Internet Party leader Laila Harre wants cannabis decriminalised
Internet Party leader Laila Harre wants cannabis to be decriminalised.
Ms Harre says it’s her personal view and the Internet Party itself is yet to finalise its policy on the issue.
However, she says the party has today put the issue up for discussion on a new online policy development platform that allows members to raise ideas and debate policy.
Ms Harre says there is a growing push towards decriminalisation globally, yet high political barriers remain to such a move in New Zealand.
She says every year thousands of young people are convicted for cannabis possession, often for small amounts, meaning they have to go through life with a criminal conviction.
Ms Harre, who was announced last week as the Internet Party leader, says cannabis should be a health issue, not a criminal one.
Hallelujah – Laila Harre wants to look at decriminalising cannabis and making medical cannabis legal – Internet MANA might not need the coat tailing provision and get to 5% after all.
Because you ALWAYS pass the dutchie from the left hand side.
ALWAYS!
Her views on the matter seem the same as Don Brash’s. Yes, it was a great vote winner for him. Roy Morgan tomorrow. The smoke might clear from some eyes then. 2% still seems a challenge.
the majority of nzers support cannabis decriminalisation. just got my vote
As a person with MS, after visiting Amsterdam 8 years ago, I learnt that cannabis helps me walk. I kind of thought that my second home of Japan might wake up first but this is really good news. I’ll definitely be voting for this party now.
With my mother ‘on her deathbed’ with cancer, this news has cheered me up a bit.
Get back to us when Hone abandons his anti-drug bullshit.
It may be that both views need to be accommodated – decriminalise AND anti-drug.
Hone may have seen drugs becoming a barrier to greater social engagement for contribution and reward. Not because they’re illegal. More because they can be demotivating for some people. Lost in a limbo between mainstream and alternatives. It happens.
And, if this bid succeeds – can we increase the number of hectares of hemp under cultivation? The industrial kind – with so many uses, except getting high.
I’ve always thought that many economic problems in the Far North could be solved with hemp.
Its a fantastic crop, with so many uses. It rarely requires pesticide, unlike cotton which uses a lot. It is perfectly suited to the climate of the Far North.
Best of all, the population have the necessary skills to grow it!
If I had the funds I’d consider building a processing plant to make oil, rope and cloth from hemp. What a fabulous business opportunity!
But this bloody stupid government severely limits growing hemp because of its close relationship to marijuana. Even though hemp has only minute amounts of THC and no one could get high off it. The illogical fear of drugs prevails!
Make marijuana legal, don’t just decriminalise it. Remove control from gangs and treat addiction as the health problem it is. Stop wasting money putting users in jail and give those who need help access to good treatment, it would actually save money!
And at the end of the day, who is to say another person cannot get high?
And finally, its a myth that getting stoned saps motivation and energy. Reading a biography of Bob Marley (probably permanently stoned except for first thing in the morning) and you’ll see how marijuana can actually provide impetus for hard work.
Its not for everyone, but then nothing is.
Hone’s attitude has been assisted by the negative aspects of cannabis in the Far North. The dak economy of yearly feast and famine and busts, the kids using it too young, the bad relations between growers and farmers. The often violent gang interplay. The hypocrisy of business people happy to take dope money but tutt tutting about smokers and dole bludgers.
A number of those things of course will be fixed by legalisation. So Hone needs to change, but if he is ok on medical grade at least that is a start. This will be a vote winner for IMP. Legalise it don’t criticise it!
Harry, Hone’s anti-drug stance is to do with being an activist. He’s given up a lot of things to get to the point where he is now, and he knows the problems that drug use can cause in some areas.
I agree with you Harry if you’re suggesting decriminalisation, however, I think you’ve misinterpreted Hone’s stance on weed. I think if it became decriminalised, then Hone would shrug his shoulders and think nothing much has changed in regards to what he’s trying to achieve – maybe a few less people locked up, but the structural oppression hasn’t changed. It’s way down the list of things that he thinks needs changing.
Also, in the end, MANA’s policies come from the members, not Hone, so if MANA don’t call for decriminalisation when they finally form a drug policy, then that’s not Hone’s choice
Don’t confuse being “pro-reform” with being “pro-drugs” – they’re not the same thing. One can argue for law reform whilst also being strongly anti-drugs – this is the position of many people I’ve heard speak about the harms of cannabis being primarily in the way it’s handled by the legal system, rather than the drug itself. These are individuals such as the head of addiction services at CCDHB – not someone you’d imagine is “pro-drugs.”
Internet Party has my vote as of now.
This is what happens!
Colorado Weed Sales Raise Huge Amounts in Taxes and Crime Down 10 Percent
All the naysayers who were against marijuana legalization are eating crow about now. Colorado’s weed sales just keep trending up, and with the sales of legal weed, they are improving their schools and reducing overall crime rates.
Not counting medicinal weed sales, Colorado sold nearly $19 million in their recreational weed market in the month of March, and $1.9 million of that goes straight into government coffers and towards building schools. At this pace, according to PolicyMic, Colorado will make $30 million this year in pot taxes alone.
What’s even more promising is that these numbers are still low estimates, as the recreational and medicinal marijuana markets (coinciding just fine, take note Washington) are likely to keep trending upward. Many say that a figure closer to $60 million in weed tax revenue is a more likely assumption. Medical marijuana is also not as heavily taxes as recreational marijuana, and hopefully it will stay that way.
Crime rates in Colorado have dropped by 10.6% while Dunkin Donuts has begun expanding its brand in the state (really). It looks like a really good future for people living in Colorado, or any state that legalizes both medical and recreational marijuana – though it is admittedly too early to tell.The cherry on top of this tax-generating cake? Crime rates are also down in Colorado, so while kids are hopefully going to get a better education, the government (idealistically) will spend more money improving infrastructure and other business opportunities for Colorado citizens, and unemployment rates are plummeting. The Colorado police can take a little rest from their duties.
http://www.nationofchange.org/colorado-sells-weed-march-goes-schools-and-crime-down-10-percent-1401716951
Friends of mine who live in that neck of the woods have also said there is another bonus, and cops here might like it. People who are no longer criminals because they smoke “pot” have told police who the hard drug dealers are, and what they sell.
“Pot” smokers not wanting to be criminals or deal with criminals – who would have though.
It may be another way the protest vote can be mobilised. If Internet Mana want the non voters to re engage with the political process then give them issues and ways to facilitate that re-engagement. It seems Internet Mana want to keep talking about issues. Good on them.
Expect to see political cartoons of Laila, Hone and Kim with joints/smoking/stoned etc etc. and the joints will be rolled in $20 notes and have “MMP” written on the side with dire warnings about the disaffected youth and so on. It will be droll, really droll.
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