Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: The Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill: pretty good so far

Strypey

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 12:17:33 +1300

> there needs to a substantial concurrent increase in mental health funding for areas which deal with the mental health issues associated with marijuana.

I agree that funding for mental health needs to increase, and some of the tax take from regulated cannabis businesses can and should be deployed that…

Strypey

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 12:01:43 +1300

> I hope its lower than that! $100 for 14g seems more reasonable to me

Regulated cannabis businesses – both cultivation and retail – will have to start paying normal business taxes (income, GST, PAYE for employees etc), and possibly a further luxury tax (like that on alcohol and tobacco),…

Strypey

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 11:52:05 +1300

> I wonder how many people will actually cast their votes on this basis? My pick is, not many. It certainly hasn't helped the Greens in the past.

In their first MMP election after leaving the Alliance the Greens only just scraped in over the 5% threshold on special votes,…

Craig Young

Sun, 05 Jan 2020 11:07:50 +1300

Meanwhile, on the dork side of the debate, FamF seems to be pontificating about nothing else. It seems to have concluded that they'll be heavily defeated when it comes to the decriminalisation of abortion and euthanasia referendum, so for once they're actually focusing on a specific issue. Supporters of reform…

linger

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 22:46:21 +1300

A little Googling finds a more detailed version of the graph on p24 of this report (PDF) — Global Commission on Drugs (2019), Classification of Psychoactive Substances
which further subclassifies the harms into
Crime and injury : Crime committed in order to acquire the substance, or increased risk of e.g.…

linger

Sun, 22 Dec 2019 19:38:27 +1300

Possibly also included in "harm to others" is theft committed to fund a drug habit, which is a "harm" that might be expected to be higher for more expensive drugs — which maybe helps explain heroin's ranking?

Neil

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 09:40:38 +1300

Do you have a link for that graph?

I’m curious to know how harm was defined. I find it hard to believe the harm from meth use is less than that for heroin.

Also if that harm takes into account fetal alcohol and P babies.

A relative who works in…

Simon Armstrong

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 08:55:47 +1300

Yup, laughing at complete nonsense sharing a big fat joint of (properly dried) cabbage with nerd friends are some of my favourite memories of a very uncool youth.

Alfie

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 15:47:29 +1300

Low grade leaf from male plants is more suitable for elderly...
I'm not certain that subjecting the elderly to such knowing indignity would serve much purpose. Watching a room full of oldies all saying, "It has no effect on me either" might be funny, but anything from male plants is…

Simon Armstrong

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 10:23:42 +1300

And so what’s going to happen when one dope grower, proudly with two big plants, discovers the neighbor growing a male plant over the fence, and its pollinating all over the place?

Low grade leaf from male plants is more suitable for elderly (and young people for that matter) so…

Worik Stanton

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 12:04:15 +1300

I am trying to work out what will and will not be criminal.
IANAL so I am hazy even on the precise definition of criminality.
But criminal/non-criminal is quite a divide. It is the speeding ticket Vs drunk driving divide.

Mike Skelton

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 23:44:13 +1300

I’ve just recently traveled back from Santa Barbara and had the experience of purchasing products from an up market dispensary ( https://www.thefarmacysb.com ). I thought I’d share the retail experience, which was certainly different from Amsterdam coffee shop.

I’ll say up front that the whole experience was great. To enter,…

tussock

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 13:50:04 +1300

You're allowed to share seed, you're not allowed to sell them without licence and if you have that licence you can't then gift or discount them.

Giving away plant matter from your personal stock is limited to 14g dry per person per day, and probably seeds will go in there…

Neil

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:59:45 +1300

Specifically, there needs to a substantial concurrent increase in mental health funding for areas which deal with the mental health issues associated with marijuana.

A small number of people develop drug induced psychosis from use and those with a psychotic disorder most often get a lot worse. The most at…

BenWilson

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 07:57:51 +1300

Reverse psychology? That might just work.

Neil

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 19:06:48 +1300

This is definitely a huge step forward in harm prevention in many ways.

I have a couple of concerns.

There’s been some comment that this will have a negative effect on gangs. That’s unlikely. The gangs have already moved into the manuka honey black market – a legal, rural product…

Jason Kemp

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 18:22:34 +1300

As a baker and a gardener I look forward to more interesting recipes and time in the garden.

