http://www.russellbrown.com/sightings.html

Sorry couldn't resist Russell.Its been a while.

However there's a reasonable amount of food for thought in some of those numbers. Namely that group who have binged for more than 48 hours in the past 6 months but have no difficulty stopping or going without.

Well, they say they'd have no trouble stopping. Loadsa people say that.…

along with 31% injecting.

That must be looking for the high that was. Injecting, moving straight through the blood stream is pretty fast no? Can't get much faster, so must be a recommendation by the frequent flyers.
That's when you see people turning all jelly like, literally wobbly. Ye gads!

55 percent of frequent methamphetamine users reported harm in the areas of 'health' and 'friendship and social life'

21 percent of frequent users reported suicidal thoughts and 13 percent made 'suicide attempts' after using methamphetamine…

Not to say that methamphetamine isn't a problem – Perhaps if we're speaking illegal drugs only then meth would be number 1.

Doubt it.Number 1 would be Cannabis after alcohol. Cannabis by far disrupts our courts (if that's what you mean). So many petty appearances for a joint or whatever…

How many people go through the court system every day for alcohol related crimes? A lot more than methamphetamine related crimes for one.

Not to say that methamphetamine isn't a problem – Perhaps if…

Because after all thats the core problem with p is the new magic world of looooooooooooooong days. I'm totally guessing.I'm clean, I was raised a baptist of…

I could make some cheap jibe about 'if they can…

Maybe their brains are simply far more open because of their prolonged exposure to methamphetamine. Or maybe they've fried their bullshit meter.

"You know, some people got no choice
And they can never find a voice
To talk with that they can even call their own
So the first thing…

There's a shop here in welllington sells Rotary Lawnmowers and its a short distance from a video store that carries Brain Dead.

Won't somebody think of the zombies!

Actually the missus has just reminded me that we know two more P heads. Who are also really into their conspiracies.

Shit, you do know a lot of them. I can imagine the parties, groups hanging out in the basement.
Now you've convinced me,(I believe you could be an expert)…

Sweet dreams – I'm headed for bed, but am happy to address issues raised – later -mihi koa mai na-

I am not trying to answer on Lucy Stewart's behalf but WTF? Showing respect to 'the police' is not engrained in the ANZ character – and whenever was she not?

It was a dirty pun...silly as always. Once again, it's a pleasure to read your take on things. You're woven…

Wild pigs are here to stay*, chris, and the more we can do to eradicate them, the better it is…

*before the whanau brutally slays them all with guns and knives;)

granted work permits on the basis of being economists

No doubt they'll be insulated from the effects of their ignorance

You want to take on wild pigs with a spear? Or a blow-dart? Be my guest. I'll watch. From a safe distance.

I don't really want to take on wild pigs at all, that was my point, and showing a little more respect to the police wouldn't go amiss Lucy;…

Damian, hope you debate with them vigourously, they may learn something.but labelling doesn't get one anywhere

My point is this Sofie, that if you have done a lot of reading and that has led you to believe say, that vaccinations are a plot by the pharmaceutical industry, or whatever,…

Banning firearms would cause rioting among one of the most conservative groups in ANZ society – rural ANZ-

That's weird but not implausible.Would they riot?

Thinking of our ancestors Islander, obviously they didn't have to contend with evils such as the opossum, but it's almost an admission of ineptness and the inferiority of our species to argue that we can't deal with these creatures without firearms.

You want to take on wild pigs with a…

(That lot did okay hunting for their initial main food resource....)

50 k down the road from my home is the South Westland Bowhunters' Club...deer, chamois/thar are their targets as they are for one of…

yes, many people own guns because it's legal to own *some types of guns*
but – what on earth has that got to do with "reguardless of any propaganda about our staunch environmentalism"?

Beyond the extermination of vermin/pests I see the hunting of animals to be somewhat at odds with…

yes, many people own guns because it's legal to own *some types of guns*
but – what on earth has that got to do with "reguardless of any propaganda about our staunch environmentalism"?

I was taught to shoot (.22 air rifle, and .22) as a…

Chris, facts. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

prove it; )

I'm very much in favour of decriminalising pot, but I'm actually kind of relieved that the kind of people who shoot at police officers are off the street as an end result.

But they weren't on the street. They were at home chillin'. I think it's more complicated than saying;…

The biggest and loudest conspiracy theorists at the moment of course are the climate deniers. Huge, massive weight of scientific evidence against them, but listen to Leighton for 5 minutes, or read some nutty uttering by Owen McShane or Lindsay Perigo, and bang, that's it.

