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Here’s why cannabis should be legal
New Zealand has the world’s highest cannabis arrest rate, yet more
people choose to use cannabis now than ever before: NZ Police arrest
cannabis users at a rate 50% higher than even the United States. Every
year about 15,000 people are arrested on about 25,000 cannabis charges.
85% of these are for small personal offences. However, in the past decade
alone, those who admit to having used cannabis rose from 43% to 52% of
New Zealand adults - up over 20%. “Current users” also dramatically rose
from 13% to 16%. People are also using more, at a younger age, and are
reporting an increased availability and dropping proces. (Source:
Auckland University Alcohol & Public Health Research Unit 1999)
Prohibition removes control over cannabis and creates a lucrative black
market: sales continue, but in an uncontrolled way without age
restrictions, marketing or quality controls, or taxation being paid.
Regulating cannabis could mean an age limit and other controls similar
to that for alcohol.
Prohibition encourages use by glamourising cannabis use and creating a
rebellious and daring image. Uncontrolled sales and pyramid selling mean
it is even easier for teenagers to buy marijuana than it is to buy
alcohol.
Prohibition undermines effective drug education: Open and honest
communication is impossible in an environment of guilt and persecution.
We need effective education about drugs so that people can evaluate any
risks and make responsible and informed choices.
Prohibition itself sends the wrong message - that society is
hypocritical, and is more concerned with moral judgements than evidence
and fact. Supporting prohibition shows our society is unable to make
rational decisions based on scientific evidence and reasoned ananlysis.
Prohibition diverts police attention away from real crime: The police
claim to be under-resourced but still place a high priority on busting
pot smokers. There is a cannabis arrest every 30 minutes on average,
while most crimes that have victims remain unsolved.
Prohibition creates crime and violence: While marijuana itself does not
cause crime, violence and intimidation regulate the cannabis black
market, and are used to enforce ‘contractual obligations’ or scare off
competitors. Cannabis is now worth so much money that people get killed
over it.
Prohibition leads to hard drugs: cannabis itself does not lead to the
use of hard drugs, but having dealers who sell pot and heroin often
does. We need to separate the markets for marijuana and for hard drugs,
by regulating marijuana sales through coffee-shops. The rate of using
heroin in the Netherlands has dropped every year since they legalise
cannabis sales, and now only 0.3% have tried heroin, compared to 1.3% of
New Zealanders.
Prohibition erodes respect for the police and our entire legal system:
Those who do get caught resent a legal system that punishes them for
behaviour that does not affect other people, and the police are further
alienated for defending an unpopular, unjust and unworkable law.
Prohibition destroys our civil rights and the notion of a free society:
Prohibition affects everyone - it violates our freedom to choose, our
right to self-determination, and the principles of justice, privacy,
property and liberty. Laws should exist to protect these rights, not
destroy them.
Prohibition denies seriously-ill patients access to medical marijuana,
an effective and safe medicine: Marijuana prohibition applies to
everyone, including the sick and dying. Marijuana has been shown to be
an effective and safe medicine for many conditions including cancer,
AIDS ‘wasting syndrome’, glaucoma, chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis
and a variety of spastic conditions including multiple sclerosis,
paraplegia, quadriplegia and epilepsy. Marijuana should be made
immediately available for prescription by health professionals.
Prohibition denies New Zealand the economic and ecological benefits of
hemp: Hemp is the non-psychoactive strain of the cannabis plant, grown
by farmers throughout the world for industrial purposes, but banned in
New Zeaand under prohibition. Hemp has over 25,000 commercial uses,
including textiles, paper, cosmetics, paints, fuel, foodstuffs,
insulation, and even biodegradable plastics. It produces a much higher
yield than wood or cotton, and requires virtually no pesticides or
fertilisers. Hemp has the potential to create thousands of jobs and
revitalise our rural sector, but prohibition prevents the cultivation of
hemp.
It’s time to stop arresting marijuana users: Hundreds of thousands of
New Zealanders use marijuana, and very few abuse it. Arresting these
otherwise law-abiding citizens serves no legitimate purpose, extends
government into inappropriate areas of our lives, and causes enormous
harm to the lives, careers and families of the thousands of marijuana
smokers arrested every year. Far more harm is caused by marijuana
prohibition than by the use of marijuana itself.
Other policies are more effective: Overseas jursidictions that have
moved away from cannabis prohibition - eg South Australia, several
states in the US, and much of Europe - have not experienced any
significant rises in cannabis use, and have achieved dramatic savings in
law enforcement as well as improving the effectiveness of drug education
and treatment services. The Netherlands effectively legalised cannabis
in 1976, and use has since dropped relative to other countries. In 1999
only 15% of Dutch adults had tried cannabis (compared to 52% in NZ) and
5% were current users (13% in NZ).
For more information on alternative drug policies see
http://www.druglibrary.org/
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