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Leader's LetterSeptember 2003
Legal Status of CannabisThe Health Select Committee has been considering public health strategies related to cannabis use, and the most appropriate legal status of the drug. New Zealand First is steadfastly opposed to any change in the legal status of cannabis. I’d venture to say that most New Zealanders have been affected by cannabis in some way. We will all know someone or of someone who has used it, even if we’re not personally aware of it. There may even be a ‘tinny house’ in your neighbourhood. This prevalence is given as a reason for its decriminalisation. Because it’s out there, available, and apparently the drug of choice for many otherwise ‘normal’ people, advocates say that it should be legal. Its effects are benign, they say, and recreational users shouldn’t be criminalised. Well, to be fair, maybe some cannabis users lead otherwise respectable lives and contribute to society in positive ways. I even agree with the argument that alcohol is just as bad if not worse in its anti-social effects if used to excess, particularly by young people. If you’ve ever been downtown on a Friday night and seen young people throwing up in the gutter and staggering around drunk you’ll know what I’m talking about. However, availability doesn’t justify use. I have grave fears for the future of New Zealand if this drug takes a hold on our young people, and I think those fears are justified. Cannabis use has been linked to dependency, mental illness, respiratory problems, short term memory loss, antisocial behaviour and suicide, to name but a few. Described by some as a ‘pathway drug’, there is the very real possibility that cannabis use will lead to harder drugs, which in turn leads to criminal offending. Again this impacts on the young of our country, which ultimately impacts on all of us. There are areas of New Zealand well known to Police where cannabis use is deeply entrenched and where a significant ‘green’ economy exists where generations of kiwis have become dependent on it to survive economically. This is obviously symptomatic of desperation and lack of opportunity, and I suggest that the Government should concentrate on creating legitimate opportunities for these neglected communities, rather than letting them deteriorate while they legalise drugs and prostitution. Legislation allowing the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes has been recommended by the majority of members of the select committee. My view on this is that much more research is needed to ensure that its use in this context will not cause more harm than good. Until research proves inconclusively that cannabis use does not cause the damage that I’ve outlined here, decriminalisation will not be getting my vote. Research to date simply doesn’t convince me, and the evidence of its damage in our society that I see with my own eyes assures me that I am right. Pita Paraone MP
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