Other conspiracy theorists include the…

To be fair, Newbold does actually do a fair amount of academic research. He didn't get his position just for being a source of quotes for the media.
And some of the things he has been quoted as saying aren't obvious to the "tough on crime" crowd. He's gotten better…

Where is she now?

Appearing in at least one tragically bad student film, judging by Youtube's related clips. Anyone feeling bad about our local film industry should find it uplifting.

The way things happen in this country, he'd take over Greg Newbold's regular spot as academic talking head on matters criminal.

As Newbold's ready media comments in recent years had pretty much ossified into stating the bleeding obvious, one could be forgiven for wondering if it wasn't time that he…

Steve Jobs talks a lot of good shit and he apparently called his LSD experience "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life."

Ellen Feiss:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2-UuIEOcss

Where is she now?

or read some nutty uttering by Owen McShane

Now if it was Ian McShane, in full Deadwood mode, I would be much more inclined to believe him. After all, swearing makes you much more believeable. Just ask Bomber, that's how he got down with the kids.

Far be it from me to defend that waste of space Glaucoma, but I have to say that of the six people I know who are heavily into their conpsiracy theories, five have a history of heavy P use. The other just smokes heaps of pot.

Oh yeah, I just…

Can you imagine what jailing Simon Prast for P use would have achieved for society for example? Would he have come out a "better" citizen?

The way things happen in this country, he'd take over Greg Newbold's regular spot as academic talking head on matters criminal.

As Newbold's ready media…

Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you aren't out to get them.

Plus, why is it considered wrong to question that which does not make complete sense. Jeez, feels like we should all just roll over and accept what "normal" people think and no questions allowed because if you…

of the six people I know who are heavily into their conpsiracy theories, five have a history of heavy P use. The other just smokes heaps of pot.

Hmm. Would that include a well known Auckland alternative radio presenter?

how pointlessly wound up the security guards were

On the P, undoubtedly.

Question is, do they get dosed by their employer, as is common practice in the US military, or is their tweaking entirely recreational?

the P use or that Rachel Glucina felt the need to write a column about it linking his consumption to his belief in JFK conspiracies...

Far be it from me to defend that waste of space Glaucoma, but I have to say that of the six people I know who…

I wouldn't claim my nose is infallible. Mostly it's just probability. Smell a herby smell on someone you know doesn't cook, and there you go.

I'm constantly accused of smoking pot due to the strong aroma of the homegrown tobacco I smoke. It seems people smell something unrecognisable and assume…

but remember he's the one campaigning, trying to convince us he deserves our vote, so really the onus to prove his character should be reversed, no?

He needs to demonstrate relevant things about his character, definitely. And to answer any specific accusations of wrongdoing or incompetence.

That's if he has…

I'd wager the only thing holding you back from a lucrative career in the police is the frank admission that you moisturize.

Yes, I'm far too smooth and soft for that kind of thing.

I wouldn't claim my nose is infallible. Mostly it's just probability. Smell a herby smell on…

And yet none have been hurt during raids on illegal alcohol breweries ...

(heavy irony)

Probably because this guy would have had a hard time presenting a threat.

Having said that, it now seems like it's not going to be an issue. Based on what I've read above, there seem to be any number of good reasons not to vote for him.

I'm not sure which I found more disconcerting – the P use or that Rachel Glucina…

But no. The annoying part was how pointlessly wound up the security guards were.

Indeed — and have a friend who travels a lot for business, and will quite happily pay the difference out of her own pocket to avoid passing through the United States after a remarkably unpleasant experience…

To use a recent example, Phil Goff's daughter didn't have Es tucked in her bra

Hey, could become known as the "Booster" bra. :)

@Sofie – well apparently it was only her first time trying E, so it should probably be known as a training bra...

I'm just uncomfortable with condemning someone as unfit for public office for crimes committed by people like them. I basically hold a 'presumption of innocence' line about things like that.

I take your point, perhaps I'm just reading more into what he's said of it (and also knowing some…

I'd spent the last few days wandering downtown San Francisco. There could have been…

So I was both a drug smuggler and a terrorist?

Sounds like they had you as one of those people who illegally download movies.

Is it really possible for a warrant to be issued under the Misuse of Drugs Act if a passing off-duty cop (on an evening jog say) smells or detects the aroma of pot? I mean, if he goes to the powers-that-be the…

Put it this way, I had my door kicked in by police in the early 90s

Well, people who grow a little weed at home (medical users, personal users, 'social' growers – to use the Law Commission's phrase) may well soon be seeing their doors kicked in AND guns pointed…

The thing is though, five officers have been killed or wounded DURING "ROUTINE" POLICE RAIDS ON DOPE GROWING OPERATIONS.

