RENEWED CALL FOR DEBATE ON CANNABIS

The New Zealand Drug Foundation hopes to reignite the debate over
legalising cannabis and has the backing of other health sector experts.

Foundation head Ross Bell says politicians had to take cannabis out of
the too-hard basket and revisit the discussion.

Half of New Zealanders had tried cannabis, he said, and one in eight
used it regularly, but Parliament had not touched the issue since the
2000 Health Commission Inquiry and subsequent debate was stifled by
the Government-United Future coalition in 2003.

"Misinformation and hysteria do not help a society deal effectively
with cannabis," Bell said. "And the stigmas around use and fear of
prosecution often stop the cannabis-dependent from seeking help."

Politicians were happy to debate party pills and methamphetamine,
because the public was on their side, he said. Although cannabis was
not seen as a vote winner, questions surrounding its social harm
remained, he said.

"These include health effects, whether there is any valid medical use,
its links with mental illness, supporting schools dealing with student
cannabis (use), driving under the influence and the pros and cons of
decriminalisation."

With party pills being made illegal at the end of the year it was time
the cannabis debate started, he said.

Alcohol and Drug Association chief executive Kate Kearney agreed it
was time the debate was relaunched. The association had tracked
increasing calls to the Alcohol and Drug Helpline over the last year.
The calls had mainly come from men in the 19 to 25 age group.

Professor David Fergusson, who leads the long-running University of
Otago's Christchurch Health and Development Study, said the 2003
debate had been politically thwarted. "Secondly, evidence as to the
adverse effects of cannabis has increased in the last few years."

New Zealand needed to develop a grey position of tolerance which
included the criminalisation of the sale, supply or purchase of
cannabis, he said. But the possession of cannabis by responsible
recreational users should be legal.

Fergusson, whose long-term study has followed 1265 people since 1977,
said cannabis was imbedded in New Zealand society. "Now New Zealand
has to learn to live with it."

The Drug Foundation has dedicated the November issue of its quarterly
magazine, Matters of Substance, to cannabis. A Let's Talk About Pot
section has also been added to the foundation's website.