertons “Restricted Substances Regulations 2008” the critical adendum to the principle act MoDA1975.

      So why are we listening to overseas experts?

      Both of whom were apprised of this significant development and now are coming to attest to NZ’s relevence in global ‘drug policy’ affairs. Good on Amanda and Ethan, but this was OUR solution. How come WE are not being heard?

  1. A lot of powerful forces are against reform for their own vested interests.

    Nasty politicians and an out of control and corrupting booze industry play their role.

    But I put a lot of blame on the culture at the top and within large parts of the NZ police force.

    If the police were honest about cannabis the law would have been changed 30 years ago.

    The cannabis laws are an abuse of power

    The police are very enthusiastic for these abuses of power and fight against any removal of them ( decriminalization )

    If you like abusing power its only natural your going to have a healthy rape culture as well ………

  2. Drug laws are used as a means of social control, particularly of marginalised groups. When the US and A has a president who used to smoke, but under whom the medical marijuana industry gets more federal attention than ever, something is badly wrong. For as long as I can remember, the police used the war on drugs to gain new powers. I had thought that with what they get handed on a plate because of the equally ridiculous war on terror, they might have relaxed on drugs. But no, they’re as stupid and as draconian as ever.

    In my view, we should legalise the lot. Drug taking is a health issue, and with the old electric puha, it’s hardly even that. Let’s grow up. Uruguay has taken the first steps, as has Portugal. Why are we still following Washington?

    • >> Why are we still following Washington?

      Actually Washington recently legalized sale of cannabis to adults, and taxed it, as has Colorado. It’s not so much a case of following anyone, as going nowhere due to political inertia.

      Pretty much everyone I know can agree reform is necessary, but nobody can agree on how far it should go. Should we just make cannabis use like a parking ticket (“instant fines”)? Fully decriminalize use? Llegalize, regulate and tax sales? Should only laws related to cannabis and other “soft drugs” be reformed? Does it make any more sense to arrest someone for being addicted to heroin or cocaine? Should hard drugs be produced by the government, and supplied at cost on prescription along with voluntary rehab programs, to stop outlaws from profiting off other people’s addiction?

      The elephants in the room of course, are alcohol and tobacco. According to a peer-reviewed paper in the Lancet by David Nutt et al, alcohol is the 5th most dangerous drug – both to the user and to society – after heroin, cocain, barbituates, and street methadone. Tobacco is not far behind, and is almost on par with amphetamine (the evil ‘P’). Both are classed as substantially more dangerous than cannabis:
      http://www.beldrug.org/html/mater/pdf/LancetArticleandComment.pdf

      However, if on the basis of this evidence, you propose to have government supply of heroin, cocain, and barbituates on prescription to the handful of addicts who get hooked on these, and allow regulated, taxed sales of all drugs less dangerous than alcohol using similar regulations, people look at you like you want to feed acid to schoolchildren.

  3. protip for Labour:
    We need an overhaul of our criminal justice system.
    Weed dependency is a health issue. Drug abuse is a health issue. Tax fraud is a crime.

    • Does anyone here value decriminalization (and rehabilitation) over imprisonment? As drug dealers aren’t taxed in their illegal activities, they are punished if they report drug addicts for rehabilitation, and lets face it – overdosing on Cannabis can be no worse than getting drunk. 😉

  4. One of the major problems is that anyone who is a marijuana user and argues for its legalisation, will get a visit from the police the moment they put their name to their opinions. It’s about as subtle as smoking a joint outside a police station. (actually, it’s probably safer to smoke a joint outside a police station)

    • Not true. I’ve known heaps of cannabis activists over the years, and most of them have never been busted, even while smoking publicly at J Day, or 4:20 smoke-ins. A few years ago we had a massive smoke-in in parliament grounds, and hot-boxed the foyer of the Wellington police station. No arrests, at the time, or afterwards (that I’ve heard of). Certain high-profile activists have been made an example of from time to time (Mike Finlayson and Chris Fowlie of NORML, the leadership of the Daktory, Billy McKee from Green Cross), but that’s just as often backfired on the cops, and created greater sympathy for the movement.

  5. Ovicula & Fambo are also spot on with their points ….. Brown kids and users are far more likely to get given the ‘yellow star’ of a drug conviction attached too and used against them.

    And ‘normal’ kiwi users who have jobs or responsibilities have the fear of a drug conviction used to keep them quiet and stifle protest.

    I think its worth noting that the police drug squad were the first police unit that we are aware of who were trained to commit perjury in court aka the ‘simulated smoking’ hoax that police lied about, under oath in court.

    And the two most famous drug squad cops would be Clint Rickards and Greg O’conner …………

    I wonder if they ever had the legendary police prosecutor and child rapist Graham Capill ever worked with Rickards or O’conner to send a ‘cannabis criminal’ to jail ………

    Its irrelevant anyway ……… there’s plenty more cops like O’conner and Rickards and plenty of prosecutors like Capill to carry on the job.

    And every judge in every court play their part in this ongoing abuse of power ………..

  6. Ovicula & Fambo are also spot on with their points ….. Brown kids and users are far more likely to get given the ‘yellow star’ of a drug conviction attached too and used against them.

    And ‘normal’ kiwi users who have jobs or responsibilities have the fear of a drug conviction used to keep them quiet and stifle protest.

    I think its worth noting that the police drug squad were the first police unit that we are aware of who were trained to commit perjury in court aka the ‘simulated smoking’ hoax that police lied about, under oath in court.

    And the two most famous drug squad cops would be Clint Rickards and Greg O’conner …………

    I wonder if they ever had the legendary police prosecutor and child rapist Graham Capill ever worked with Rickards or O’conner to send a ‘cannabis criminal’ to jail ………

    Its irrelevant anyway ……… there’s plenty more cops like O’conner and Rickards and plenty of prosecutors like Capill to carry on the job.

    And every judge in every court play their part in this ongoing abuse of power ………..

    Its kinda sad really

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