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Sharing Joints May Risk Disease
The Dominion (New Zealand), 12 Aug 1998
N.B. NORML adds: this is as far as we know the only time the NZ Government has given any harm reduction information for cannabis.
SHARING cannabis joints could risk spreading meningitis and other
diseases, Health Minister Bill English has warned.
In response to a question from Labour MP Tim Barnett, Mr English said
the Health Ministry had not conducted research into the risks of sharing
joints. But it had warned that some viruses and bacteria could be spread by saliva.
"One of the messages of the current meningococcal awareness programme is
'don't share spit', and this would apply to the sharing of any form of
cigarette or joint," Mr English said.
In response to further questions from Mr Barnett, Police Minister Jack
Elder said police spent nearly $20 million in the 1996-97 year enforcing
cannabis laws.
During the year nearly 109,000 prosecutions were started for cannabis
offences and 923,000 police hours were spent on investigations and prosecutions.
Based on $70 an hour for police time, this was an average of $593 for
each prosecution.
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