And yet none have been hurt during raids on illegal alcohol breweries ...

(heavy irony)

It wasn't cannabis which caused that man in Chch to fire his weapon; but it was…

They didn't find what they thought they would, but nonetheless grilled me about a VCR which they identified as stolen via its serial number. How I grinned as I produced my Dominion TV Rentals VCR rental agreement ...

Gold.

I once had the police rummage around my flat in London…

So from my schooling here the mayoralty is actually bullshit, we are voting on a more soviet style grand comittee. The Mayor is just one vote.

More powerful than that, with some executive powers no other Mayor in NZ has ever had – but yes, apply the same line of…

I’d say the pot growing aspect of their lives was merely peripheral to a far more lethal mindset.

in the case of Molenaar, a cop going for his evening jog smelt pot from Molenaar's house, and this was the immediate catalyst for the routine raid that followed.

In this case,…

Whatever the disease everyone here is trying to prevent, the cure is worse.

I'm very much in favour of decriminalising pot, but I'm actually kind of relieved that the kind of people who shoot at police officers are off the street as an end result.

So that's what a Mayor does. Makes everything look pretty

Well, you know what enormous bills for "flowers" means, right?

@ Tom Semmens – To be fair, anybody who uses a firearm on Police (and dog) is a wannabe homicidal maniac first and foremost, and a pot dealer/grower a distant second.

I agree. They were looking for a missing psych patient. Smell of pot or not, it would have been…

So that's what a Mayor does.
Makes everything look pretty

that sort of thing won't happen in Christchurch
– we own a flower show!
...oh, hang on...

There's absolutely no indication of any sincerity…

Are search warrants still required in New Zealand?

This Misuse of Drugs Act gives police wide powers of search when the presence of drugs is susoected. So in this case, probably not.

"drugs switch you off". Comedian Paolo Rossi pointed out I thought rather cogently that they switch you on first...

Now there's a solution – a Switch Hunt!

and wasn't Trigger a Horse?

Concerns: What happened…

... responsible drug use, usually meaning "How people who have been using their drug for decades eventually come to use it".

I like this angle so much I may steal it and pretend it's mine.

It might turn into something other than fun — and people who take P may find it turning into something else quite quickly — but we'd have a better drug debate if that simple truth was borne in mind.

We use to have an anti-drug campaign in Italy years ago…

What a victory for law and order.

Whatever the disease everyone here is trying to prevent, the cure is worse.

but we'd have a better drug debate if that simple truth was borne in mind

Totally. I often think it's missing when people talk about responsible drug use, usually meaning "How people who have been using their drug for decades eventually come to use it". I especially include alcohol as…

To use a recent example, Phil Goff's daughter didn't have Es tucked in her bra

Hey, could become known as the "Booster" bra. :)

Coat, getting.

Hmmm. Maybe my inner wowser just needs a drink.

Nah. It's more like the US-style drug courts pushed by Dunne et al, which put every kid who's caught with a joint (or something) through "drug treatment".

It sounds good, because it's better than sending kids to jail. But it's a…

Hmmm. Maybe my inner wowser just needs a drink.

That's why you joined the Wellingtonista, right?

I am afraid there is no need to psychoanalyse the (nonexistent) huuuuuge emotional hooooole in my soouuuuul, or whatever.

Hmmm. Maybe my inner wowser just needs a drink.

Hospitality industry – bars, cafes, clubs, etc

Surely work satisfaction would be enough.

"who do I trust with local government in the Auckland region? Who's going to stick up for what I believe in as things shake out?"

So from my schooling here the mayoralty is actually bullshit, we are voting on a more soviet style grand comittee. The Mayor is just one…

But what is the P population and where are they?

I'd start at...Hospo!
Then, look around you.

slay us with policy and strategy anyone please

Good luck with that – in an expensive presidential-style campaign like this, any actual policy poisitions are even more likely to be subjected to vicious, deliberate spin and get drowned out by lightweight media focussing on what colour tie a candidate chooses…

.Lessons eh?

sure, lessons, the money boozers owe me. I'm lucky on the P front.

But what is the P population and where are they?

Not me, quite honestly this scene has passed me by completely.Maybe I'm lucky?

Well are you? Are you lucky punk? I like to think that only once were we ripped off by a P addict.And I suppose a couple of grand is a small price to pay to get said…

But drug use only gets debated like this, as we slowly uncover who has actually bought P in Auckland.

