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This is the first time a medpot bill has ever had a chance of being debated and voted on by MPs in parliament, and I'm not even sure the issue got an airing 30 years ago when the Misuse of Drugs Act was made law.
To ensure they debate it and the issue gets a proper airing in public it needs to survive its first reading and that vote could be soon, like next week at the earliest.
It would be good if supporters of the debate write or email their MP and as many other MPs they can think of - a list of MPs and contact details can be found here - http://www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/YourMP/
I am writing many letters tonight.
In case anyone is inspired, and has a few envelopes in the drawer (no need for stamps though), below is a draft of mine that might start you off, but you should really think of something from your own experience to include if you can.
[the date]
[your address]
[name of MP]
Parliament Buildings
WELLINGTON
if the envelope and letter is addressed like this there is no need for a stamp, it is freepost.
Dear [name of MP]
I am writing to ask that you support the MOD Medicinal Cannabis Amendment Bill which has been drawn from the ballot.
This issue needs a good public discussion and debate. I know several people who use cannabis medicinally and I don't regard them as criminals. As someone has already said, we need to take the policeman out of the pharmacy.
I urge you to support this Bill and get better informed about the issue. I think that the current law prevents doctors caring for their patients effectively and criminalises people needlessly. The current situation is definitely not harm minimisation.
I wrote an email to Jim Anderton today. he's not my MP but I thought the more of us who send him positive Cannabis reform emails and put our names down on them the better. I'm awaiting his reply and will post it when or if I get a reply. I copied the text from above and added a bit of my own. I also wrote to my local MP Paul Swain to support the bill.
In particular those who have National MP's need to make contact re medical ..
I have had enough feedback from them to date to indicate they will not support .
We need to convince all sides to treat it as a medical not political issue.
If it gets past the first reading it might just be enough to have the medical proffession as well as special interest groups such as Cancer Society , Aids Foundation and host of others to step up and speak out..
I fear the Dog Chipping Bill fiasco will have diminished labours enthusiasm to support it as tit for tat ... But UF ect will still block it... we can't win...or can we ?????
response from Jim Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:58 am
Here is what Jim said:
"Thank you for your message of 22 June concerning the Medicinal Cannabis
Amendment Bill
I have never had a problem with the use of any substance for proven
therapeutic purposes provided its use is under the direction of a
recognised medical professional. That includes, for example, morphine, and
would apply similarly to cannabis. However, that would not mean, as some
of its proponents seem to imagine, that people would be entitled to 'grow
their own' any more than people are entitled to grow and process their own
opium poppies now. It would mean, instead, manufacture confined to
approved and secure facilities manufacturing to recognised standards, as is
the case now with a range of therapeutic narcotics.
Nor do I regard this as simply a matter of individual freedom which is, in
my view, naive. Human activities always take place in social contexts such
as families, communities and workplaces and the effect of cannabis
consumption and other substances abuses needs to take account of this
dimension. In forestry workplaces for example (for which I take some
responsibility as Minister of Forestry) abuse of both cannabis and alcohol
is a serious hazard. If people cannot explain to me how decriminalisation
of cannabis will resolve those sorts of problems instead of making them
worse, I take their views that much less seriously.
But I certainly agree that this is a subject on which the debate is not yet
over, and I continue to have hopes that many more people will come to see
it in the context of the serious substance abuse problem we have in this
country."
I'm glad he sent a prompt reply. I think he has a few valid points. But I still feel that Patients should have the right to choose the treatment that best works for them. Let them grow thier own medicine use as much as they need( you can't die from THC overdose unlike morphine and other common pain relief drugs) and to boot save the taxpayer money.