I’d be hoping one of the outcomes of the changed supply dynamics might be a lowering of price and something more like the craft beer market where you can select from a…

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 13:28:41 +1300

Just spotted an amusing flaw in the no-advertising aspects:

52 Premises must have signs displaying opening hours
The holder of a consumption premises licence or a retail premises licence must
ensure that for each principal entrance to the premises there is displayed at all
times a sign attached to the…

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 13:23:20 +1300

But on the way there is going to be a phase where smaller suppliers that can’t necessarily be trusted are operating. In such cases, you have to inspect produce.

Mind you, section 48 requires harm and ingredients messaging to be on all packaging. Unless there is no packaging, I don't…

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 13:13:17 +1300

You can grow quite a large amount of cannabis with just two plants – especially outdoors.

Not in all seasons, though. So you can't get a continual harvest, and you're not allowed to store large amounts of dried product without a license. So producing entirely for yourself, entirely legally, would…

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 12:54:34 +1300

Ideally, you would want to germinate many, and then pick the best, but that strategy will definitely skirt the regulatory line.

Yes, I think the law should be amended to define what is a plant and it should not include seedlings and little clones (a maximum height seems like an…

Matthew Green

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 12:32:44 +1300

You can grow quite a large amount of cannabis with just two plants – especially outdoors. With feminized seeds, or even seeds from hermaphrodite pollinated plants, you can avoid issues with males as well. Ideally, you would want to germinate many, and then pick the best, but that strategy will…

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 12:31:52 +1300

I’m honestly not sure what this is supposed to achieve, or what actual harm would be done by allowing people to see what they’re buying.

Yes this has me stumped too. I guess they are saying it should not be easily visible to passers by or accidental visitors to the…

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 09:13:42 +1300

Mind you the casual home grower might not want big volume and low potency male plants might be a feature rather than a bug. A more likely problematic outcome for the careless gardener is forgetting to even harvest and finding dozens of plants in the garden the following year.

BenWilson

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:17:55 +1300

I wonder how many people will even bother to grow from seeds with a 2 plant limit. Around half of your plants that even manage to germinate will be the wrong sex and not useful. But if you clone your own plants then you will probably be in violation of…

Russell Brown

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 07:10:50 +1300

So I can grow my own in my old age, but can I buy seeds?

Yes, assuming they follow through on the Cabinet paper's recommendations, from a licensed supplier of seeds. And supposedly only from such a supplier. This is another hard-to-police thing: you're hardly going to stop people saving…

Paul Campbell

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 23:08:05 +1300

So I can grow my own in my old age, but can I buy seeds?

andin

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 17:59:58 +1300

(assuming retail prices are set around those in the current black market) of $150 to $200

I hope its lower than that!
$100 for 14g seems more reasonable to me

Shaun Lott

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:03:40 +1300

...anyone insisting that the tightly-regulated regime this bill describes would be more harmful than the completely unregulated status quo needs to read the damn thing again.

I think they just need to read that sentence again, tbh.

Shaun Lott

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:02:45 +1300

It would be possible to vote 'no' in the referendum, and vote for someone other than National, correct? :)

Nick Russell

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 13:32:38 +1300

Yes, and vice versa of course for Labour voters who really don't want cannabis legalised. I wonder how many people will actually cast their votes on this basis? My pick is, not many. It certainly hasn't helped the Greens in the past. I am pretty confident that National will have…

Mike Chiles

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 13:11:57 +1300

Anyone who wants to get this across the line has to not vote National even if that is who they usually vote for. If you are a cannabis user user and you vote National next year you are jeopardizing possible law reform and you are a traitor to the cause.

Russell Brown

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 12:13:37 +1300

I think driving lower consumption via legalization is a bit of a failed policy objective, however, driving lower rates of problematic use is far more achievable.

Agreed. A slight increase in overall incidence in exchange for a substantial reduction in overall harm is a reasonable expectation. But that's a harder…

Nick Russell

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 11:08:46 +1300

All of this would be fine the Government had actually passed the legislation and the referendum was going to be a binding one after which the new legislation would come into force. But it isn't. And it seems pretty likely at least for the time being that National will just…

Shane Le Brun

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 11:00:32 +1300

I think driving lower consumption via legalization is a bit of a failed policy objective, however, driving lower rates of problematic use is far more achievable.

A bright line test of 35% or 40% and above for products to become concentrates would do well, without outlawing them completely. For parallels…

Public Address

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 11:00:32 +1300

Discussion from blog post.