Taking the High Ground on Dope

When asked about the Law Commission’s recommendation that a review needs to be taken at the status of Cannabis in the drug law statutes, Simon Power showed us why he is a member of NZ’s conservative party by answering the reporters in a fashion reminiscent of a Rob Muldoon glaring retort.

Not on his watch, was the interpretation; no discussion will be entered into.

Exactly the same approach has been taken by National over the super city, no discussion.

So National is content with the current Cannabis laws that punish growers of more than 9 plants with a complete stripping of property, based on feeble excuses such as tainted property, in lieu of any real evidence of wealth accumulation, certainly a punishment that outweighs the crime.

National’s 1991 proceeds of crime law was set up as a precedent for legalised robbery by the first case, a Hawkes Bay farmer who bought the property with Lotto winnings, the Cannabis had been cultivated by another party before the unwitting new owner took possession of the property.

Instead of dreaming up dumb fuck ideas like bicycle tracks to employ 5000 people to build, why not legalise Cannabis and place it on a taxable footing like any other activity?

We have a major tourist industry, tourists come here for a holiday, and that means relaxing, and some of those tourists like to smoke weed, in fact a lot of tourists like to. A principle of business is that you have to play to the market, we are missing out.

It is no use gazing negatively at a crystal ball and predicting great calamity over softening/legalising Cannabis laws.

There are always going to be idiots that over indulge, no matter what substance we are talking about.

The current laws do not work to stop Cannabis use; people have little or no regard for the law as it stands.

Police have suffered a negative perception for 38 years or more from enforcing Cannabis laws.

The more popular Cannabis became the inverse of popularity happens to Police.

We have got to take the bull by the horns and work through the issues of age limits, education about sensible use in a healthy and productive lifestyle, how smoking Cannabis fits in with the increasing restrictions on smoking in public places etc.

To be realistic we have to raise the drinking age back to 20 in anticipation for legalisation of Cannabis.

If you want an example of absurdity, look at work place drug testing.

Cannabis metabolite produces a fail test for up to 3 months, yet the intoxication wore of 89 days ago.

A commentator remarked that drug testing for Cannabis is Art masquerading as Science.