Pubdate: Tue, 16 Aug 2005
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2005 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Tony Gee

NORTHLAND CORONER CALLS FOR CANNABIS LEGISLATION

A Northland coroner is calling for legislation to be considered prohibiting
anyone from smoking cannabis before using boats, aircraft, vehicles or
machinery.

Evidence he had heard during his inquest into the loss of the fishing boat
Iron Maiden and its two crewmen in the Far North led Kaitaia coroner Robin
Fountain to issue what he said was "a wakeup call to New Zealand" that using
cannabis in some situations was dangerous.

Mr Fountain yesterday found that cannabis use was a crucial factor in the
decision by the skipper of the Iron Maiden to sail on around Cape Reinga on
the night of August 16 last year into huge seas and howling winds.

That decision led directly to the loss of the boat and the deaths of its
crew when the 17-metre Iron Maiden foundered and sank quickly near Pandora
Bank, southwest of Cape Reinga, on a voyage from Mangonui to Raglan.

The coroner ruled that the boat's skipper, Gregory Reginald David
Thirkettle, 24, of Helensville, drowned soon after the boat went down.

Mark Kenneth Scott, 25, a fisherman, of Awanui, whose body has not been
found, also drowned and he may have been trapped inside the Iron Maiden, Mr
Fountain said.

A post mortem examination report which found a blood THC (the active
ingredient of cannabis) level of 0.7mcg per litre of blood in Mr Thirkettle
was consistent with smoking a cannabis cigarette from about one to eight
hours before death - shortly before deciding to round Cape Reinga, the
coroner said.

The only logical explanation was that, affected by cannabis, the skipper
"got it wrong" when considering whether to sail ahead or wait, said Mr
Fountain.

He asked how an apparently responsible skipper could have done such a stupid
thing as smoke cannabis before making a decision on which the lives of
himself and his crew member depended.

After the ruling Reg Thirkettle, Greg's father, said the inquest findings
were "a pretty fair verdict". 
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