MARIJUANA DEBATE WON'T GO AWAY

Youth MPs may have voted down cannabis law reform but Kate Selby Smith says
the issue is too big to go away quietly.

I recently represented the Coromandel district at Youth Parliament 2000.
This experience familiarised me with the workings of Parliament – from the
rowdy debating chamber through to the interesting select committees.

I met some amazing MPs and many awesome youth parliamentarians. And coming
from a Green party area I was stoked at the genuine support my MP Jeanette
Fitzsimmon and the whole Green party gave me.

At Youth Parliament 2000 our legislative debate focused upon the partial
decriminalisation of marijuana for personal use.

This topic was of great interest to the media and the politicians so we were
watched closely.

The vote ended in a win against decriminalisation but what the public
doesn't know is that on the morning we voted everybody was going to abstain.
This was because the bill had been poorly written. Also many Youth MPs held
personal views that stood in opposition to the MP they represented.

Statistically 30 per cent of youth have tried cannabis; this translates to
36 of us at the conference.

To me this indicates that the vote could have easily been for
decriminalisation.

My personal opinion is that marijuana should be decriminalised. Why (and
please stop thinking of me as a shoplifting, truanting, baggy panted youth,
or a Nandor mini-me)? Because the laws we have now are not working.

For a 16-year-old living in Whangamata it is easier to buy a tinny than your
legal six-pack of beer.

An Auckland University study showed that 52 per cent of New Zealand adults
have tried marijuana (1999).

So at the present time it's a criminal offence to partake of the third most
popular recreational drug, which isn't much worse for your health than
cigarettes or alcohol.

The police are spending $21.1 million a year to police it (and this doesn't
include the court or mental health facility costs) and the use of the drug
has increased by 1.6 per cent from last year. This money could easily be
used for drug education – or even for catching "real" offenders (home
invaders and child abusers).

So if we take the 50 per cent of people (16-45), apprehend them and slap a
criminal record by their name are we solving the problem? This task seems
pointless, as 60-70 per cent who has tried will not be regular users. So
something as small has having one joint at the age of 18 and being caught
could lead to an exclusion to travelling to some countries and becoming
unemployable.

As a nation, if we continue to focus on the fact it is illegal, we neglect
the more important aspect of drug health and education.

We could criminalise half the population or once again suspend nearly 2000
school students for a drug which is characterised by mild euphoria,
relaxation and altered perception.

We now must start to educate youth as young as 10 and 11 about the pros and
cons (it must be unbiased, factual and cover all arguments) and through the
whanau, school and communities environment.

So let us become a nation who can have serious, open and responsible
discussions (and new laws) about the marijuana issue which we can't ignore.