Pubdate: Mon, 27 May 2013
Source: Manawatu Standard (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2013 Manawatu Evening Standard
Contact:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1057
Author: Grant Miller
Page: 8

LEGALISING DRUGS A WRONG STEP

Lees- Galloway May Not Represent the Views on Drugs of the People in
His Electorate.

When Palmerston North MP Iain Lees- Galloway started his speech in
Parliament last month concerning the Psychoactive Substances Bill,
there was an interjection.

The city MP was talking about " a mechanism by which some drugs can
become legal and make it to market in a regulated - I hope a very
tightly regulated - market".

" That, I believe, is a very positive step in our drugs laws," he
said.

" Don't worry. We will never be doing that with cannabis. Don't
panic," said National MP Mike Sabin.

" Sorry. Say that again, Mike Sabin," the Labour MP
said.

" I said we won't be doing that with cannabis, so don't
worry."

Then Mr Lees- Galloway went on with his speech, not once mentioning
the natural form of cannabis directly.

The MPs were debating legislation that will make it harder for the
manufacturers of legal highs to get their products onto shop shelves.
The onus will be on them to prove substances are low risk before they
can be sold legally. This is designed to have a serious impact on the
game of cat and mouse where something harmful is banned only to be
replaced by a substantially similar product.

Pleasingly, it seems the process of getting a product approved will be
rigorous and expensive.

The bill has been widely praised by many people, including Mr
Lees-Galloway. The Government's approach is not entirely to his
liking, however.

He aired his views about cannabis more directly on television
programme The Vote.

" Young people don't seek assistance because of prohibition. Cannabis
is a gateway to criminal behaviour BECAUSE it is illegal," he tweeted.

It follows then that if possession of cannabis is decriminalised,
criminal activity overall will go down - not just because a previously
illegal activity is no longer policed but also because the artificial
link between cannabis and crime is broken. So, cannabis smokers who
would otherwise be law- abiding folk would no longer be entrapped by
the criminal web. And more addicts might seek help. Or so the argument
must go. It's an argument that has a few problems.

I would suggest it plays down the impact of drug use, which tends to
put people on a downward spiral.

I would suggest it plays up the experience of middle-class
recreational users, glossing over the experience of the people at the
bottom of the pile.

And ending prohibition of cannabis would naturally lead to more people
trying it. The more people who try it, the more that become addicted.

Mr Lees- Galloway reckons cannabis would be a good test of the
Psychoactive Substances Bill framework.

He presumably thinks cannabis is pretty harmless and, to be fair, the
research on the effects of cannabis use is decidedly mixed.

But one of the more hidden dangers of a relaxed attitude to cannabis,
and the use of legal highs, is the creation of a culture where
yielding to instant gratification is normalised even more.

Manawatu schools have taken a strong stand against legal highs putting 
in motion a boycott of dairies that sell them. Drug dogs are
on the scent as well.

The message to Manawatu teens has been unequivocal  stay away from the
stuff.

A call has also gone out to Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor to
visit dairies in a bid to persuade them not to sell legal highs.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Mr Lees- Galloway
carried out those visits instead.

" Synthetic cannabis only sells because the real stuff, which is less
harmful, is illegal," a dairy owner might say.

" And keeping cannabis illegal basically encourages some people into
criminality," the MP could add. Or something like that. I'm not sure
this is the sort of conversation the people of Palmerston North really
want from their MP.

They may well prefer him to take a strong stand against illicit
drugs.

Advocates of cannabis law reform often make a favourable comparison
against alcohol, which is legal and causes much more harm than
cannabis. But the argument cuts both ways. The enormous cost to
society wrought by excessive consumption of alcohol is hardly a good
reason to make a broader range of drugs more accessible.

If anything, a lesson we might learn from alcohol is that it is best
to be careful about letting the genie out of the bottle.

Former prime minister Helen Clark put it like this: As a former
minister of health, she said she was all too familiar with the harm
associated with the legal substances of alcohol and tobacco. She was
wary of doing anything regarding cannabis law that could inflict more
harm on society.

Ms Clark, I would suggest, has credibility in this
arena.

And I wonder if the city's MP is not quite in tune with his
electorate.
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MAP posted-by: Matt