Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Illegal Tender

BenWilson

Fri, 03 May 2013 07:44:38 +1200

Besides, these are the people who, without prohibition, would be growing their own, instead of paying for it, but they're stuck in the city looking for a job, so they have to buy it.

I think poor people who like dope would grow it, for sure. But so would anyone…

Strypey

Fri, 03 May 2013 01:43:54 +1200

Earth to David Fergusson: Cannabis is less dangerous than tobacco:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460313000257

Tobacco is legal. Cannabis is illegal. Explain again why you are not either supporting cannabis legalization, or calling for prohibition of tobacco? Oh yes, confirmation bias. Maybe you need to see a pschologist...

Strypey

Fri, 03 May 2013 01:20:54 +1200

That video looks like something from the Onion. Suspicious hamster is suspicious...

Strypey

Fri, 03 May 2013 01:11:32 +1200

@Ross Bell
That's a fascinating article, but it does frustrate me when journos make things up:
"The policy implications are unexpected. Quite apart from any other effects, decriminalisation could have a significant negative economic impact on vulnerable regions. Eliminating the risk of prosecution would drive the price of cannabis through…

Rob Stowell

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:07:00 +1200

“what is he on?”
http://youtu.be/NNqPy7SH88E
:)

Steve Barnes

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:48:44 +1200

I laughed at Senior Sargent Tim Anderson –

Whenever I see a cop on tv
it strikes me that something is wrong
the the words that they speak could almost be Greek
And I wonder... "what is he on?"

Kumara Republic

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 01:55:35 +1200

Every time I see a quixotic policeman standing proudly by a burning pile of marijuana I laugh

Billy T came up with the idea years before this – it's at the end of Billy T: Te Movie – but I couldn't find it on YouTube or NZ On Screen. So…

"chris"

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:58:24 +1200

The fruit and produce never seems to scan properly at my local supermarket, your teenage daughter invariably ends up having to input the code manually, waste of stickers if you ask me.

Russell Brown

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:23:07 +1200

Got this by email:

I am a high-functioning marijuana user

Following Russell brown's suggestion, I tuned in to last week's native affairs report on the informal marijuana industry and its role in rural Maori communities. As usual, the arguments for decriminalisation stacked up so well that the defenders of prohibition…

Stephen Judd

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:47:39 +1200

Watched it. Could have been twice as long from my POV, there was a lot that could have been dug into further.

For example: if we did have legalisation/decriminalisation of small-scale cultivation, what happens to those small subsistence growers? Their current returns are only as high as they are because…

Russell Brown

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:39:13 +1200

[ [2116-22-7-04_REJOICE.jpeg] ] sorry not up to speed with posting images

It's not you, probably. There's an issue with image uploads at the moment.

Morgan Nichol

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:53:10 +1200

Maori Television have made Illegal Tender available on their website:
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/national/native-affairs-illegal-tender

tonyH

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:27:31 +1200

Was there through the Thatcher chapter. Nearly bought our council house for a price which the market would have quadrupled in the next five years – saved from a lifelong sense of guilt by an urgent return to an unrecognisable yet somehow familiar Rogernomical NZ (will we dance on his…

Ross Bell

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:08:00 +1200

Agree with Russell:
There has to be a better way than this.

@Hirini and Hone et al, I reckon there's a lot of agreement with your POV re the harms, and therefore it shouldn't be too difficult finding consensus on a drug policy that works to prevent and reduce those…

Brodie Davis

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:59:47 +1200

But how is sending kids or young parents to jail for dealing weed making stronger whanau? When punishments cause more harm than the crime, it's time to consider other options.

Hirini Kaa

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:20:33 +1200

Kia ora Sacha!

Hirini Kaa

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:17:55 +1200

Kia ora. Yes prosecutions of teenagers is nuts in setting up long term crises. But, many of those kids probably had weed on them or were using. That's a problem too, obviously. Dysfunctional whanau don't need easier access to more dysfunction. Without stronger whanau we're stuffed anyway.

Sacha

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:30:04 +1200

Welcome to the neigbourhood, Rev. :)

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:47:48 +1200

I think there’s more win in saying “take all the harms you see caused by abuse, and ask yourself how they compare to the social harms caused by prohibition.”

Or better yet, saying: "These are the harms caused by cannabis abuse. Prohibition doesn't curb them — in fact, it makes…

Stephen Judd

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:38:07 +1200

I can’t see why Hone and others don’t realise that prohibition isn’t effectively stopping marijuana’s availability

I think most prohibition advocates know that. I imagine they fear the situation would be even worse without prohibition. We need to show them the examples from elsewhere in the world where decriminalisation has…

Myles Thomas

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:19:12 +1200

I can’t see why Hone and others don’t realise that prohibition isn’t effectively stopping marijuana’s availability. Just that you have to buy it from dodgy dealers (who may try to sell you P too) rather than licensed premises. Dope’s ubiquitous so while it may be ‘destroying lives’, the law is…

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:33:47 +1200

Kia ora Russell. Long time reader, first time responder :)

Kia ora!

Placed back into the context of communities locked in a struggle for survival, it’s easy to see why he doesn’t toe the progressive line. Cannabis is an added burden on communities that have little ability to absorb yet…

greenlove33

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:16:32 +1200

Haha yes. Sorry Geoff! I guess because I'm always defending the issue its become the default. My apologies!! I am really looking forward to Native Affairs tonight, it should be a good debate. And Game of Thrones episode 2 so win-win!!

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:09:59 +1200

I am just wondering why this is sad news?

But Geoff said "saw news", not "sad news". Blurry eyes, dude? ;-)

DexterX

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:07:21 +1200

Was meant to be somewhere else.

greenlove33

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:48:50 +1200

I am just wondering why this is sad news? The decriminalization of all drugs 10 years ago in Portugal has had very positive effects for the country as a whole!

http://www.alternet.org/story/151635/ten_years_ago_portugal_legalized_all_drugs_--_what_happened_next

I personally believe regulating cannabis so it is prescribed by a doctor and is under some form of control,…

Geoff Lealand

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:00:56 +1200

Saw news today of a Pew Foundation survey which reported that 52% of Americans support decriminalisation of possession.

Hirini Kaa

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:43:21 +1200

Kia ora Russell. Long time reader, first time responder :)

It's interesting people are occasionally surprised by Hone's social views. They are only conservative/surprising if taken out of context, ie dropped into in the progressive media/blogosphere. Placed back into the context of communities locked in a struggle for survival, it's…

linger

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:52:09 +1200

It does bring to mind the Freakonomics question "Why do so many crack dealers still live with their parents?", with a similar answer: for the vast majority of those involved in the operation, it wasn't sufficiently profitable for anything above subsistence.

BenWilson

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:03:37 +1200

Half made a net financial gain and the other half a loss.

LOL, that does make sense. How many dealers aren't also heavy users?

Kumara Republic

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:27:12 +1200

But that’s only part of a perfect storm, because Maori also suffer disproportionately from the health effects of cannabis use. Marijuana’s legal status makes them harder to help. And if they incur a conviction, they’re less likely to be able to secure legitimate employment in regions where jobs are already…

Ross Bell

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:54:45 +1200

This looks like a damn interesting viewing.

We wrote this piece about the cannabis market a few years ago. It shows that the economy is always overstated, e.g.
Dealers spent an average of $5,988 each on cannabis over the previous year. Half made a net financial gain and…

Public Address

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:54:45 +1200

Discussion from blog post.