Hard News by Russell Brown

I'm presenting to at least five groups of elderly people (U3A, Probus etc.) over the next couple of months. I'm told I am pretty persuasive...

I'm presenting to at least five groups of elderly people (U3A, Probus etc.) over the next couple of months. I'm told I am pretty persuasive...

That's a good audience to talk to. They've signed up for knowledge.

There is an important difference between the way NZDF and the Horizon poll use the word controls.
Horizon are using 'controls' as a noun as in "Here are some regulatory controls (rules) for cannabis".
NZDF say control (verb - action word) as in "We will control cannabis"

Using the verb 'control' is not as useful as it will never be possible to 'control' a plant which grows as easily as cannabis does. We can't even 'control' pine trees!
However, it is correct to talk about 'controls' in reference to the referendum, as (of course) the legislation is full of regulatory controls.

It would be interesting to see the age breakdown of National voters with this. Just how much of an aging party are they?

As a modest spokesman for the (just) over 65s I'm a little taken aback. While you'd traditionally expect older people to be more conservative, we're the generation who grew up rebelling, smoking dope and giving most things a shot. For that reason I would have expected if not a full-on vote for legalisation, at least a more relaxed attitude towards cannabis.

There's been well-reported support from some Grey Power groups and for good reason. The older you get, the more little niggles like arthritis change your life in subtle ways. Cannabis is a pretty ideal drug for dealing with low-level pain because it sends it to the background with only happy side effects. And not an opioid in sight. Not all, but most friends around my age are smokers but maybe that's just because we tend to hang out with like-minded souls. We self-select our friends.

Cardiom has a point. Even if they stretched credibility to its limit by portraying Paula Benefit as an anti-drug warrior, National's ongoing scare tactics will have an effect. Their people will probably vote tribally and it's a pity National couldn't put aside party politics to cooperate on an important health and social issue.

So while there may be a bit of National bias to that poll, if that's the case it'll likely be reflected at the referendum.

I'm in the 60s+ age group and I would think most of my cohort would be relatively happy for "legalising cannabis for personal use". But there are always fringe elements keen on protecting some conservative angle.

I hope at the very least that the changes help with scientific research into these topics. It does seem like there are a range of potential medical benefits including better sleep and who doesn't want that ?