I INHALED, THEN THREW UP - BLUMSKY

Wellington Mayor Mark Blumsky did inhale - but the experience didn't
convince him marijuana should be decriminalised.

Along with other mayors in the Wellington region, Mr Blumsky, 42,
opposes decriminalisation. He and the others are supported by more
than half of New Zealand's 74 mayors.

Mr Blumsky said yesterday that he had tried marijuana - "show me a
university student who hasn't". "I laughed a lot, ate a lot and was
violently ill," he said.

His opposition to decriminalisation stemmed from the many people he
knew who had used marijuana and then moved on to harder drugs.

Lower Hutt Mayor John Terris said the country's mayors would be
failing the community if they didn't speak out in opposition.

"We are increasingly concerned about the social cost of marijuana
use," Mr Terris said. He feared its consequences on young users,
including suicide, crime and violence.

"We believe that by decriminalising marijuana, we are saying that it
is all right to smoke dope, even though marijuana is known to have
serious effects on the brain and reproductive capacity."

Upper Hutt Mayor Rex Kirton said marijuana use among youths in
particular had contributed to crime levels.

"Most of the problems that are caused by youths within our city have
some relationship with drugs."

Porirua Mayor Jenny Brash said she was personally against any proposal
to decriminalise marijuana.

"My background is in health and I have seen the damage it can cause to
our young people," she said. "That's my own personal view. The council
does not have a policy on it and I'm sure all the people of Porirua
don't share it."

Kapiti Mayor Iride McCloy said she was firmly against
decriminalisation.

Wanganui Mayor Chas Poynter, who has held discussions with Police
Minister George Hawkins and Opposition Leader Jenny Shipley on the
issue, said that so far 44 of the country's 74 mayors were against
decriminalisation.

Cannabis was becoming increasingly potent and "skunk" marijuana, a
stronger hybrid, was now a hard drug, Mr Poynter said.