Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: An unhelpful column about cannabis

Neil

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 11:06:37 +1300

In Auckand the child and adolescent community mental health service – the Kari Centre – currently has a 4 month waiting list to be seen.

Harm reduction should include adequate provision of mental health services for those most at risk but the government continues to starve acute care of resources.

Neil

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 08:07:07 +1200

Is drug abuse the same as addiction? Synthetic weed didn’t seem that addictive but caused a shed load of mental health issues within my family.

Good point. Synthetics and Meth are unlike most other drugs in that any level of use has high probability of producing dangerous situations for both…

Sacha

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 11:27:07 +1200

Dr Waseem Alzaher has written an op-ed: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cannabis-referendum/122728636/cannabis-referendum-the-real-cost-of-medicinal-cannabis--separating-fact-from-fiction

To think that New Zealand currently has readily available and affordable medicinal cannabis products is untrue and misleading. Medicinal cannabis products are not easily accessible and they are also unaffordable for those who need it.

Simon Armstrong

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 12:39:41 +1200

Is drug abuse the same as addiction? Synthetic weed didn’t seem that addictive but caused a shed load of mental health issues within my family.

I often wonder what would have happened back in the day if the government had gone with legal pot instead of synths as our countries…

Neil

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 10:03:30 +1200

Some thoughts on mental health and drugs and alcohol.

– having mental health and addiction lumped together as one service makes no sense and is counter productive. There is some overlap – dual diagnosis – but they are quite different specialties. It’s a bit like having a Diabetes and Asthma…

Simon Armstrong

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 09:40:48 +1200

Sacha, there is no point (and click) on mobile only touch so it may not be possible to edit posts on this site with a phone.

(Edit) I spoke too soon, edited from my phone.

Sacha

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 13:22:00 +1200

During the edit window (15 minutes, I think), point anywhere in your comment and the Edit link appears near the Reply one at the bottom right corner.

Not that there’s anyting wrong with typoes..

Dylan Mordaunt

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 23:36:13 +1200

Lol, not sure how to edit- wrote on my phone.

simon g

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 18:34:05 +1200

I suppose the number of people reading the Berl report – even a summary – will be dwarfed by the number seeing the utterly misleading Newshub twist on it tonight, selling it as "They Didn't Want You To Know". Along with the ridiculous vox pops.

Any hope that we really…

Sacha

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 12:12:29 +1200

munchies

linger

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 23:39:55 +1200

Alimentary, my dear Sacha.

Sacha

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 20:20:07 +1200

Lord knows which way that would go.

Simon Armstrong

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 15:55:51 +1200

Hi Dylan that is good to hear. Am also very glad we are not having a cannibal referendum this year :)

Dylan Mordaunt

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 13:29:50 +1200

Hi all,

NZMA does not represent the entire community of medical practitioners in NZ. This is a recurrent issue with the organisation recurrently misrepresenting it's membership. To quote a colleague recently:

"My understanding is that up to 3000 NZMA members are students as they get free membership when they join…

chris fowlie

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 13:19:24 +1200

Thanks for your work on this Russell. In response to some comments I'd just note that being a qualified medical doctor and being a GP are not the same thing. Yes Dr Hotu is qualified, but no, he does not appear to hold a current certificate to be a GP.…

Russell Brown

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 11:54:49 +1200

Dr Waseem here from Cannabis Clinic. I just wanted to clarify an error in your article. Dr Craig works solely for Cannabis Clinic and not Green Doctors. She has requested her name be removed for 2 months now.

Thank you Dr Waseem. I'll update the post.

Simon Armstrong

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 10:14:12 +1200

On reflection, the worst I can find in a sentence that begins with “I will leave it to you” is an unbecoming tone – hardly an example of unethical conduct.

What I find odd, is that the faith I had in the New Zealand medical community which led me to…

Neil

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 08:14:19 +1200

Can’t disagree with any of that!

Must be losing my touch.

linger

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:27:17 +1200

Depends what you mean by "colleagues" I guess.
Reading the article back, WA's comment is not an attack on Dr Craig's reputation: rather, it is a suggestion that the organisation Green Doctors might no longer be operating entirely within regulations without the in-house expertise Dr Craig had provided (unless there…

Simon Armstrong

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 19:58:21 +1200

Is that last sentence really necessary?

NZMA code of ethics states:

42. Doctors should avoid impugning the reputations of colleagues.

Sorry for being pedantic, I have just been reading up on the latest code of ethics in relation to another referendum which could be argued seeks to undermine the medical…

Waseem Alzaher

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 15:54:32 +1200

Dear Russell,

Nick Harris

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:30:55 +1200

Russell, FWIW: I just want to acknowledge the serious journalism you've done on the issue of cannabis law reform over the years, and the equally serious advocacy for same. IMO the high calibre of your contribution has raised the bar and forced the argument into a better place. So, thanks…

Worik

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 08:49:49 +1200

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/registration/register-of-doctors/doctor/hotu-mark-teahu/

He is a registered medical practitioner.

