Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Always asking the wrong questions about cannabis

Craig Young

Sun, 03 Mar 2019 11:56:55 +1300

The prison abolitionist group People Against Prisons Aotearoa is holding a symposium on drug policy reform:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1903/S00014/expert-panel-holding-public-discussion-of-drug-law-reform.htm

The panel will be on the top floor of the Auckland Central Library from 1pm, on Sunday 3rd of March. MP Chlöe Swarbrick of the Green Party and Sandra Murray of the Cannabis…

Craig Young

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 14:00:35 +1300

Why does the raving right have so much contempt for substantive representative democratic institutions? And the concept of a written constitution, too.

Craig Young

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 13:58:08 +1300

McCoskrie does this, though. He wouldn't know mainstream professional expertise and evidence-based substantive science if he tripped over it in the dark.

andin

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 13:32:05 +1300

Steve Baron comes across as a right dick.
The last sentence has some very telling language.

“In 1841, Charles Mackay wrote a very famous book that is mandatory reading for anyone in the investment industry.

In 1843 a more famous book was published that had longer lasting consequences, but looking…

linger

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 21:43:09 +1300

Speculation about price doesn't seem a major part of the “reeferendum” campaign so far; the focus is much more on harm reduction (compared to harm resulting from criminalisation). Andin’s “cart before the horse” comment seems correct insofar as the shape of the potential decriminalised market is still up for debate…

william blake

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 17:34:45 +1300

I don't think I deserve that response.

andin

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 16:54:30 +1300

You appear to have it all worked out so whats the point. Predicting the future is not my forte. Let us all know when that flood of "budget bud" arrives would ya.
And you said free market I was just quoting you. If its become a euphemism, its because no…

william blake

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 15:44:03 +1300

Thats called putting the cart before the horse.

The idea is that a black market charges more because the illicit nature of the activity comes with high risks, so a legal/decrim paradigm would assume a drop in price. However the trope that people smoke dope regardless of the legislation surrounding…

william blake

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 15:33:50 +1300

Is that what you mean by "free market"?

I'm just tired of putting speech marks around every euphemism.

andin

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 14:41:53 +1300

My question is what will happen to the street price of marijuana;

Thats called putting the cart before the horse.

prohibition on home growing (similar to the prohibition on growing tobacco)to keep the tax take high and a free market profitable.
They can always try it. But whos going to…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 11:30:22 +1300

and then there’s this:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/110703699/referendums-provide-balance-in-a-democracy

OPINION: While New Zealand may indeed be one of the most democratic nations in the world, there is always room for improvement. Surely, as a society, we must strive to improve our democracy and encourage more involvement in the decision-making process from as many New…

william blake

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 09:18:08 +1300

I get the idea that the ebb and pull of a tax on ganja would need to keep it relatively expensive (a.) for public health by limiting intake economically (b.) to keep the legislators sweet by providing enough tax to pay for mental health services and pop up music festivals.…

linger

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 08:33:31 +1300

"stealth” […] slipped into a number of […] National Party attacks Sneaky word, acting by itself, by stealth!

Trevor Nicholls

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 03:53:01 +1300

Off topic, but I think Farrar must have found that "stealth" polls well because it's slipped into a number of different National Party attacks recently.

andin

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 23:43:11 +1300

Family First has been bragging that it’s bringing Berenson

The author of a factually incorrect book on a contentious topic is coming to talk, I imagine, to people who are looking to have their bias confirmed. The author's previous contributions to literature consists of spy fiction. I dont know whether…

nzlemming

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:09:44 +1300

Anyone interested in correcting a wrong, please pass on to Duncan.

That would assume that Duncan actually reads anything other than his producer's bullet points. When you're shafting your producer on air because you don't know what you're talking about, you've really lost the "debate" right there.

mildgreens

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 13:35:54 +1300

re Duncan Garner/Chloe S'brick 'clash'

Clarity around this issue, while well argued from a political dimension (tx. Chloe) often misses the point when old information (Duncan's research) isnt clearly explained such as that around young people and mental health risks associated with cannabis. The pretence given legs by MSM that…

Hugh Wilson

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 13:07:43 +1300

Perhaps Graeme Hill could explain Headband's 'The laws must change to' Duncan

That 'break' from ~8.40 in the clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yFpBdOzsyk

andin

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 19:11:03 +1300

I dont know or want to know Duncan Garner’s age, tho I’m sure wisdom has never, nor will ever come knocking on his doorstep, judging by the drivel that pours forth from his mind.
Dammit now i know!

simon g

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 18:30:48 +1300

I watched that Garner/Swarbrick interview live. I strongly recommend it as Exhibit A every time somebody says that Chloe is too young to understand stuff and has no real life experience and we should only have MPs who have "lived", because obviously extra decades outside the womb automatically leads to…

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 17:54:32 +1300

But revenue collection is surely a consequence rather than an aim of the legislation?

I think so too. But it's also a consequence of shifting the trade away from the black market, which seems to be what's not happening in California.

Shaun Lott

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 16:25:40 +1300

It's certainly true that Colorado collected more tax revenue than they expected... and the conundrum of federal banking legislation prevented small business retailers from commercially banking their proceeds.

But revenue collection is surely a consequence rather than an aim of the legislation?

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 15:42:12 +1300

Seventy five scholars and clinicians have signed a letter condemning the “junk science” in ‘Tell Your Children’, Alex Berenson’s alarmist new book about cannabis.

Family First has been bragging that it's bringing Berenson to New Zealand.

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 15:05:05 +1300

This is the study that Chloe mentioned was forthcoming: a big meta-analysis that finds that tougher policies do not deter young people from using cannabis.

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 14:56:24 +1300

Sigh …

Public Address

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 14:56:24 +1300

Discussion from blog post.