Who are you filthy people??

Not me, quite honestly this scene has passed me by completely.Maybe I'm lucky?

I'm yet to meet anyone who has become a better person as a result of the heavy use of alcohol.

It's not really the point is it?

I suppose the point is that there's a point in the P addiction spiral where the buggers will actually insist to you that…

and allowing cars back onto Grafton Bridge without seeming to understand why it's now bus-only.

I believe he's also promised to refund anyone who's been fined for driving on the bridge. Pretty nutty, yes.

Competence might come into the decision for some folk, along with character.

I'm guessing he won't…

Despite some admirable sentiment, in that one article he also talks about stopping building…

"I don't do drugs. I am drugs."

What I have learnt here is that smoking amphetamine is very dumb way to put it into your body.

although a strange aside, can't help reading that without it we wouldn't have had a Punk Rock scene.

Or alert U.S airforce combat pilots…

To quote a former meth cook and dealer I interviewed for a Metro feature a couple of issues back (on drug dealers), "I'm yet to meet anyone who has become a better person as a result of heavy use of methamphetamine."

I'm yet to meet anyone who has become a…

My mother (tipple of choice: Johnnie Walker Red) became put off Baptists for life when she worked in a restaurant in the USA and ran into some who ordered hard liquor and drank it out of teacups so no one would know.

Okay, them, I would *definitely* never vote for.

I…

My mother (tipple of choice: Johnnie Walker Red)

Mine, gin and Catholic 8-) She and her sis love the drive thru .8-)
The Brethren drink lots I hear.

how many Americans just don't drink at all

My mother (tipple of choice: Johnnie Walker Red) became put off Baptists for life when she worked in a restaurant in the USA and ran into some who ordered hard liquor and drank it out of teacups so no one would know.…

I was thinking while I was out for a ride earlier how the whole debate would change if there were suddenly no secrets about this.

Indeed Russell. Without detailing everything I've ever done, I like to give sufficient clues every so often so that if I ever got caught snorting…

Apparently it didn't get back to pre-Prohibition levels until the 1970s.

I believe the big change was also that pre-Prohibition, Americans' drink of choice was spirits, whereas afterwards they started to move back towards less hard-hitting forms of alcohol. (Think of famous American forms of alcohol; bourbon, tequila, moonshine. Yes,…

I do like that this little storm in a tea cup has come to pass, there's been very little mention of previous drug use in NZ electoral campaigns, and ultimately who are we fooling.

I was thinking while I was out for a ride earlier how the whole debate would…

Damian, that's a lot of assumptions to swallow on no evidence pertaining to the actual individual.

Yeah, of course. Likewise I believe you were suggesting that all seemed to be shipshape (or at least "hadn't manifested itself in any known problems"). My point is that neither of us know Mr…

How would they know?

Nah, this is looking at alcohol consumption after Prohibition. Apparently it didn't get back to pre-Prohibition levels until the 1970s.

the Roots of Desire For Oblivion.

Couldn't help thinking... "What a great name for a Reggae Band"
And as for drug taking MP's, I think it should be compulsory, I mean, how long ago was "The Enlightenment"? That gave us so much, the French Revolution, The Industrial Revolution and all…

But yeah, in a perfect world, people making drug policy would be able to be honest about past use without it being game-ending.

Does anyone else remember in 1999 when a large number of MPs – including Helen – admitted to having previously smoked pot?

My memory of the details…

And I think we do have a particular problem in NZ, and I'd like to know why.

All I can offer you is that it's not new. Keith Stewart once wrote about a consignment list for a Christmas celebration for a small colonial town in the late 19th century. The…

They're also probably true. In just the same way a lot of profiling usually is. Maori are more likely to commit crimes, for instance. Should that really stand against them as candidates? I know…

Sometimes, people might just want to have bigger fun.
...
Or might genuinely want to expand their mind.

Sure. I'm not opposed. I love expanding my mind.

But I think the attitude of getting wasted, the sort of thing that caused Palmer to wring his hands in the small hours…

I would ever let an issue of character that did not manifest in any known problems (like violent outbursts or insane behavior) take precedence over policy.

Yeah that's the thing though isn't it Ben. Neither of us know Simon Prast. We don't know whether or not it was simply costing…

A bit like Willie Apiata running for Mayor and the Herald referring to him as a pig-hunting farmer.

To be fair, I don't think Corporal Apiata would be standing for any political office while serving in the SAS and if he chose to do so in civilian life, he'd be…

I don't think past drug use would have much bearing on a person's ability to run a city. Surgeon, pilot, customs officer – yep. But mayor? Nah. It's not…

Or might genuinely want to expand their mind.

