Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 Source: Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) Copyright: Allied Press Limited, 2001 Contact: http://www2.odt.co.nz Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/925 Author: Robert Sharpe Note: Headline supplied by newshawk REGULATED CANNABIS MARKET NEEDED TO PROTECT CHILDREN THE NEW Zealand Medical Association testified before a parliamentary committee that the partial decriminalisation of cannabis would be acceptable, providing it could be shown no increased harm would result ( ODT , 9.6.01). Decriminalisation is a step in the right direction, but it does nothing to undermine the black market in illegal drugs. There is a big difference between condoning cannabis use and protecting children from drugs. The thriving black market has no age controls, making it easier for kids to buy cannabis than beer. Although cannabis is relatively harmless compared to most legal drugs - the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death - cannabis prohibition is deadly. Illegal cannabis provides the black market contacts that introduce youth to addictive drugs like heroin. Current drug policy is a gateway policy. Like alcohol prohibition once did, cannabis prohibition effectively subsidises organised crime, while failing miserably at preventing use. Decriminalisation acknowledges the social reality of cannabis use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, replacing cannabis prohibition with regulation would do a better job protecting children than the never-ending drug war. Robert Sharpe Programme officer, Lindesmith Centre Drug Policy Foundation, Washington DC - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens