THE DOPE ON DUCK SHOVING IN THE BEEHIVE

In the final of the cannabis debate series, The Press atempts to smoke
out the views of politicians, but finds them strangely coy.

Politicians snuffling at the wind of cannabis debate dive for cover at
the first whiff of controversy.

Of 120 MPs, only 30 replied to a Press questionnaire canvassing views
on cannabis law reform, and just 25 were prepared to put their views
on the record.

These are the people we pay from $83,000 to $216,300 to define the
parameters of how we all live together.

They will cast individual votes, according to their own views, on
whether marijuana will be partly decriminalised by the end of next
year.

"Duck shoving" is what Health Minister Annette King calls it. They are
too scared to talk about it, she says.

She has smoked dope, in her younger years. "I admitted it. Some people
would not be honest. There's no point in saying no, anyway, when
people knowing you years ago would say: 'She's a liar'."

New Zealand is almost certainly heading into a review of laws
governing cannabis, with Ms King at the helm.

Temporarily, the review is on hold, blocked by the Greens.

It will take the three Government parties to find common ground as to
which select committee should deal with the issue before any review
gets under way.

Whichever way it goes, the chance is that within two years, people
caught smoking weed could be given fines in the same way that speeding
tickets are issued.

Anti dope-smoking billboards and TV adverts would go hand in hand,
along with more direct peer pressure-type programmes aimed in
particular at Maoris.

"I'm pretty sure there won't be a recommendation for legalising," Ms
King says.

The picture is less clear on how MPs will decide in a free vote in
Parliament on part decriminalisation. "I know no-one in Labour who
wants to legalise.

"Some people want to look at a partial decriminalisation. There's no
party position on legalising."

Ms King at first says she is uncertain how she will vote, but then
expands on her thoughts. "You can't have prohibition. The law is
broken every minute of the day.

"We have to look at harm minimisation from a health perspective, and
containment from a policing perspective."

New Zealanders cannot deny that a large percentage of young people
have smoked cannabis before 20, she says. "To pretend it isn't
happening is to close your eyes, to put your head in the sand."

Cannabis smoking is a health issue, she says, pointing to the way we
deal with alcohol and tobacco - using harm minimisation - as a way
forward.

Ms King has approached deputy National leader and health spokesman
Wyatt Creech for informal discussions to see if she could get
cross-party support for a review.

He expressed interest for all the reasons I've just given you.

"He told me he himself favoured partial decriminalisation, but I got a
letter from him saying that the National Party has decided to oppose a
select committee inquiry, which is disappointing because it decided to
make the issue political."

It is also particularly disappointing, she says, because the law
review came out of the unanimous recommendations of a 1998 health
select committee, chaired by National MP Brian Neeson, which included
two other National MPs.

"What we have is a lot of duck shoving about the review. It wasn't
something the Labour Party dreamed up. It came out of a serious piece
of work from Parliament. National is forgetting the facts."

Opposition leader Jenny Shipley says she has never smoked cannabis.
She aims to campaign vigorously against any change that signals
liberalisation rather than a firm message about the dangers of cannabis.

"Helen Clark, Annette King, and Nandor Tanczos have been promoting the
liberalisation of cannabis law," says Mrs Shipley.

"If that's what they want, they should put a proposal to Parliament
and let the select committee hear submissions on it." New Zealanders
are confused by the Government's stand, making the job of police and
parents more difficult, she says.

"Principals around the country are reporting that young people seem to
have the impression that the law has been changed, and are acting
accordingly."

Mrs Shipley acknowledges that many young people have experimented with
cannabis, but says it does not follow that the law should be changed.

"We don't need another legal drug that clearly causes harm. Most New
Zealanders have gone over the speed limit on one or more occasion.
No-one would argue that we should remove the speed limit."

It is not just smokers who suffer the side-effects of cannabis, she
says.

"People in families of people who have become addicted will give you
heart-rending stories of how it has impacted."

National wants nothing to do with a select committee review, so the
responsibility for proposing a law change falls squarely on the
shoulders of Labour, the Alliance, and the Greens, she says.

Right-wing ACT could, interestingly, turn out to be an ally for the
Left.

A draft policy paper, obtained by The Press, shows ACT "may be" in
favour of converting possession offences to instant fines "for reasons
of police efficiency".

Its support is conditional on measures that would prevent non-users
and minors from being damaged by cannabis use.

"Freedom applies even if there is a strong view that the conduct is
self-damaging," says the party.

It believes that on a conscience vote its nine MPs would be almost
evenly split, and that it could hold the balance of power.

Those in favour of part decriminalisation are in powerful
company.

One of the most important submissions to the 1998 health select
committee review came from the deputy commissioner of police, says Ms
King. It said the police would be better off using the money to pursue
the people who supply drugs.

"It's not often that a law-enforcement agency makes those sort of
comments.

"They did so based on the effort and money that goes into pursuing the
private person having an individual smoke."

The British police are in almost the same position. Only two months
ago the Police Foundation there released a report saying that the drug
laws should be softened for cannabis and ecstasy, but made tougher for
cocaine and heroin.

Spokeswoman Lady Runciman said one of the main arguments in favour of
softening the stance against cannabis was that young people would heed
the warnings about more serious drugs.

"When young people know that the advice they are given is either
exaggerated or untrue in relation to less harmful drugs, there is a
real risk they will discount everything else they are told about the
most hazardous drugs, including heroin and cocaine," she said.

Although New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark favours part
decriminalisation, her British counterpart, Tony Blair, is hostile to
the idea. Britain is looking at a bill calling for people possessing
cannabis for personal use not to be prosecuted, but it is not expected
to become law.

It is also preparing to legalise the use of cannabis for medical
purposes, says the Independent newspaper, and would let
multiple-sclerosis sufferers use the drug.

Although cannabis is illegal in Belgium and Denmark, police treat
offenders leniently or make enforcement a low priority. In Spain,
personal use is legal. In California it requires a doctor's
recommendation.

In Holland, more famously, people can buy and smoke cannabis at coffee
shops, whose owners are not allowed to advertise or sell to minors,
and must pay tax.

The best example for New Zealand may be South Australia, where people
caught with cannabis for personal use are fined between $75 and $100
in the same manner that speeding tickets are issued.

Western Australia and Victoria have introduced a system of cautions
and drug education for first-time, minor offenders.

When Ms King and Phil Goff visited South Australia in January to see
how its laws worked, they found a review of the 13-year-old scheme had
turned up flaws.

The police were more likely to act instead of just give out
warnings.

People not paying fines were going to court and facing a criminal
offence, and there were no education programmes.

That shows the importance of education programmes and time-payment
facilities for fines, says Ms King.