POLICE BREATH DEEPLY OVER TANCZO'S RASTA ROLLUPS

Police say they are unlikely to act over the cannabis-smoking of Green MP
Nandor Tanczos.

As Rastafarian Mr Tanczos declared his intention to continue to flout the
law, Auckland City's top policeman, Superintendent Howard Broad, said: "He
isn't breaking the law by saying what he is doing.

"I think it's probably more likely that he will be judged politically - and
so unless some avenue of inquiry becomes available to us, we're unlikely to
do anything about it at the moment."

Asked if that meant the police would not act on Mr Tanczos' stance, which
was repeated on Holmes last night, Superintendent Broad said: "We would
never rule anything out.

"We will simply apply to the case the priority that we think appropriate,
and I'm not going to comment on that at the moment.

"The fact that he's on national television saying this is something that
we'll just take into account."

But Mr Tanczos, who has the support of the Greens' leadership and says
smoking cannabis is part of his religious culture, last night came under
pressure from Justice Minister Phil Goff for "setting himself above the
law."

Asked if he thought the police should act, Mr Goff said it was not for him
to decide.

"But if any individual stands up in society and says, 'I'm going to break
this law and I'm going to do it regularly,' then the police may feel under
some public pressure to act to remedy the situation."

Mr Goff opposes decriminalisation, but said he was happy for cannabis laws
to be reviewed.

He said he would strongly counsel Mr Tanczos that as an MP he should not
break the law. He also said possession of 38g or more of cannabis was
punishable by two years' jail - and such an offence would cost an MP his or
her seat.