Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: The Scientology front operation behind the "No" campaign on cannabis

Shep Cheyenne

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 18:24:53 +1200

Scientology turned up at Civil Defense Centre post Earthquakes offering counseling. As they were not accredited they were turned away, but as true believers do kept turning up.

That said I come from a long line of wowsers (prohibitionists) and am not sure which way to vote.

Julian Buchanan

Sun, 05 Jul 2020 11:03:44 +1200

Indeed, well said.
I welcome genuine carefully considered evidence based debates from anyone, regardless of which country they are from – but inviting over disingenuous people who peddle ideology and propaganda on important issues is foolish and dangerous. I said at the time. when they invited Sabet to NZ Cannabis…

Matthew Elrod

Sun, 05 Jul 2020 07:53:22 +1200

https://youtu.be/e3ypOmEDcSQ

Matthew Elrod

Sun, 05 Jul 2020 07:50:14 +1200

Thanks.

Again, I don't think gathering foreign perspectives is a bad thing per se. The Canadian Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation invited Americans and visited states that have legalized to fact find and learn best practices, successes and mistakes. The house and senate committees gathered input from far…

Julian Buchanan

Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:05:51 +1200

The New Zealand Drug Foundation had invited Kevin Sabet to speak at the first Cannabis conference some years earlier – so inviting him a second time is indeed perplexing – but as you say they also invited Mark Kleiman and Wayne Hall from the International Narcotics Control Board!

I'm quite…

Matthew Elrod

Sat, 04 Jul 2020 03:22:39 +1200

What were the arguments for inviting Sabet to speak?

I noticed Sabet referred to Mark Kleiman, an American drug policy wonk, in the audience. Wayne Hall from Australia was among other foreign speakers invited. Sabet debated anti-prohibitionist Steve Rolles of Transform, UK.

Surely foreign perspectives can be valuable (I'm Canadian),…

Russell Brown

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 14:08:38 +1200

It gets worse: Paula Bennett and the Scientology leaflets.

Joe Boden

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 16:31:09 +1200

Justice, science, and health are all involved; we are now re-evaluating the relative weights given to those approaches, and allowing science, rather than moral panic or political grandstanding, to inform health and justice to a greater extent than has been evident in much of the preceding century. Such a reappraisal…

linger

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 10:57:24 +1200

Joe Wylie

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 10:32:48 +1200

L Ron Hubbard’s ‘Fear’ inspired Philip K Dick to do what he did…
Maybe, though Dick's driving forces were certainly broader than he gives Hubbard credit for. Apart from his own personal "episodes" there's the semi-autobiographical Confessions of a Crap Artist. His only non-scifi work, its major theme is wilful…

Mark Champion

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 10:01:21 +1200

Maybe because he was here in 2013 in lets call it the Dunne era.

Mark Champion

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 09:58:52 +1200

Family First New Zealand annual returns totals
2013 $397,534
2014 $488,695
2015 $455,330
2016 $341,947
2017 $434,918
2018 $616,067
2019 $736,778
You notice the massive upswing in donations when he started this anti cannabis rant.
https://www.register.charities.govt.nz/CharitiesRegister/ViewCharity?accountId=4bba90db-db89-dc11-98a0-0015c5f3da29&searchId=c7a973bc-8ecb-4e3c-95e2-8cd6d279e3d1#supportingDocumentsTab

Ben Austin

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 09:58:09 +1200

Scientology front groups seem to be how they operate everywhere. Apparently the best approach is to be relentless in exposing them to the public or decision maker (if not the public).

So hopefully public knowledge of connection will become widespread

Andre

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 23:33:57 +1200

The law is wrong. We saw the huge numbers lining up to buy legal highs and it looked like most of them formerly smoked weed. What we are currently doing is criminalising a large group of society for no reason. 52% of New Zealanders aged 15 – 45 admit to…

Alfie

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 21:01:45 +1200

And Russell. Thanks for putting this together and doing your bit to keep the evil forces away from our referendum. Much appreciated as usual.

Now I'm off to read the Spinoff story about Aaron Banks playing cutesy with NZ First. Does NZ First really need another RWNJ scandal when they…

Alfie

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 17:59:44 +1200

L Ron Hubbard’s ‘Fear’ inspired Philip K Dick to do what he did…

O'K Ian. You made me look it up.
In a letter to Peter Fitting written on June 11, 1970, Dick wrote: “What I am writing is really psychological fantasies, on the order of L. Ron Hubbard’s Fear,…

Alfie

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 17:41:50 +1200

I disagree with your disagreement. It's about health, not justice.

I also disagree with Simon's disagreement. While "justice" has taken the lead for over 50 years, treat drugs as a health problem and justice naturally follows. And if our little country has learned one really important lesson lately, it's that…

Russell Brown

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 17:06:49 +1200

The pro’s and con’s of the cannabis referendum needs to be informed by science and evidence

I disagree. The referendum is about justice. Nobody is suggesting recreational drug use is in anyway scientifically good for peace of mind, sense of well being, quality parenting, better driving, improved coordination, short sentences,…

Paul Campbell

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 16:38:54 +1200

Man that is so out there , the sort of thing you could well hear from a really really stoned person .

You're not far from the truth, reportedly Hubbard developed a pills and booze habit some time in the late 60s and had to be locked up while he…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 15:59:48 +1200

L Ron Hubbard's 'Fear' inspired Philip K Dick to do what he did...

Johann Schoonees

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 15:26:31 +1200

I disagree with your disagreement. It's about health, not justice. See the evidence: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/10-06-2020/what-40-years-following-thousands-of-nz-people-tells-us-about-cannabis-harm/

Richard Aston

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 15:15:30 +1200

our real problems are that we’re all haunted by murdered space aliens

Man that is so out there , the sort of thing you could well hear from a really really stoned person .

Simon Armstrong

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 14:03:23 +1200

The pro’s and con’s of the cannabis referendum needs to be informed by science and evidence

Julian Buchanan

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 13:42:29 +1200

The pro's and con's of the cannabis referendum needs to be informed by science and evidence – not by the dubious ideologically driven propaganda peddled by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and their President Kevin Sabet.

We don't welcome SAM's questionable contribution to this cannabis referendum, but unfortunately their President,…

John McKinnon

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 13:41:07 +1200

Thanks for this Russell. I'm glad somebody with your good sense is playing a high profile role in this campaign. The actual wording of the referendum which emphasises taking control will hopefully work in favour of best practice.

Paul Campbell

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 11:58:51 +1200

This is just standard operating practice for Scientology – they have long had a thing about being in competition with Psychology/Psychiatry and the drugs that they prescribe … and as an extension all drugs.

NZ actually held a government inquiry into scientology in the late 60s by Sir Guy Powles…

Russell Brown

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 11:39:41 +1200

It seems worth noting that the Church of Scientology has also been exploiting the Covid crisis by distributing bogus leaflets in Auckland. They contain a QR code that links to a Scientologist "course".

Joe Boden

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 11:15:11 +1200

These developments are genuinely alarming. I'm pleased there was a One News story about this last night – New Zealanders will rightfully hate the idea of US-based political interference in our referendum. And yes, I'm aware of the irony. ;)

Public Address

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 11:15:11 +1200

Discussion from blog post.