CANNABIS POLICY HAULED OVER COALS

While changes to cannabis laws are being implemented around the world, last
year New Zealand's 47th government was founded on the basis of a 'no
cannabis law reform' agreement.

Dunedin law reform advocate Duncan Eddy, formerly of Invercargill, explains
why he thinks New Zealand's current cannabis policy is a destructive farce.

Cannabis prohibition hasn't prevented a large rise in the rate of cannabis
use in this country over the past two decades.

From 1990 to 1999, under an ardently prohibitionist National Government,
the number of New Zealanders who would admit to smoking cannabis rose by
20%. Despite annual cannabis enforcement costs of over 20 million dollars,
the New Zealand Police have been unable to stop a significant increase in
pot smoking.

Over 50% of New Zealanders will now admit to having tried pot. Research
shows that New Zealand has the highest cannabis usage and cannabis arrest
rate in the world. Prohibition clearly doesn't stop us from smoking
cannabis, and it hampers efforts to administer effective harm reduction
programs.

A UMR insight survey carried out in August 2000 that found that 60% of New
Zealanders supported a change in the current cannabis laws. Yet the
support for the minority Labour government was based a pro prohibition
agreement with Peter Dunnes United Future Party. This is a desperate
last-ditch attempt on Dunnes part to prolong the existence of an
unworkable, unpopular law that is long overdue for the scrap heap.

The law is flawed, and has serious negative consequences in real peoples lives.

Law change is inevitable, but for every day that the focus remains on
arresting and punishing people, drug education and treatment will be
obstructed and under funded, and good people's quality of life will be
diminished by an unjust criminalisation.

Our laws potentially criminalise half of New Zealand's population, merely
for using cannabis, which according to a number of unlikely sources,
including the National Government instigated 1998 Health Committee Enquiry,
is far less damaging to New Zealand's people and society than alcohol or
tobacco. This law creates far more harm than it prevents.

Our parliamentarians should think of those who continue to suffer whilst
they tip toe around the issue of introducing realistic cannabis policy.

Internationally, cannabis law reform is on the increase. Countries
including Belgium, Britain, Germany and Spain have rejected prohibition in
pursuit of policies that support workable harm reduction approaches.

The liberal Dutch have coupled a de facto cannabis legalisation with
realistic education policies and the pay offs have been significant.
Figures quoted in the December 1995 British Medical Journal shows a drop in
cannabis use amongst Dutch 17-18 year olds from 13 percent in 1976 to 6
percent in 1985, following that country's change of approach.

The most contentious topic in the cannabis debate is the issue of
schoolchildren using cannabis. I believe that the interests of the school
principals and the interests of the cannabis law reform supporter can both
be achieved by a well thought out law change.

Whilst cannabis remains in the underground, parents, schoolteachers, and
youth workers cannot properly assess, understand or deal with cannabis use
in teenagers.

The criminal outlaw element of cannabis attracts at risk youth.

Yet another reason to 'normalise' cannabis, putting it on a par with
alcohol and tobacco, and removing its anti social glamour content.

Cannabis abuse is a health issue and a community issue. It is best dealt
with through education, youth workers, and the health sector. Under the
current legislation, the response to cannabis abuse is focused on the
ineffective and unjust attempts to enforce the prohibition. The police,
courts and prisons get the lions share of the funding, so the community
lacks the resources necessary to work through the issues related to
cannabis abuse in any meaningful sense.

The Mental Health Commission claims to need an estimated $48 million dollar
funding increase to provide for the demand being placed on our country's
drug and alcohol treatment services. It is a sad irony that the government
spends about that much every year on police, courts and prisons enforcing
the prohibition. The amount of money wasted on enforcing the drug laws is
more than twice that spent on health care, and three times that spent on
education. This approach to drug abuse is clearly wrong.

Education should be the priority.

Treatment should be second option. Criminalisation shouldn't even come into
the picture at all. The prohibition is punishing adults and it isn't
saving kids.

Meanwhile, New Zealand Police admit that they are under increasing
pressure, and the crime rate has increased. During 2002, 21,034 cannabis
offences were recorded. Over the same period, the murder rate went up 31%,
sex attacks were up 17% and robberies increased 11%. Serious crime is a
serious matter, and I suggest the police should stop wasting their limited
time and resources busting pot smokers.

Society, community and family have an important role to play in providing
our youth with good examples and safety networks. But with their
capabilities to respond effectively to the reality of cannabis use in New
Zealand severely limited by the prohibition, these 'protective
associations' have failed to equip many young New Zealanders with the tools
to minimise the harm related to cannabis use.

The amount of regular users who experience problems with cannabis is
reckoned to be about 10%. This suggests a far lower rate of cannabis abuse
amongst adults than alcohol or tobacco abuse. Most people who do use
cannabis do so moderately and responsibly, at least most of the time
anyway! The state should not be tainting the people's quality of life via
punishment and criminalisation.

Considering that cannabis, after alcohol and tobacco, appears to be the
third most popular drug of choice in this country, cannabis prohibition is
clearly ineffective and unjust.

But you don't have to approve of cannabis use to accept that the cannabis
legislation should be reformed.

Cannabis prohibition is unworkable and stands in the way of effective
community based responses to the issues raised by drug use and abuse.

The subject of Duncan Eddy's honours dissertation was an examination of
the role and proper form of drug policy in a liberal society.