CANNABIS LAWS

Sir--Jeff McIntyre (November 20) is quite mistaken on a couple of points.

Sweden never had the "type of drug laws" proposed by my party. Swedish
liberal policy extended only to an experiment in legally prescribing opiates
and amphetamines from 1965 to 1967. The experiment was stopped after a
17-year-old died from overdosing on morphine and amphetamines.

Second, I have no wish for New Zealand to follow the drug laws of Holland.
Dutch law continues to ban the cultivation and sales of cannabis, while
unofficial police policy tolerates the sales of small amounts of cannabis
through licensed cafes. Dutch policy is schizophrenic and confusing.

The Swedish model of "coercive care" that Jeff McIntyre wants here costs a
bomb. Australian plans have revealed that it can cost more than $100,000 to
treat one person annually.

Fifty Kiwis are arrested daily on cannabis charges. If even half of them
were put into compulsory rehabilitation, it would cost the taxpayer about $2
billion a year.

Stephen McIntyre, Media Officer, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party
November 22, 2001