Policy and Advocacy: Matters of Substance article

Bud, chronic, skunk,mull, ganja, dak, reefer, dope, pot, maryjane.

There’s no shortage of slang for this drug, but it’s a drug not often talked about. When it is, evidence is often discarded in lieu of myth, misconception and polarized positions.

I awoke this morning to a flurry of colourful and fantastic insights for my story on cannabis. By the time I made it to my desk, all those wonderful ideas had dissolved like smoke in the wind.

The current high levels of use and the level of black market activity indicate that the current prohibition regime is not effective in limiting cannabis use. Prohibition results in high conviction rates for a relatively minor offence, inhibiting people’s education, travel and employment opportunities. Prohibition makes targeting education, prevention, harm minimisation and treatment measures difficult because users fear prosecution.

The next 12 months will not be fruitful for those wanting a serious policy debate about possible changes to our cannabis laws, but there may be an opening for such a debate during the 2008–11 Parliament.

Black Power life member, former methamphetamine user and now, arguably, one of the country’s most successful anti-P campaigners.

This is the story of Denis O’Reilly. It is also a tale of community and about how strange bedfellows like rival Mäori gangs Black Power and the Mongrel Mob are working together to reduce demand for pure methamphetamine. By Kim Thomas.

-----

New Zealand’s response to an apparent increase in drivers under the influence of cannabis seems likely to be more legislation and new penalties. But is this good policy, based on solid evidence? It might be, but Geoff Noller argues that the issues and evidence are complex and require much more discussion before we act.