The cannabis referendum infuriates me because it’s so bloody close.
It shouldn’t be this close dammit!
Folks, a regulated, taxed market will create $675million each year to help ALL drug rehabilitation.
It will create over a quarter of a billion in direct taxes to the state.
It will create 5000 jobs that we urgently need.
It will do more to weaken organised crime in NZ than any single thing we have ever done.
It will save $300million each year in justice and corrections.
It will end a very racist law.
It will free Police to chase actual criminals.
It will send a clear signal to the Religious Right in America that they can’t interfere in our domestic politics.
If you vote against the cannabis referendum don’t you EVER complain about lack of drug rehab, lack of jobs, overcrowded prisons or organised crime ever again!
Vote yes in the cannabis referendum.
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It is frustrating that the YES Vote has so much research, evidence, and positive legislative and health solutions to offer, and millions in venture capital ready to roll!-yet the “nopes” dumbed down talkback level US style tropes are getting more attention and traction.
The figures are clear-over 50s hit 98% enrolment, younger groups have raised their numbers in 2020, but can still be in low 70%. So it still comes down to enrolment and turnout. Thousands more 18 to 40s need to urgently get their act together.
If the drug use is legalized gangs will still be there supplying the under 20 year old and those that want the a cheaper product. Drug rehabilitation should not depend on allowing one damaging drug to be freely used. They have tried a similar think with gambling and it is still hurting communities. With or without reform NZ will still be racist and Maori will still get in trouble with the law were as a white person would be let off it will just be for different reasons .
More needs to be done to understand why a large percentage of NZ people have such shit lives they need a drug to blot it out for a period of time either with booze or drugs.
The tax income should come about through the medical Marajuana market and the other uses that hemp can be used in.
You mean just like how currently the under 18 years olds all buy their alcohol and cheap booze from the gangs? Because as we all know under 18’s/20’s have heaps of gang connections. Oh wait, that isn’t how it works.
‘a large percentage of NZ people have such shit lives they need a drug to blot it out for a period of time either with booze or drugs.’ No the whole planet is populated by people who seek some form of extra dimension to their lives, mind altering substances are used by most cultures on earth its part of being human. That we are mandated to use the most destructive is the problem. And fools who tell us this works for me so you can’t have what works for you, only exacerbate the situation.
When is the result known?
Great columns you have been writing concerning cannabis, Martyn.
One of the tragic features of cannabis law reform progress has been that it has been demographic (if that is the right description) – we have to wait for the prohibitionist fuckers to die!
This graph gives an indication of that.
https://yournz.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/heliuscannabispollages.jpg?w=600
In this election we have two policeworld candidates for leader – Judith married one, and Jacinda’s father was a cop for 40 years (finishing as a deputy area commander in a Waikato region).
Jacinda needed/needs to come out and say that from her considerable knowledge of policeworld she knows that cannabis prohibition laws are the most significant obstacle to police/public relations in this country and and a contributor to significant disharmony – all avoidable through sensible cannabis laws.
The other night I was chatting to Aunty Helen (the Right Honorable) … well actually, she was about to leave the church hall (having come over and joined in refreshments with attendees of the “conversation” she had featured at) and I went up to her and politely said “Thank you for all the work you have done for cannabis law reform” And she said with that wonderfully distinctive authoritative baritone voice “well lets hope enough get out and support the referendum”.
My opinion is that the likely benefits outweigh the risks and the legislation can be modified over time to mitigate any issues that arise. As long as the THC levels are restricted towards the lower end of the potency scale (including edibles), this should prevent the mental health impacts associated with high THC content cannabis. There is no logical reason that I should not be able to buy (non-psycho active as no THC) CBD oil in Countdown rather than have to get a prescription and pay exorbitant prices.
Our one chance to become a truly transformative, progressive and more egalitarian society and it may go up in smoke because of old boomers and religious nut freaks! C’mon Kiwis. Get with the times! It’s high time we change this antiquated, punitive, dinosaur age of prohibition!
As for Jacinda she is far from being transparent about her stance on law reform. WERE we not to have the most transparent government from Labour during this election campaign?!
If the cannabis referendum passes and the law reformed within the next two years I will have a glimmer of hope for our country because it will be the most transformative thing to happen to this our AO/NZ in a long time!
If the law doesn’t change I’ll realise we truly are stuck in the stone ages and give up trying in this backward hell hole and look to move to Canada where I can smoked my weed in peace without fear of prosecution or loosing my job and forget about this alcohol drenched back water shithole we call our AO/NZ.
Careful @Control denied you can’t blame the bloody boomers, it’s not allowed ha ha. But your right, we need to get with the times. Totally. We as a society have a massive Alcohol problem causing all sorts of shit, and yet that’s legal. Not only legal but actively promoted and sold in staggering quantities from a ridiculous range of outlets, no doubt to many of the very people opposed to cannabis. Go figure.
CD Ok you are a fan of weed.
I am not a fan of anything you might smoke.
But tell me how do we get to prevent the damage done to young and middle teenagers brains with weed being legal.
Just say No no.
I have had to assist several with adult psychosis arising from teenage weed addiction.
Bad stuff in the hands of youngsters and adults who become weed dependent, or alcohol or nicotine dependent.
Don’t get me wrong as I support decriminaslisation after seeing lives stuffed up with petty police records. Sadism.
John W
I never asked you to be a fan of “what I might smoke”
And I’m not here to blow smoke up your a$# buddy.
You answered your own question or was that more of a statement?
I kind of hear what you are saying but..
It is naive or misleading to suggest this will change organised crime, it won’t. They’ll undercut, tax free, that’s all. They will not give up and go all law abiding.
It won’t make a much of difference to police, as i understand it cultivation for sale will be unlawful and that is what police target, not users because there’s virtually no one being charged with straight personal possession. Drug drivers may well increase so it might make work, not reduce it.
I expect the usual insipid government approach to rehab that’s there’s always been, same with mental health.
And people go to jail for many things but not for possession of marijuana and in that respect it won’t make a stitch of difference there either.
And I don’t know about tax been raised from yet another substance that harms. If we’ve reached that level, things are pretty desperate.
Yes it should be legalised. Amazed it took 3 years to even get this far and we don’t really know what we are voting for because there’s no draft legislation on the subject to speak of.
WTF are you talking about? The draft legislation has been out for 6 months
Couple of things:
Firstly criminalizing cannabis is not a racist law just as assault isn’t – proportionally more Maori are convicted for crimes associated with cannabis because more of Maori choose to break these laws / use cannabis.
Secondly while (very) torn I am veering towards voting against decriminalizing only because as the dad of a young teenage boy I am wary of not being able to fall back on it being illegal if he starts to smoke weed etc and it starts to become a problem . .
Yea he might turn out like one of these :https://www.huffpost.com/entry/most-famous-marijuana-users_n_5160073
or https://matadornetwork.com/nights/41-successful-stoners-time/
To be honest have no problem with my kids growing up to smoke every now and then if they choose to but I have had close friends and also a brother-in-law who smoke every day and you are kidding yourself if you think it doesn’t have a pronounced and negative impact on their lives in terms of mental health and motivation.
‘pronounced and negative impact on their lives in terms of mental health and motivation.’ Yes that can happen, but those people are likely to be unmotivated anyway. On the contrary, the weed can enhance one’s enthusiasm to get into projects and stuff that normally bore you to tears. Just sayin.
I think that all are dreaming about the revenue figures. Other countries still have a reasonable proportion supplied via the black market. The big hit to the gangs will be the grow your own market. De crimilaise yes. Leagalise???? More money put into the treatment needs to happen either way.
Well in New Zealand while they had alcohol prohibition, bootleg alcohol was rampant and run by gangs. When was the last time you bought alcohol that wasn’t from a retail outlet?
The most harmful aspect of Cannabis is the lack of testing and it’s illegal status.
Cannabis should be grown until the resin glands are just starting to turn milky then they should be left to grow for another 2 to 3 weeks to use up the stores of nitrates and other nutrients. After being cut from the plant they should dry slow enough to finish off the flushing process then cured . Nitrates and Mold are VERY bad for your lungs and AMB-FUBINACA is deadly.
Unfortunately gangs and most growers that we have now don’t care about your health they will not take the extra month, in a legal market the product would have to be tested for strength and quality before it could be sold. Even if twice the number of people consumed cannabis there would still be less harm than we have now
And I don’t want any bullshit about just don’t do it because if that approach worked we wouldn’t be here right now discussing this.
If you want cannabis but don’t like the idea of inhaling burnt plant material use a vaporizer. Vaporizers heat the cannabis to around 210 degrees C, this boils the THC, CBD off leaving the plant material unburnt (This starts burning around 238 degrees C). Wait as minute Vaporizers are prohibited under the utensils section of the misuse of drugs act. So it’s illegal to mitigate 95 – 98 pct of the damage to your lungs.
It would be hard for the black market to undercut a legal market. P takes a weekend to cook up Synthetic cannabis take about 5 minutes to make. Cannabis takes about 5 months to grow. As for them just selling stronger strains, it’s not that easy! It’s very hard to find good genetics in NZ and you need to be real good at growing to get plants to reach their full potential.
Really we have been given a choice, do we want gangs and black market growers to supply a bad product that will cost billions in the long run in health costs. spend billions trying to enforce a law that is unenforceable and criminalize people just because they enjoy cannabis. Or educate adults to the correct usage of drugs and risks involved and have a support system in place for people that need help. Educate kids and explain the dangers of drugs and why it’s so important for their body to develop before trying drugs if they are that way inclined Or do we just keep putting our heads back in the sand and hope it will just go away because it won’t, not until we try something different.
80 pct of Kiwis trying Cannabis tells me that just telling somebody it’s illegal doesn’t work.
Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Look, I have to say this…I like weed. That is good weed. I have had the odd micky-finn of some pretend stuff, not very nice. I have read the draft legislation and it’s not a free for all by any means. It’s like sensible shoes, not glamorous stilettos. I know people are worried about their children and grandchildren being exposed to drug culture but that’s more fear mongering kicking in really. Give your children and grandchildren as much love as you can, with a side of classical music and practical mechanics or dare I say it gardening. If people have to grow their own weed there probably won’t be that much around anyway. The rest is medicinal and far better than that bottle of cherry bourbon that was so easy to drink I fell down half a flight of steps on the way home in the dark.
Remember God? God made the world and that included medicinal plants. To be used sparingly and carefully just like everything else God made. Including wine and cherry bourbon. And stilettos.
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