Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2007
Source: Hawke's Bay Today (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2007 APN News & Media Ltd
Contact:  http://hbtoday.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2947
Cited: New Zealand Drug Foundation http://www.nzdf.org.nz
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

DRUG DANGER IGNORED AT OUR PERIL

In all the condemnation of - and legislation against - party pills 
(the modern chemical scourge of youth) cannabis has been pushed into 
the background.

It sits, smouldering, often barely recognised; awareness of the harm 
it does clouded by debate exhaustion from the barrage of 
misinformation from its enthusiasts. Because public consciousness is 
focused on drugs like P, Ecstasy and BZP, marijuana has become 
normalised by indifference.

The issue of cannabis - its liberalisation or continued prohibition - 
holds no political dividends. (One MP is a walking endorsement of the stuff.)

Cannabis is New Zealand's favourite recreational drug.  Surveys show 
half of all New Zealanders have tried it and that one in eight New 
Zealanders uses it regularly.

Unlike methamphetamine, which requires some skill in chemistry to 
produce, cannabis is accessible to anyone possessing basic gardening 
skills and a discreet plot of land.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation, in its latest issue of Matters of 
Substance, says it's high time there was wider public debate on 
cannabis. The drug needed to be taken out of the "too hard" basket 
and discussed "sensibly and honestly", it said.

Parliament hasn't touched cannabis since the Health Commission 
Inquiry in 2000 which made a series of recommendations. However, says 
foundation executive director Ross Bell, debate was stifled by the 
2003 coalition agreement between the Government and United Future, 
which effectively froze the legal status of cannabis.

The persistence of cannabis as the drug of choice and the 
imperviousness of its users to the risk of legal sanctions begs 
public examination. So, too, does its danger, a feature consistently 
underplayed by advocates of cannabis, some of whom argue that more 
harm comes from the fact that the drug is banned.

The foundation appreciates the risk and argues that people who use it 
need help. But it also recognises that shrill condemnation of the 
practice makes many addicts unreachable by driving them into hiding. 
On the one hand is the need to register - in law and policing - the 
disapproval necessary to demonstrate that use of the drug is 
unacceptable while on the other to provide an environment in which 
addicts will seek help.

Any official ambivalence about the danger of the drug is exploited by 
users and supporters as tacit approval (despite the queues of growers 
and sellers that traipse through the courts). And many addicted to 
cannabis are probably the very last who might be persuaded that they need help.

Agencies around New Zealand report our use of cannabis is the 
second-highest in the developed world and that children as young as 
11 years old regularly present with cannabis addiction.

The risk of permanently damaged minds from cannabis-induced psychosis 
affects everyone. So, too does the so-far unmeasured influence of 
thwe drug in road injuries and fatalities and workplace accidents.

The peril facing all New Zealanders is the reason we should not let 
this sleeping dog lie. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake