DRUG DANGER IGNORED AT OUR PERIL

In all the condemnation of - and legislation against - party pills
(the modern chemical scourge of youth) cannabis has been pushed into
the background.

It sits, smouldering, often barely recognised; awareness of the harm
it does clouded by debate exhaustion from the barrage of
misinformation from its enthusiasts. Because public consciousness is
focused on drugs like P, Ecstasy and BZP, marijuana has become
normalised by indifference.

The issue of cannabis - its liberalisation or continued prohibition -
holds no political dividends. (One MP is a walking endorsement of the stuff.)

Cannabis is New Zealand's favourite recreational drug. Surveys show
half of all New Zealanders have tried it and that one in eight New
Zealanders uses it regularly.

Unlike methamphetamine, which requires some skill in chemistry to
produce, cannabis is accessible to anyone possessing basic gardening
skills and a discreet plot of land.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation, in its latest issue of Matters of
Substance, says it's high time there was wider public debate on
cannabis. The drug needed to be taken out of the "too hard" basket
and discussed "sensibly and honestly", it said.

Parliament hasn't touched cannabis since the Health Commission
Inquiry in 2000 which made a series of recommendations. However, says
foundation executive director Ross Bell, debate was stifled by the
2003 coalition agreement between the Government and United Future,
which effectively froze the legal status of cannabis.

The persistence of cannabis as the drug of choice and the
imperviousness of its users to the risk of legal sanctions begs
public examination. So, too, does its danger, a feature consistently
underplayed by advocates of cannabis, some of whom argue that more
harm comes from the fact that the drug is banned.

The foundation appreciates the risk and argues that people who use it
need help. But it also recognises that shrill condemnation of the
practice makes many addicts unreachable by driving them into hiding.
On the one hand is the need to register - in law and policing - the
disapproval necessary to demonstrate that use of the drug is
unacceptable while on the other to provide an environment in which
addicts will seek help.

Any official ambivalence about the danger of the drug is exploited by
users and supporters as tacit approval (despite the queues of growers
and sellers that traipse through the courts). And many addicted to
cannabis are probably the very last who might be persuaded that they need help.

Agencies around New Zealand report our use of cannabis is the
second-highest in the developed world and that children as young as
11 years old regularly present with cannabis addiction.

The risk of permanently damaged minds from cannabis-induced psychosis
affects everyone. So, too does the so-far unmeasured influence of
thwe drug in road injuries and fatalities and workplace accidents.

The peril facing all New Zealanders is the reason we should not let
this sleeping dog lie.