Yes. I've written here before about a particularly rewarding day on magic mushrooms at the Tate Gallery.

I honestly would love to see a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Roots of Desire For Oblivion.

I don't think everyone's aiming for Oblivion, at all. Sometimes, people might just want to have bigger fun.

why is it we drink to get drunk, smoke to get wasted, etc

I honestly would love to see a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Roots of Desire For Oblivion.

This is a question I've been waiting to hear asked in the news media as the debate over the…

he thought he'd be able to…

Let's face it, as teens and young adults, much of the partying is directed towards getting inebriated to the point of lack of control. Witness the…

it'd be quite nice if all candidates were willing to be voluntarily drug tested,

I am reminded yet again of the farsightedness of Iceland's Best Party, whose policies include a drug-free Parliament by 2020.

I don't think he stands a shit-show anyway.

Yeah I picked it as a preemptive cocktail party defensive excuse for losing. In terms of an opinion on the issue I'm also partial to Ben's;

I would ever let an issue of character that did not manifest in any known problems…

I don't think Simon Prast should run our new Super City. And now, as a result of his own forthrightness, it's almost certain he won't.

Regardless of the P use, I don't think he stands a shit-show anyway.Obviously he's a mover 'n' shaker in the arts / theatre scene, but…

Inhaling it is the dopamine-rat part — a hit so big and rich that the urge to do it again, then again, is irresistible for some people.

Indeed. It's why most people smoke pot rather than eat it, too. The difference is that they're likely to sleep more.

Just as…

This of course is not my sole voting criteria – "policy" is also useful, but having had a P habit in what can only have been the reasonably recent past is an automatic exclusion from receiving my vote.

I too would be wary, but the recent past would be relevant…

I think P is the insidious one, as control goes out the window when physically one can't keep the pace and after a while the mind and body break down if one continue

I think the means of administration is a big part of the issue. Inhaling it is the…

A bit like Willie Apiata running for Mayor and the Herald referring to him as a pig-hunting farmer.

Thing is, if he did run, he just could win. Disciplined, knows how to keep his mouth shut. Takes orders well. cares about man and country (ours). and..and photogenic!

Very. And I…

in his 40s deciding P is the best way to relieve stress and taking it to the point where it "was becoming an issue.

It's the scene. There is a social group that move in the same circle and actors go there(and hairdressers)As a social situation, one partakes, for pleasure.…

This of course is not my sole voting criteria – "policy" is also useful, but having had a P habit in what can only have been the reasonably recent past is an automatic exclusion from receiving my vote.

I would not ignore it, but there's no way I would ever…

Takes orders well. cares about man and country (ours). and..and photogenic

Yeah... he is a Mowwwwrie though. I just don't think the City of Sails is ready for that ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRpr6w3nU-8

It is always pretty hard to trust a user, whatever vice

I guess this sums it up for me…

If Obama had said he'd had a wee crack habit before deciding to run, I think we'd probably be looking at the first Female President of the USA.

I was under the impression admission of hard drug use no longer engendered the mandatory sex change in the U.S.

His admission of p-smoking had to be dragged out of him and you wonder how…

But neither of them called…

I found it embarrassing to listen to.

I'd trust your call on that one, Russell, and that's what we should be focused on — you know, that boring policy shit. And that's the point I was not making terribly well: You don't have to be some wide-eyed tweaker to think…

My next thought was that it would be broached in an interview with Carolyne Meng-Yee. And it…

But the question is whether, with the media environment around P, someone who admits to having had an "issue" with it can maintain credibility.

A matter of distance, surely.

The one with the glasses, or the one without the glasses?

Don't think alcohol is the issue here.;)
I'll get my coat.
FWIW, I like the one and truly honest bit of information that Simon Prast owned. Not the bullshit I had become used to hearing from other candidates

I'm not defending P in any way shape or form, but given my own rather messy relationship with alcohol (and the long unpleasant history of piss-head politicians) I don't know if an admitted history of drug (ab)use is an automatic credibility killer.

Certainly it shouldn't be, and each person has…

If Obama had said he'd had a wee crack habit before deciding to run, I think we'd probably be looking at the first Female President of the USA.

The one with the glasses, or the one without the glasses?

I don't think I'd be making the same claim if Prast had admitted smoking Pot, Craig. If Obama had said he'd had a wee crack habit before deciding to run, I think we'd probably be looking at the first Female President of the USA.

But Obama did admit to using…