MP Cuts to Truth on Drug Searches

Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos has finally discovered why police used to frequently stop him on the street and search him for drugs.

According to the Police Association, the dreadlocked Rastafarian who openly admits to using cannabis was more likely to have been stopped because of suspicions that he was carrying a knife.

Mr Tanczos put the association's president, Greg O'Connor, on the spot during a select committee inquiry into cannabis at Parliament last night. ...

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I Longed to Smoke Cannabis at Parliament - Morris

Cannabis-smoking former youth affairs minister Deborah Morris says she longed to light up at Parliament during her three years in politics.

"If I had been able to use cannabis openly and with the regularity that people drink alcohol around this place, then I would have," she said yesterday.

Ms Morris, a co-founding member of the Coalition for Cannabis Law Reform, was back at Parliament to give evidence to a select committee inquiry into reducing cannabis harm. ...

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Cannabis Changes

Former Youth Affairs Minister Deborah Morris wants a moratorium on cannabis arrests and says Parliament should change laws that create criminals out of dope-smokers.

Ms Morris in May 2000 co-founded the Coalition for Cannabis Law Reform.

She appeared yesterday before Parliament's health select committee that is carrying out an inquiry into cannabis.

The coalition wanted a "consistent regulatory framework" across tobacco, alcohol and cannabis and a minimum legal age of 18 for cannabis possession and use.

Tanczos calls for inquiry on police abuse of powers

Green Party Justice Spokesperson Nandor Tanczos today called on the Police Commissioner to issue a directive to all police officers in New Zealand to refrain from abusing the emergency search provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Nandor was responding to the admission by Police Association president Greg O'Connor at the health select committee inquiry into cannabis yesterday that the Misuse of Drugs Act gave police the power to stop and search people arbitrarily. ...

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A personal account of the Cannabis Inquiry

Wow what a big fortnight since our last letter. On Wednesday 18th of July the Health Select Committee heard more oral submissions on the cannabis Inquiry. They started with DAPA, Drug Abuse Prevention Alliance represented by FADE-Colin Bramfit, PRYDE-Vesta Boswell, DARE- Dr Phil Silva and Life Education Trust- Tim Rogerson. The content of the submission was predictable but not overly compelling. I think that the MPs recognise that the drug education provided by some of these guys is seriously questionable and has not been well supported by the limited amount of evaluation it has been subjected to.

After DAPA, came the NZ Drug Foundation CEO- Sally Jackman who told us that we should roll our joints tighter and that cannabis smokers shouldn't hold their breath. THC is absorbed very quickly and holding our breath just increases the absorption of tar. Great hints!... so roll those joints tight.

On reflection, it's hard not to sound patronizing and it's easy to see that these dear old well meaning people from DAPA, who are so certain that "prohibition hasn't stopped young people talking to them honestly", are having credibility problems. In our view many service providers risk their credibility if they don't come up to speed in that not all cannabis use is problematic. When the law changes these service providers will have to come to grips with the fact that enjoying cannabis after work is no different to enjoying a beer or a glass of wine.

The highlight of the day for me was the CCLR (Coalition for Cannabis Law Reform) submission. Both Hon.Deborah Morris and Ben Knight spoke extremely well, calling for the regulation of cannabis. The submission was 45 minutes long and Ben did an excellent job of relating the personal experiences of someone who has been arrested and convicted. The MPs were extremely interested in his views and they seemed to appreciate the high level of honesty. They laughed when Ben suggested that his experiences with the law had caused him to develop "an unhealthy obsession with cannabis law reform." Deborah concentrated on the policy issues and the need for evidence-based drug education.

Before the presentation of their submission, and afterwards, Christine Langdon of the Dominion interviewed Debs. Typically, she was more interested in Deb's personal smoking habits than the content of the submission. Ben even asked the reporter why she was asking the questions - and was she asking them for the police or the newspaper?

The resulting headlines - that Deb would have liked to have smoked cannabis when she was in Parliament - generated a lot of feedback in the letters to editors. All in the all, the submission and resulting media coverage has been extremely favorable and has advanced some of the key arguments. Of particular note are two articles- one from the NZ Herald and another by NZ Press Assn. which was published all over the country - with excellent headlines calling for a moratorium on arrests. The amazing contrast between the article published by The Dom and those published elsewhere has served to highlight the editorial policy of The Dominion and it's apparent unwillingness to fully debate the issues. Its dodgy and pathetic editorial column on Saturday 28 July said it all: they have no idea what the real issues are.

Another important development arising out of the sub was a Kim Hill interview on National Radio featuring Deborah and also Pauline Gardiner from WellTrust. Gardiner was extreme in her views, to the extent that she suggested that for many parents it would be preferable if their kids were dead instead of smoking pot. Kim Hill was outraged by the suggestion and the feedback from listeners that have contacted us since then has been extremely supportive of the arguments for law reform.

It appears that many people have been brainwashed by 25 years of media lies and contortions. Younger people have a lot less faith in the truth and honesty of 'the media' and integrity isn't even registered as a trait. Younger people are more skeptical while on the other hand, our parents seem to believe everything they read in the papers.

Unfortunately, most of the papers tend to proliferate twisted half truths. For example the Evening Post 13/7/01, with the outrageous headline "Cannabis users 5 times more likely to be violent". Grandparents are shocked but believe this rubbish and the real damage happens when their concern leads to conflict and in worst cases family division.

It may be that much of prohibition is about the generation gap. Younger people, and those under forty are far more open minded about drug use. From their perspective, if we don't change this law, young people often tell me, they will. Common sense really.

Recognising the enormous bias of some newspapers and the total lack of understanding of the arguments reinforces the need for all of us to be actively corresponding with letters to editors - this way we get to put the arguments clearly and succinctly while countering the poor analysis of some journalists.

So, the momentum is mounting, with some important submissions yet to be made in Auckland and Christchurch including >From NORML President Chris Fowlie who was recently busted on the streets of Auckland, and also from me as President of the ALCP. We will be aiming to generate a whole heap more media debate as well as convincing the MPs that full legalisation is the way to go.

It is anticipated that the Committee will finish hearing submissions in November and will then generate its report to parliament. Because of Xmas it's unlikely that we'll get a report until about April. So, we have to keep the profile up and ensure that we just keep on doing what we're doing.

Warmest regards,
Dave Moore

President
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party