Pubdate: Fri, 19 Aug 2016
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2016 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Alexander Gillespie
Note: Alexander Gillespie is a professor of law at Waikato University.

CANNABIS HERE TO STAY - IT'S LAW THAT HAS TO CHANGE

Both National and Labour have distanced themselves from a survey 
reported in the Herald that a majority of New Zealanders want the 
laws relating to cannabis to change.

The Prime Minister explained that supporting a change in our drug 
laws would send the wrong message to our youth.

Key is correct to be concerned.

Cannabis is increasing in potency.

It can cause psychosis in some people and be a gateway drug in some instances.

If a person becomes addicted, it has the capacity to diminish their 
life over the long term. Although cannabis does not cause as much 
damage as legal drugs like alcohol or tobacco or illegal drugs like 
methamphetamine, it still comes with clear risks.

The problem is that the youth Key is concerned about are already 
living in a world awash in drugs.

Their world is one in which cannabis users have gone from 147 million 
users in 1988, to 182 million in 2016. Estimates suggest New Zealand 
contributes between 288,000 and 400,000 users to this total.

In some cohorts, over two thirds of them have used cannabis by the 
time they are 21. Regular users assert they can source cannabis 
within 20 minutes if they want it. The Dark Net will widen supply 
options even more. The black market for cannabis has nearly trebled 
in 20 years, with an estimated value of $550 million per year. This 
total is about five sixths of the total market for all illegal drugs 
in our country.

It was not always this way. New Zealand only fully prohibited 
cannabis in the 1950s and meaningfully joined the international war 
against drugs in the 1960s. Prior to this, our annual drug arrests 
were fewer than 50 per year. Today, 13 per cent of our prison 
population, over 1250 people, are incarcerated for drugs.

Many other people are convicted but do not go to jail. Annually, 
there are over 10,000 convictions involving cannabis, of which at 
least half are related to personal use and/or possession.

If reductions in demand or supply of cannabis had resulted after five 
decades of effort, an argument could be made for prohibition. This is 
not the case. Criminals have become rich and tens of thousands of our 
citizens have convictions for what our leaders, as do those in 
Russia, China, and many countries in the Middle East and Southeast 
Asia, assure us is the correct path. This is a path of prohibition, 
"just say no" and strong penalties.

Peter Dunne suggests this pathway is fenced by regard for 
"compassion, proportion and innovation". None of this is true.

Compassion would require treating drug addicts as citizens in need of 
help, not criminals in need of punishment. Compassion would ensure 
that people, especially the young, with minor infringements such as 
possession of drugs for personal use, do not obtain criminal records 
that have implications completely out of proportion to the crime, 
that destroy options for employment and travel for the rest of their 
lives. Compassion would send such people to professionals involved in 
health and social work, not to the courts.

Proportion would require evaluating the risk that drugs possess by 
looking at the harm they inflict on both individuals and the wider 
community, and allocating resources accordingly. The police currently 
spend about 600,000 hours per year on illicit drug enforcement. Over 
half of this time (333,000) goes on cannabis.

When the costs of the health service as well the courts and 
correction are added to those of the police, the total social costs 
for all illegal drugs in New Zealand are $351 million per year. 
Cannabis, which causes much less harm than stimulants or opium, takes 
$306 million of this total.

Innovation is not repeating the same thing and expecting a different 
result. Here, innovation is about trying to reduce harm by regulating 
the production, distribution and sale of the drugs which are currently illegal.

Four states in America have already adopted this approach to cannabis.

A further five states will vote on the matter in November. The prime 
minister of Canada is set to embark upon a policy aimed at reducing 
harm and maximising benefits by reducing criminal activities 
surrounding the illegal cannabis trade, creating jobs and collecting 
tax from its sale. That tax will then be ploughed back into policing 
the regulations, education and health to inform and deal with the 
addicts who will always be present whether the drug is legal or 
illegal, and the innocent, who wish to take a chance on a drug with 
clear risks.

Without such layers of compassion, proportion and innovation, the 
emperor has no clothes.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom