Medical marijuana on prescription
The Government starts to make cannabidiol more available.
Social issues
drugs
The cigarette crime spree
The cigarette crime spree is a real problem for National. Their “law and order” credentials are in tatters.
Ban cigarettes, find a way to compensate dairy owners for a transitional period.
Canada
Every once in a while, an administration that doesn’t check it’s collective brain out at the door assumes office. That may be the case with Canada’s current government.
Reducing substance abuse – what actually works
If, instead of macho posturing (like the “War on P”), we wanted to actually tackle substance abuse, we would be looking at what actually works. Interesting case study in Iceland.
Encouraging Signs
A refreshing shift in NZ’s political environment.
English hammered on ‘druggies’ smear
English will be worried that he got hammered like this, when Key got away with all sorts of insults and lies. And if you think your fellow Kiwis are useless workers you’re doing it wrong.
Bill’s bigoted drug reckons vs the evidence
Some folks Bill knows are telling him stuff and he’s basing immigration policy on it. The facts say otherwise. Bill English is full of shit and it’s time that more media called him on it.
Greg O’Connor responds
In a guest post, Labour’s Ōhāriu candidate Greg O’Connor responds to some of the topics of comments in the post “Greg O’Connor selected for Ōhāriu” and elsewhere on the blogs.
Meth and housing
Why has Housing NZ ignored repeated advice and misused meth tests to evict tenants? RNZ: “Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said Housing New Zealand had caused a huge amount of harm by knowingly misusing the guidelines.”
NRT: Calling bullshit on “P-contamination”
I/S at No Right Turn writes on meth testing, false positives, and Housing NZ.
Meth Fries Housing NZ’s Brains
Housing NZ has admitted that it is evicting tenants when only tiny trace amounts of meth are found on the property. It further admits that the testing regime is not fit for purpose. But, hey, they have the power to make people homeless and they’re not going to let fairness or common sense get in the way of their moral panic.
When did the War on Drugs become the War on the Poor?
Helen Kelly – still speaking out
“Pain debilitates you and makes you depressed and you can sort of let the depression seep over you, but if you can, get out and live your life.”
Why we need to support Medical Cannabis Awareness NZ
A new charity has been set up to use GiveALittle to raise funds for people who have been granted access to a medial cannabis product – and then they can’t afford them. I don’t want these people missing out on what I am getting from this drug. It works. Help them
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Key launches war on P
“My message to the gangs is clear. This Government is coming after your business and we will use every tool we have to destroy it. We will be ruthless in our pursuit of you and the evil drug you push.”
Time for progress on drug law
Welcome signs of new realism on drugs. Sadly, it’s the sort of progress only a right-wing government can propose.
The Gun Club
In the wake of the shooting of four police officers in Kawerau, it’s time NZ had a cold, hard look at our gun culture. We need an inquiry that addresses both legal and illegal gun ownership. But there’s a related matter that also needs looking at …
Medicines New Zealand on Pharmac funding
A media release from Medicines New Zealand: “While New Zealanders wait for 81 medicines, PHARMAC gives money back”…
Petition Peter Dunne to show some sense and some compassion
Helen Kelly is getting the run around from Peter Dunne with her request for permission to use cannabis oil. The talented Foxy is running a petition.
Life and Death and Cannabis
I am taking Cannabis Oil to manage my pain as my lung cancer takes over my body. It’s sort of as simple as that really. For some people talking about dying is confronting but actually talking about it allows us to think about how it happens – it is actually as much a social event as a physical one and knowing someone is comfortable, getting good treatment and pain relief is very much part of the social dimension as the physical one.
Dope-growing, cross-dressing BDSM male prostitute police officer convicted of harassment
A recent surge in the level of systemic criminality, thuggery, and general incompetence which now defines the New Zealand Police Force.
Getting mommy to dispense the drugs
Now that cannabis is going legal and heading for the neighbourhood social gatherings where mothers sell addictive substances (like cosmetics and kitchenware) to each other. Lets legalize it, tax it HEAVILY, and could someone please give Helen Kelly and others like her the relief that they can use.
Medicinal cannabis
Helen Kelly calls for the government “to get real about medicinal cannabis”. Seriously – what are we waiting for?
Penny Hulse and the decriminalisation of cannabis
Auckland Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse this week called for there to be a rational debate on whether organic cannabis should be decriminalised. Her reasoning is sound. The natural kind is better than the synthetic kind and prohibition is not working.
Highs, legal or otherwise
I don’t use too many drugs because they interfere with my dominant programming addiction/work. But after decades of seeing people using pot, I can’t see any real problems with it if people use it in moderation. I have seen people with problems with excessive indulgence. But I’ve helped neighbours who have subsequently died from alcoholism as well. There is simply no way to definitively and fully protect everyone from themselves. We need to tax and regulate it. And if there is a substance that is fully tested on humans, then I’d have say it’d be pot… I can’t say the same about chemical manufacture of synthetic drugs.
Labour announces ban on synthetic cannabis
David Cunliffe has just announced that Labour will introduce legislation to remove synthetic cannabis and other psychoactive substances from sale. (updated)
Thanks for the Piss, Collins.
Karol has already mentioned this in her post from this morning. But in the interests of splitting milk from alcohol…
Nat techhead needs 3D brain transplant
In my experience, left politicians are a interesting mix of being either pretty damn technophobic or having an inept over-enthusiasm for it. But I get the impression that they’ve done some study and thinking on most tech areas I raise with them. However it’d be pretty clear to everyone who has followed 3D printing over the last decade that Maurice Williamson, National’s version of a techhead, appears to be clueless.
Positive Things
Change becomes embedded when it emanates from and across many quarters and traditions.
“The problem gambler”: Key & SkyCity
Brand Key – CEO of NZ Inc, speculator, gambler, spinmeister – epitomises the “neoliberal revolution”. Gambling & other consumerist addictions are blamed on the individual. A court case against SkyCity shows the contradictory links between gambling, smoking, corporate influence & “insatiable consumerism.”
Smokefree? Then Cut the Crap!
Apparently the government is concerned for the general health of people in New Zealand. Apparently, an expression of this concern is the roll out of policy initiatives that will result in New Zealand being smoke free by 2025.
Key loses war on P
In 2009 Key personally declared “War on P”. Predictably, it’s now clear that he lost. In this, as it seems in all matters, John Key is all promise, no deliver.
Plain packaging insults my intelligence, and yours too
Plain packaging isn’t just an unproven idea, it’s pointless, illogical in the current circumstances, and seriously condescending.
A quick question
Bennett (playing the distraction card) is pushing her drug testing policy again. I have a question for the supporters of this policy which remains unanswered…
Dunne clears the competition for his backers
A cynic might ask if Peter Dunne is out to eliminate the competition of his mates and (it is widely thought) donors in […]
Alcohol to be banned
The Government announced that it was withdrawing its Alcohol Reform Bill today and introducing prohibition after it realised that alcohol was used by the ‘Beast of Blenheim’ to stupefy young girls. “It’s what we’d do if it was any other drug, particularly as it’s associated with the ‘Beast of Blenheim’,” said Justice Minister Judith Collins.
A quick question
The Nats are going to terminate the benefits of those who fail or refuse drug tests. I have a question…