Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: A fun but flawed weed documentary, in reply to Joe Boden,
In their (partial) defence, much of the material was assembled late last year and early this year (I was interviewed last November), so it would have been well into production when the Cabinet paper came out in May.
So I've heard. But that was four months ago. TV documentaries often get fiddled with right up till the week of broadcast, so they could have done it.
There’s still an urgent need for discussion around the proposed rules and whether we’re getting those right, but the general lack of evidence for increased use in places where cannabis has been legalized suggests we may be worrying too much.
I really want to hear – and I guess be part of – the regulatory and licensing discussion. As California is showing, that makes a huge difference to outcomes and the nature of the business. I need to read up a bit more on how Washington state did it – from what I hear, it does seem like Seattle is the place in the US where the whole thing has integrated best.
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Hard News: Time for a New Deal: 25 years…, in reply to Jason Kemp,
It is 1994! I've added a line to clarify which is the original Planet text.
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Hard News: Time for a New Deal: 25 years…, in reply to Ross Bell,
I’d love to know what the Drug Foundation said in 1994. Was the ED Ross Henderson? He would have said something sensible, I’m sure.
It was indeed Ross Henderson. And he sensibly said:
If you go to prison, a lot of people there are in for cultivation of cannabis and supply. If you go to the East Coast, you’ll fund a hell of a lot of people doing it to support their families. So what would you do?”
“Our approach is really clear.. We would start by making sure people are really well informed on the subject of cannabis. The first part of that is really the health effects and we would focus intensively on that. With the current status of the drug, it’s very hard to get across the level of health effects. In terms of cannabis use, people really need to know.
“Some educators believe that the only message you should put across is that it’s bad, bad, bad, don’t go anywhere near it, which doesn’t work for someone already using it. And it’s a great pity, because it undermines people’s ability to take notice of health issues around cannabis. It’s so dangerous because people need to be aware of the carcinogenics that are actually in cannabis.”
Okay, not all of it was sensible, but the belief at the time was clearly that cannabis was seriously carcinogenic. The doctor’s piece also cited a whole bunch of stuff – lung and jaw cancers, a link to childhood leukaemia – that no one really credits now.
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I guess this is also a good time to own up to writing this part of the issue. Yes, reader, I was Timothy Bleary …
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Hard News: Who are the medicinal…, in reply to linger,
Corollary 1: different survey techniques / data sources will capture different clusters with different levels of success (resulting in different overall demographic profiles for ethnicity, income, and range of medical conditions cited).
There wasn't really a survey technique possible here, it was just a matter of letting people know, in the first place via existing MC networks on Facebook etc. So what we might be getting a picture of is the medicinal cannabis community, as such. Plus my audience :-)
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Gathering poppies, undated.
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Here are several of the original news stories, uploaded here in comments for reasons of readability.
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Access: Jim's Truth, in reply to Sacha,
This is a really important aspect of Jimmy’s series for me (halfway through it as I am).
Yes, really important.
Other cool things: getting a copyright takedown part-way through, challenging it and winning. Time was, he might have been thrown by something like that, but he basically wasn't going to put up with it this time.
Also, now that he's wrapped he was finally able to get a haircut and a beard trim : -)
I’d love to see him helping others do the same, when he’s ready. There’s a valuable enterprise in that.
Now there's an idea ...
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Hard News: Rip It Up: A history of us, a…, in reply to Babs Baker,
But I know you did the hard yards too, writing all that great copy on a typewriter.
The irony is that the first time we used a computer, it was a disaster, because our "expert" (aka Ngila's friend) somehow managed to delete the whole issue and I had to retype the next day, on deadline. That was quite a nightmare.
But yeah – I can't imagine writing without the ability to quickly and easily edit either. What a bizarre way to run things!
Off to listen to that Kim Hill/Murray/Chris chat that someone kindly linked to.xx
I got asked on Jesse Mulligan's show for a chat this week too :-)
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Hard News: Rip It Up: A history of us, a…, in reply to Babs Baker,
Great to hear from you Babs!
I remember Murray coming at me after mail runs to rattle the envelopes and see who’d sent cash instead of cheques.
Oh, now you mention it, so do I ...
And I remember how sad I was a few times at Darby St to come in on a Monday and find you all there pretty much as I’d left you on Friday. You guys were troopers!
Ian and Murray pulled longer shifts than me, but I don't really recall it as very onerous. Perhaps I've suppressed the memories ...