Dear Mr Goff,
I am writing this email to ask you to take support the MOD Medicinal Cannabis Amendment Bill that has just been drawn from the ballot. This bill seeks to remedy a situation that reeks of stupidity. Elderly people have to spend mooney out of their benefit to pay for drugs that have adverse side affects, while there is a free, or practically so, resource that has long been proven as one of the worlds best natural medicines. the issue needs a good discussion, i know a few users and i would not describe them as criminals, these are upstanding members of the public, some of whom donate their time to community work. these people have to live in fear that the activity they choose to do in their own time, at no harm to others, to alleviate their pain, may one day get them put in jail, or facing a massive fine they have no chance to pay off. Please, if you dont support this bill, get educated on the issue of cannabis, there are heaps of resources, on the internet and in books. the current situation with marijuana is NOT harm minimisation.
Typical weak reply from Mr Anderton. He fails to understand that allowing patients to grow their own means they don't have to cough up large sums of money to get their medicine.
This should be for the benefit of the people who need it, not to profit the people who control the manufacture. This is a plant that grows naturally upon the earth - it's not a kitchen lab synthethised drug that requires strict controls to ensure a safe and pure product.
His comments regarding forestry don't seem to have much to do with anything. The people who abuse drugs and do forestry work will continue to do so, regardless of whether or not this drug is legal. Making marijuana legal would not make more forestry workers turn up stoned - they're already doing this. This example doesn't really have much to do with the arguement of individual freedom. The choice to ingest whatever you wish IS a freedom we should have, but we should have the responsibility to do this in a way that doesn't harm people around us or put others at risk. This is the problem with forestry workers abusing drugs on the job.
The only naive person here is Mr Anderton. If he tried listening to experts on drug laws, he might hear some solutions to solving our substance abuse problem. Decriminalisation of marijuana isn't a magic silver bullet cure - it basically frees resources that are better used elsewhere while we can concentrate on substance abuse as a medical problem, with medical solutions. Prohibition has been tried for nearly a century, yet problems are getting worse. This seems to suggest that our leaders are truly out of touch with the problem.
But likewise, I look forward to the debate, except I believe people will begin to swing to the opposite side of his debate once they realise what a joke drug laws are.
Re: response from Jim Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:16 pm
mfinest wrote:
. If people cannot explain to me how decriminalisation
of cannabis will resolve those sorts of problems instead of making them
worse, I take their views that much less seriously.
.
Dear Jim Anderton,
I know this will be be passed on to you as much of the other stuff posted here is if it has your name included .
so .....and would you care to join the debate???
I suggest you listen to the likes of David Fergusson and the host of other experts who have on many occassions made representation to you in this regard in partcular where medical cannabis is concerned but as well regards recreational. Overseas outcome when cannabis have been decriminalised indicate that if the criminal element is removed from the equation the level of abuse is actually reduced not only for cannabis but other more concerning drugs as well.
Medical cannabis IS available both in raw form from Europe , Drug company manufactured products such as Sativex from UK . The cost of these products alone make them prohibitive unless Pharmac approve them for subsidy .. BUT BOTH ARE ACCEPTED internationally by controlling medical bodies .
Canada and many US States actually authorise raw leaf as well as man made product as it is for many more effective and the cost benifits outwiegh the minimal down sides..
Each day the numbers of medical users , therefore potential criminals grow as more and more people become underground users..Those of us who speak up are only the very tip of the ice berg.Fear of the wrath of the law is a great insentive to remain hidden..Often this means not seeking medical support of its use.. I consider this to be of far more concern personally .
Those who now may use and abuse cannabis in the manner that you express such as Forestry workers will not be put off by your stance , those who want to use it especially in the country areas have no problems with supply , its just the medical users who have problems... If it was decriminalised no more or no less recreational abuse will be evident , just an increase in hopefully supervised medical use ..
The reality is very few people who are in work or social situations abuse can be a probelm actually do so most are very sensible. , its just a few badies.
The problem at the moment is with work place drug testing and the likely hood of cannabis being detected week or weeks later is actually becoming a marketing tool for P or Meth , as it is cleared rather quick and not detected .. Cannabis should be like Alcohol , if someone is under the influence at a work place then lower the boom on them .
All your current paranoi is doing is driving the more vunerbale into the clutches of the P marketers .
Even the world sports bodies are concerned as to the inclution of cannabis as a banned drug..
I suggest to listen to the experts who actually know the facts and not to a few YES dickie lickers you surround yourself with who tell you what you want to hear.
I will happily give you a list of the main experts in NZ some who have given up trying to get through to you others who just ignore.. I suggest you revist the senior Police who you consult and well as MOH and research personal and ask them to be blunt and honest , let them speak..
Joined: Sep 24, 2005 Posts: 504 Location: new zealand
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:49 pm
Jim Anderton displays and articultates one of the basic pillars of the cult of prohibition.
You see prohibition is just like most cults in that its built on falsehoods.
The lie or warped thinking that Jim Anderton shows is that any cannabis use is " substance abuse ", this of course flys in the face of science, reason or medicine.
So the stupid and false thinking from the cult of prohibition infects our justice system, drug education and other parts of society.
Use of cannabis or any other drug that does not negativly impact upon your health or life is not "substance abuse", to state otherwise is the mindless drone of the prohibitionists mantra.
You mention in a reply to someone's email here about the consequences of letting this bill pass and what it will do in say your other ministry - forestry
How many forestry workers suffer from the conditions listed in the bill?
I think your real culprit is alcohol. So why isn't alcohol a prohibited substance Jim?
As you have proven time and time again Jim, its obvious you aren't fully up with the knowledge regarding cannabis so are unable to give a knowledgeable opinion.
Your opinions are based around what has happened to your family.
This is a medical matter not a political one. Let Medical professionals deal with this Jim, your opinions are all biased _________________ A pain free day the marijuana way.
Joined: Feb 28, 2003 Posts: 212 Location: Auckland, Aotearoa
Cannabis decreases accidents and injuries Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:18 am
Here's a brand new study that Jim Anderton really ought to read:
Cannabis use does not increase injury risk
According to a large case-control study of researchers of the
University of Missouri in Columbia cannabis did not increase the
risk for injury requiring hospitalization. Investigators assessed the
association between illegal drug use and injury among adults age
18 to 60. They conducted interviews with 2,161 injured subjects
requiring emergency room treatment and 1,856 controls
matched for age and gender.
Among cases 27 per cent were injured in a fall, 19 per cent
were struck by an object, 18 per cent were in a motor vehicle
crash, and the rest were injured by a variety of mechanisms.
"Self-reported marijuana use in the previous seven days was
associated in this study with a substantially decreased risk of
injury," investigators reported. In contrast, use of other illicit
drugs and/or recent use of alcohol (in the prior six hours) was
associated "with a greatly increased risk of injury."
(Source: Vinson D. Marijuana and other illicit drug use and the
risk of injury: a case-control study. Missouri Medicine
2006;103(2).)
Thanks for that Chris.
I have noticed that I am more aware of what I am doing when using cannabis, and I fumble alot when using alcohol.
As the article above shows, cannabis users have less injuries than people who are consuming alcohol. _________________ A pain free day the marijuana way.
these positive factual reports are not presented , what we get is the UN report rammed down our throats by the media and politicians ( I have had it sent to me by two today..)
I have had a number of emails and letters from MP's over the last few days regards the MOD cannabis bill.
Its scary ...
NZFirst are not going to vote for it , this is the theme they play.
quote
New Zealand First believes that this treatment needs to be approved by MedSafe - the agency that is charged with ensuring that all treatments/medications are relatively safe. We cannot have a drug prescribed by doctors that falls outside of the set parameters - there has to be one law for all substances prescribed. When MedSafe gives approval to this substance, NZ First is prepared to re-examine this important issue.
end quote.
National all have just said no . they will vote against it , and bluntly too.
Labour are waffling but most are negative with some expressing sympathy but sorry...
Moari party , fence sitting and suggesting they will give it deep thought but with negative overtones..
Greens , none have replied to any letters or emails in any depth , but suspect at least one will vote for it .
Dunne , a polite no.
Anderton ..... hmmmm this is whats scary he is the most positive ......
I will post a more accurate detailed appraisal when I have got in more replies.. only 47 detailed ones to date plus 80 auto replies ....
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