REPORT URGES LEGAL STATUS FOR CANNABIS

Cannabis law in New Zealand is based on emotion, rhetoric and politics,
rather than science, according to a group of professionals who want the
Government to legalise cannabis and take control of the market.

Scientists and professionals have been excluded from the cannabis debate,
the Drug Policy Forum Trust says in its report "New Zealand Should Regulate
and Tax Cannabis Commerce."

Headed by health researcher and policy analyst David Hadorn, the forum is
made up of four physicians, two of whom are professors of medicine, a
professor of law, a professor pharmacology, and educationalist, and a Maori
culture expert.

It describes itself as an independent group dedicated to ensuring the drug
policy debate is based on evidence and logic, not emotion.

The report recommends the Government accept that cannabis is part of New
Zealand culture.

"Its responsible use by adults should therefore be normalised," it says.
"The adverse health effects of cannabis are no worse than those associated
with alcohol and tobacco (indeed they are less severe)."

The harms associated with cannabis are magnified by driving its use
underground, the report says. Prohibition impedes public health and
education measures. It creates a black market that preys on young people,
burdens thousands of New Zealanders every year with criminal records,
wastes police resources and creates disrespect for the law.

About 250,000 police hours and $18 million a year is spent on dealing with
about 20,000 cannabis offences, it says. Furthermore, prohibition
glamourises drug use, encouraging early cannabis use by young people.

"A 'democratic system' failure has occurred in that scientists and
scientific evidence have been excluded from an important arena of public
policy, and resulting harm to society and, especially, young people.

It recommends that a Tobacco, Alcohol and Cannabis Authority be created to
develop and enforce regulations concerning the production, distribution,
sale and use of the three substances it calls "a natural triad of
frequently used social drugs."

The authority would be advised by a committee of non-governmental experts.
Legal penalties would be for misbehaviour caused by the deliberate taking
of a drug, and for importing, producing or selling alcohol, tobacco or
cannabis outside the regulatory framework.

Till such regulations are in place, the report says, police should place
low priority on enforcement of cannabis laws. In particular, young people
should not be burdened with criminal records for using or possessing
cannabis.