Does not mean he knows what he is talking about, or is not threatened by legalising cannabis....

linger

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 12:45:35 +1200

Have to hope they're getting the help they so clearly need.
Separating the substantive point from the invective, to demonstrate that disagreement per se is not a banning offense, and thus to negate WH's assertion:
I think WH was commenting that Hotu is on a register of GPs;
though see…

Russell Brown

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 10:16:06 +1200

Thanks guys. I felt uneasy about blocking someone for disagreeing with me, but you’re right.

Thing is, I do know who WH is – I actually helped him change his handle from full name to initials some years ago – and he doesn’t have any standing to question my credentials.

linger

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 18:25:51 +1200

If there is one consistent theme in WH’s collected postings, it is witch-hunting. (Maybe even the basis for their screen name.) Possibly best, then, to dismiss their misdirected sally upthread as just another witch-hunt; note the self-defeating futility of embarking on a pissing contest about credentials from behind a pseudonym;…

Alfie

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:48:14 +1200

If there was any way to block this WH person, I would. While today he's being an obnoxious prick his main role over years seems to be hijacking threads for his own extended rants. I’d rather just never hear from him ever again. Can we have a vote? Chur!

Russell Brown

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 09:47:25 +1200

It’s expensive and does not play well with the anti-psychiatry lobby but it’s an essential part of making harm reduction work.

Can't disagree with any of that!

One irony, of course, is that the local "No" campaign is bolstered by Scientology front operations who are very anti-psychiatry ...

Neil

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 06:37:48 +1200

Another well written piece on harm reduction.

One thing I’d like to add re mental health is there needs to be more action rather than words from the government on funding for acute mental health.

For a small number of people marijuana will cause a transient psychotic episode that will…

Simon Armstrong

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:21:57 +1200

I might also add that Dr Hotu’s claim to be a GP doesn’t seem to be true.

huh?

It does seem a bit odd to not have a practice, he only makes house calls.

Russell Brown

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 19:06:13 +1200

There’s something else going on today – maybe you’re watching it on television. Maybe you’ve been caught in the crossfire.

Could you possibly go and be a patronising twat somewhere else?

Russell Brown

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 19:02:40 +1200

As far as I know, you have no credentials or experience in medicine or in public health of any kind. You’re a music industry and radio guy who is on record as supporting the social supply of methamphetamine.

What you’re referring to is part of a podcast series where I…

WH

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 13:36:04 +1200

There's something else going on today – maybe you're watching it on television. Maybe you've been caught in the crossfire.

Don't vote for Donald Trump.

WH

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 13:27:58 +1200

You have a longstanding tendency to insult people who don’t agree with…

Russell Brown

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 12:54:00 +1200

I might also add that Dr Hotu’s claim to be a GP doesn’t seem to be true. And neither is his claim that his is “the ONLY [cannabis] clinic that has actual medical specialists” (Dr Craig also works with The Cannabis Clinic, for one thing). No one I’ve spoken to…

Russell Brown

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 12:49:32 +1200

I know your work from your days in student radio. Around 20% of university students drop out in their first year of study. I don’t think the culture you’ve created is respectful of the long term interests of young New Zealanders.

Oh, good grief. What a stupid, pompous thing to…

WH

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 12:19:58 +1200

You’ve quoted Dr Hotu as saying:

I’m concerned that many voters have been led to believe a cannabis referendum ‘Yes vote’ equals a ‘Yes’ for medicinal cannabis. This is not the case; patients already have access to medicinal cannabis. It’s legal under the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme and currently available via…

Daniel Noreally

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:08:41 +1200

Typo: "himself himself"

Please feel free to delete this comment.

Worik Stanton

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 08:30:13 +1200

There is some professional jealousy from the medical profession, IMO.

"contrast, another patient, who previously sourced their own weed for health reasons, was spending $400 a week." That is a lot of cannabis every week.

Brooke O

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 07:07:34 +1200

I'm hoping for some good, science and research based information from both sides. Both my brothers (decades apart in age, related to me but not to each other) developed episodes of psychosis through cannabis use. The effect on their life has been severe. One developed schizophrenia, the other is bipolar…

Blair Anderson

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 06:03:44 +1200

Were I A Doctor with the social imperative of public health best practice at the heart of my clinical experience I would see the dispalcement of harms of alcohol (and other potential drugs of misuse potential) and their evidential mental health contribution to the public health burden. I would also…

tussock

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 19:42:46 +1200

Was it not marked as an advertisement for his business, then?

Russell Brown

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 19:30:20 +1200

Yeah, I was really uncomfortable with some of the text on that website.

Sacha

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 18:59:40 +1200

I do not trust a practitioner with a year’s experience in the field who feels the need to make claims like “the ONLY clinic that has actual medical specialists” – when many are familiar with genuine local trailblazers like Dr Graham Gulbransen: https://www.cannabiscare.nz/

Public Address

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 18:59:39 +1200

Discussion from blog post.