Hard News: More medical cannabis misadventure with the Ministry of Health (actually, probably with Crown Law)
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
I can almost forgive them, given that he had the creatine in his pockets in point bags
Don't see why - that may have been the best way of portioning out his daily dosage - tiny ziplok© bags do not a criminal make - they sell them at our local Bin Inn I've noticed.
Though I can imagine one might be able to sell a white powder in a tiny ziplok© bag to an unsuspecting punter (or munter) in the right (or wrong) circumstances...
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I've asked Attorney-General Chris Finlayson, Solicitor-General Una Jagose and the relevant Ministers (Health and Customs) to urgently disclose the legal advice that Dr Steward Jessamine of MinHealth waived legal privilege on when he advised on 10 January: "Advice has also been received that cannabis-based products cannot be considered lawfully supplied in the United States"... I've pointed out Chapter 4 para 4.64 of the Cabinet Manaul which makes clear that any legal privilege is lost if it is waived by disclosure of the content of the advice- and even by a statement such as "I have received legal advice and acted on it"
It appears the Ministry's new December 2016 policy was based on this advice and so it is important for transparency and confidence in public decision making that we can understand what exactly that advice said, and the reasons for it so we can all assess how robust it is. It is great news that the State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes is now overviewing compliance with the Official Information Act, so I've cc'd him in too. -
Hi, all!
If you get this in time, I'm going to do a live interview on Radio 1 tonight (Friday) at 9PM New Zealand time (midnight CA time) regarding my and my family's inexcusable and inhumane ordeal and treatment at the hands of NZ Customs and Immigration agents two weeks ago; please spread the word to any of your local buds (pun intended) who might find the story interesting.
As the outpouring of support for my situation indicates, it is crystal clear that both Kiwis and Americans believe not only that a grave injustice was committed by New Zealand's Customs and Immigration agents, but that the right and decent thing for the government to do in this case would be to offer a formal apology, offer a complimentary Business Class roundtrip for both me and my wife so we can actually take the vacation ruined by said agents (and compensate me for all of the expenses undertaken then unused by their agents' misguidedness), and -- most importantly -- erase the red mark from my passport that now unfairly and groundlessly labels me as a Drug Smuggler (again and for the record, I *DECLARED* my *medicine* both on the Customs arrival form and in person to the Customs agent who processed us; nothing else was found in our suitcases, and therefore, the accusation that I was smuggling drugs -- and the deportation itself and mark on my passport -- is completely without merit).
As of this writing and despite several assurances that my case is under review, I have yet to receive an apology or anything else directly from Minister Of Immigration Woodhouse; perhaps he'll respond in time for me to include said response in my interview (I continue to hold out hope that justice will in fact be done in this case, but so far, have been given no indication that such justice is even being considered).
Here's the link; I hope you can tune in: http://www.r1.co.nz/
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Fairfax story has Minister Dunne agreeing with Ministry line.
While there's a loophole in New Zealand's law that allows people to bring back 30 days worth of a prescribed drug from overseas - the law only applies to those drugs approved under federal, not state law, because border control is covered by federal law.
Elixinol isn't legal under federal law, so while Kiwis can pick up a prescription in places such as Colorado and California, taking it out of the country is illegal.
"It raises the possibility, and I can't say this absolutely, but I suspect on that basis that what we did in the Renton case was probably illegal, because he sourced Elixinol out of the US," Dunne said.
Mr Dunne approves of the story's veracity.
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