 | NORML News: Cannabis cafes solution to speed problem |
 NORML News Autumn 2003
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE JUST “MORE OF THE SAME” -- SEPARATING MARKETS WILL REDUCE AVAILABILITY OF HARD DRUGS
The reclassification of methamphetamine (‘P’ or ‘burn’) as a Class A drug is about to take effect, but tougher law enforcement and more penalties are not the answer.
The Health select committee, who are still trying to decide what to do about cannabis, are likely to approve the “get tough” recommendation from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs.
Class A status would mean the police can search anyone suspected of being in possession without warrant. However tougher law enforcement tends to raises market prices, so more people may become tempted to sell the drug. The market could eventually become concentrated among the most powerful organised criminal groups.
Green MP Sue Kedgely was the only one to question the move, demanding to see any evidence that the law change would reduce harms when they were doing nothing to provide treatment or education.
Treatment has been shown to be seven times more cost-effective than law enforcement at reducing demand for drugs, and further criminalising users will make them even less likely to seek help if they need it.
Norml News has heard numerous reports over the past four years of tinnie shop operators offering their customers, some of whom are teenagers, meth along with their tinnie. Sometimes the first taste is free.
The solution - along with improved access to detox and rehab services and more emphasis on educating the public about drugs such as meth - is to break the link between people who just want a smoke, and the dodgy type of dealers who want to sell them something else.
Norml president Chris Fowlie went on a fact-finding mission to the Netherlands where licensed cafes have been allowed to sell cannabis to adults for over thirty years.
“Separating cannabis users from hard drug dealers caused, over time, a drop in demand for hard drugs as ordinary people were no longer offered them or came into contact with them,” he said. “People will also be more receptive to drug education messages once the hypocrisy surrounding cannabis is removed, and police will have the equivalent of 150 additional officers to solve crimes that really matter.”
Dutch drug use rates are well below that for New Zealand. In the Netherlands the rules are clear and strictly enforced: no minors, no promotion, no public nuisance, and no hard drugs. Cannabis smokers in Dutch coffeeshops would never see or be offered dangerous drugs like P.
NOTE: It’s important to remember that the problem is P, not people. Users may suffer temporary psychosis or paranoia, but most will return to norml once they’re off P, and alienation and aggravation will probably not help them quit. Good nutrition and adequate rest are often all it takes. Amino acid Tyrosine reduces cravings. For more information about P, see www.waitematadhb.govt.nz/sorted
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