POT LAW REFORM BRANCH STARTING

Campaigners are to start a Manawatu branch of the Coalition for Cannabis Law
Reform.

Spokesman Kelvin Richardson expects many local people to join it.

"We're aiming to encourage debate. I think there's a lot of people, till
now, who have wanted to say `I support cannabis law reform' or `I don't
care'. That should be the real concern: That you can't even be involved in
the debate - not safely, anyway."

Mr Richardson, manager of Palmerston North's IV Union needle exchange, was a
driving force behind the establishment of the national coalition.

Its launch statement, released earlier this month, said it aimed to reduce
the harms associated with cannabis use in New Zealand by opposing its
prohibition and promoting effective drug education and treatment.

Mr Richardson believes New Zealanders should at least have the opportunity
to debate potential law changes, given figures that show more than 52
percent of the population has tried cannabis.

"That's the number of people willing to admit to a complete stranger over
the phone they smoke pot. How many more are there?" Mr Richardson said.

"You cannot tell me the cannabis laws work when even the cops sell weed."

Mr Richardson estimated the 25,000-plus offences registered in 1998 were
less than a tenth of those committed, and said the cannabis law was
completely unenforcable.

"And it's a law that's currently being enforced racially. The police realise
they can't bust everybody, so they get the people who are visible. Being
brown, you are more visible. More than 40% of those arrested are Maori."

Maori were also more likely to show up in cannabis statistics because most
of the dope-growing areas, including the Far North and the East Coast, were
highly populated by Maori. But in proposing the cannabis law be debated, Mr
Richardson stressed he was also in favour of doing "whatever I can" to stop
adolescents using cannabis.

He said there was no evidence using cannabis led to using other drugs.

"There is a correlation of cannabis use and the use of other drugs, but
that's not the same thing as cause. People who use other drugs - when you
talk to them - will tell you they were heading there anyway.

"I guarantee that every opiate addict has eaten cornflakes. Does that make
them a so-called gateway drug?"