SHIPLEY: YOUTH CONFUSED ON CANNABIS LAWS

The Government was sending confusing signals to young people on the reform
of cannabis laws, making it harder for police and parents to do their job,
Opposition leader Jenny Shipley said yesterday.

Mrs Shipley rejected a call from Health Minister Annette King that National
take part in a select committee review of the legal status of cannabis,
saying a review would create further confusion and damage.

"Principals around the country are reporting that young people in particular
seem to have the impression that the law has been changed, and they are
acting accordingly," Mrs Shipley said.

"Prime Minister Helen Clark, Annette King and [Green MP] Nandor Tanczos have
been promoting liberalisation of cannabis law. If that's what they want,
they should put a proposal to Parliament."

Mrs Shipley said the country had been debating whether cannabis laws should
be relaxed for 12 months, and waiting another year or more for a select
committee to start a review was "outrageous".

Last weekend, Mrs Shipley suggested that if New Zealand didn't want cannabis
offenders to get criminal convictions, "drug courts" could be set up to deal
with them.

Under her proposal, first and second-time offenders could escape conviction
as long as they had treatment and were committed to stop using the drug.

The judge could convict a first-time offender who was not interested in
rehabilitation, she said.

Ms King said yesterday that Mrs Shipley was "putting the cart before the
horse".

There was not yet a proposal to vote on, which was why a review was
necessary, she said.

The Government's policy was to review the legal status of cannabis within
its first term in office, but it was not a priority.

"The review may say there ought to be no change, so it would be rather
stupid to put up a bill saying we'll have no change," Ms King said.

If a proposal for change was put up after the review, it would be a
conscience vote for MPs and she had no idea whether they would favour change
or not.

"I'm not promoting change, I'm promoting a review."

Miss Clark is in favour of changing the law so that possession of small
amounts of cannabis attracts a fine, rather than a criminal conviction.

Ms King said some members of the Opposition had also spoken in favour of
decriminalisation.

The idea of a review had come from the health select committee's unanimous
recommendation in 199 that one was warranted, she said.

Every party in Parliament was represented on that committee which was
chaired by National MP Brian Neeson, she said.

"Mrs Shipley, in my view, thinks that she can win some votes on this issue.
She's thrown an idea into the pot, that's fine, but let's see whether that
is what we want to do. Let's see the impact of any change in the law," Ms
King said.

"That's why a review is sensible because it will give us the evidence we
need to determine whether ought to make changes, and if so what changes to
make."

Mrs Shipley said Ms King was trying to "rope other people into supporting a
soft line on drugs".

If National were in government there would be no change to the cannabis
laws.

"I intend to campaign vigorous, against any change which would signal
liberalisation rather than a firm message about the real dangers of
cannabis," Mrs Shipley said.