 | NORML News: Maori and the law |
 
NORML News Summer 2002-3
// we must aLL chaLLenge racist and faiLed Laws,
wRITES Green MP
METERIA TUREI
Finally, proof that more Maori are arrested and convicted than non-Maori for cannabis crimes not because they smoke more pot but because they are Maori.
Earlier this year Professor David Fergusson from the Christchurch School of Medicine released the results of a comprehensive two year study into cannabis use in New Zealand and the effects of our cannabis laws.
The key findings of this study titled 'Arrests and Convictions for Cannabis Related Offences in a New Zealand Birth Cohort' underline why people like myself, and the Greens generally, are so committed to changing the cannabis law. These findings are that:
- Maori are more likely to be arrested and convicted for cannabis offences than non-Maori;
- The law is inefficient with only five per cent of cannabis users ever being arrested;
- Arrest and conviction does not change cannabis use and is no deterrent to further use.
The study concluded that: "The bias with respect to Maori is of particular concern since it suggests that independently of cannabis use and previous police record, Maori were more likely to be arrested and convicted for cannabis use than non-Maori."
These findings deserve further scrutiny, especially from our Maori leaders, but as yet the opposite has been the case. When questioned in parliament about the inherent racism identified in this study the Hon. Parekura Horomia said: "Hopefully, the police could spend more time and make better usage of the time that is available to them. Certainly, whether it is a Maori or a Pakeha who is smoking dak, it does not suit, and the police should pick the whole lot up."
This is a foolish attitude to take in light of the finding in this study that by age 21 around 70 per cent of all New Zealanders have smoked cannabis on at least one occasion. Imagine the state of our prisons if the Minister got his way - prisons in every suburb bursting at the seams, but at least we would finally get some ethnic balance!
The lack of ethnic balance in the way the law is enforced is a key reason why I want to see it changed.
Cannabis use is widespread across the entire community, but it is Maori who bear the brunt of its racist implementation and the resulting damage. The fact is that Maori use cannabis only slightly more than non-Maori. One of the reasons the community seems to think that Maori use is higher is precisely because more Maori are arrested and convicted for it.
It is time our Rangatira recognise the political implications of the prohibition laws and admit that they are used to denigrate our people, not protect them.
Some say that if the law was relaxed, more Maori would take up cannabis. But the latest research shows that the law does not actually discourage people from using cannabis - in fact 95 per cent of those arrested or convicted for cannabis either increased or continued with the same level of cannabis use.
It's also quite clear that anyone wanting to smoke cannabis can already do so now. Cannabis is easier to access than alcohol, with tinny houses open 24/7.
Figures obtained by the Greens show that during the year 2000/01 police spent over 280,000 sworn police hours at a cost of over $20 million enforcing cannabis laws. This spending does not make sense while police can take days to attend burglaries and we have a methamphetamine epidemic exploding in this country.
The Greens say Aotearoa should follow the lead of countries like the UK, Canada and states in Australia and the US and stop arresting people for personal use and possession of cannabis. It's that simple.
The tens of millions of dollars could then be funnelled into shutting down those people and organisations that sell cannabis to our kids, putting in place comprehensive and long-overdue drug education programmes in our schools and communities and giving police the resources they need to deal with the crimes that people want stopped - property crimes and violence.
Opponents of law reform and those who advocate change do have one thing in common - concern for our kids. The difference is the solution. Those who support prohibition and fail to put forward new solutions must accept responsibility for the current shambles in our schools, our communities and our courts.
There remain those in the Maori community who continue to advocate for the prohibition laws. But at what cost? At the cost of hundreds of Maori who are arrested and imprisoned primarily because they are Maori; of hundreds of families left without their fathers, sons, mothers, daughters; of hundreds of families whose main income earner is in jail and who now have to rely on the benefit.
The Fergusson Report agrees when it notes that a conviction for cannabis use can have "a real and detrimental impact on people's lives [and] reinforces disrespect for the cannabis laws… Many cannabis users are already socially disadvantaged so for them criminal penalties for possession of cannabis often entail additional costs including disruption of relationships, and loss of housing and employment".
We have now a system that fails in achieving any of its goals and which does more harm than good. The question is why we persist with this law in the face of all the harm it does and in face of the overwhelming evidence pointing towards change.
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