Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: UMR: Medpot and the public

Tom Johnson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 19:46:34 +1300

It’s a medicine unstudied , blackmarket Pot is not easy for some. Of course alcohol is an upper drug with sometimes violent depressive comedowns. Drugs are primarily medicinal. something to get through the day. Coffee is cool. for some.

Sacha

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 19:32:05 +1300

it's arguable in its infancy as a human pain relief.

not in other cultures – millenia of practice-based evidence.

Russell Brown

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 19:01:00 +1300

Doses and plant, will keep Unis busy for decades very soon.

Hell yes. The two studies on 50-50 THC/CBD in treatment of glioma (a fast-growing, very hard to treat brain tumour) are just the tip.

Then there are the other cannabinols. And then the terpenes. It's a hell of a…

Tom Johnson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 18:49:19 +1300

It’s a carbon thing, we are particularly good at studying this stuff. Hypothetically imagine taking a low dosage of a variant of a mild type from extensive crossbreeds of a plant to placate a moody irrational feeling. ,a headache or a cold that has decimated your pain barrier for civil…

BenWilson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 18:41:44 +1300

Well I'm willing to say that at the barest minimum it should be sold on its medical benefits. Believing in that people shouldn't be suffering excruciating pain in the presence of an extremely simple and cost effective pain relief method, doesn't require anywhere near so many leaps as believing in…

Tom Johnson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 17:36:26 +1300

Of course it will eat into some else’s profits, so expect extreme lobbying. It needs to be sold on its medical benefits, social users , just another breed.

BenWilson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 17:16:24 +1300

The high level of support amongst Labour and Green voters does rather suggest that it could be a sound thing to suggest as Labour policy. OK, they might not get the swing voter that's bitter on pot. But they might pick up the swing voter that likes it. Seriously, when…

BenWilson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 17:08:15 +1300

Since 58% of Wellingtonians support legal weed, can't we have it just for us, with some sort of pass system to stop people from other areas coming to buy it?

I'd go for that, even though it's unfair. Obviously, it would work like a trial.

Tom Johnson

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 17:03:21 +1300

Pot is a herb. Like wine and cooking the base plant and then the processing needs to be studied in order to optimise a production of a variety of reliefs. It needs to be qualified by dose and frequency, it's arguable in its infancy as a human pain relief. Doses…

Russell Brown

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 13:38:30 +1300

Phillips Matthews in Stuff on Peter Dunne as the quiet drug reform visionary.

Interesting interview. Dunne does tend to avoid addressing his prohibitionist days, but there's no doubting his views have evolved considerably.

And, unlike nearly all other current MPs, he's prepared to talk about reform. The clowns who routinely…

Alfie

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 11:48:40 +1300

Phillips Matthews in Stuff on Peter Dunne as the quiet drug reform visionary.

Russell Brown

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 11:05:45 +1300

The Herald's lead story today:

Pike River widow Anna Osborne is set to self-medicate with medicinal marijuana – even if the move turns her into a criminal.

Mrs Osborne, 50, lost her husband, Milton – the father of their two children – in the 2010 mining tragedy on the West Coast.…

Russell Brown

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 11:02:13 +1300

The Press’s editorial today:

What a realistic policy needs to do is remove the criminal element from the equation. This is why the Netherlands’ policy on soft drugs has stumbled – Amsterdam’s coffee shops may be able to sell up to 5 grams of cannabis per person per day but…

Russell Brown

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 18:50:52 +1300

From the NZ Law Society website:

This is part of how momentum gathers. The researchers are interested, the doctors are interested, the lawyers are interested. The politicians can't refuse to discuss it for ever.

Lisa Black

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:05:27 +1300

From the NZ Law Society website:

Major developments around the world in cannabis decriminalisation and legalisation along with the growing medical marijuana business has resulted in the establishment of a website devoted to cannabis law.

Cannabis Law Report has the objective of reporting on the law and regulation of cannabis…

Kumara Republic

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 02:15:02 +1300

Update: I’ve read the whole column. Sweet Jesus. It’s almost an achievement to be that wildly, consistently wrong.

Larry really is trying a bit too hard to be Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly.

nzlemming

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 17:56:44 +1300

wasn't there a scenario in which commercial interests run marketing campaigns

This is in there with the "Philip Morris is just waiting for it to be legal!" camp. Experience shows that these scenarios have little to no basis in reality. Alcohol is already marketed to kids, whether deliberately, with alco-pops…

James Littlewood*

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 16:31:53 +1300

Legal pot in Colorado

Notwithstanding the positives, wasn't there a scenario in which commercial interests run marketing campaigns that basically align pot with booze, which not only thrives on addiction, but addiction among youngsters?

Can't see myself voting for that in a hurry.

James Littlewood*

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 16:28:52 +1300

I liked Ross Bell of the Drug Foundation on Morning Report (I think) yesterday. The argument that the more harmful the drug, the stronger the need for health assistance to the user, the stronger the argument for decriminalisation (or legalisation) so that the best help can be got to the…

Russell Brown

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:11:22 +1300

Right winger Larry Williams takes this myth to a whole new level.

If its legal, it’s cheaper, and it stands to reason more drugs will be consumed, more young people will experiment. It follows that more consumption means more addicts, and more crime.

Like most of his talk radio brethren,…

Alfie

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 14:51:03 +1300

Larry Williams is not the only person who is happy to ignore facts and go along with his gut feeling. When Colorado proposed legalising recreational sales back in 2012, a local sheriff made this prediction.

“Expect more crime, more kids using marijuana and pot for sale everywhere,” Douglas County Sheriff…

Alfie

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:39:50 +1300

While it’s good to hear O’Connor supporting the Colorado approach, he gets away with claiming that…

…people would use more drugs if the law was liberalised…

"So you get the worst of both worlds, where you get all the increased use, but you don’t decrease the damage to society.

But…

Russell Brown

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 12:08:05 +1300

I had heard that Police Association president Greg O'Connor was going to make an outright call for drug legalisation and regulation, but he seems to have lost his nerve at the last moment. Still, interesting ...

Association president Greg O'Connor told Morning Report that any liberalisation of drug laws needed…

Russell Brown

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 12:05:35 +1300

Colorado model seems to be working the best so far in US states that have legalised. Think this is because recreational retail system was based upon a pre-existing and well functioning medical retail system.

Yep, I think this is very much why. They were already doing things like bar-coding and…

Corin H

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 11:43:37 +1300

some sort of pass system

A tax on buyers from other regions would do nicely.

In Colorado, buyers from outside the state can only purchase 1/4 oz at a time whereas residents can buy 1 oz.

Colorado model seems to be working the best so far in US states that…

Russell Brown

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 11:18:04 +1300

I'd be much more optimistic about Norml with Chris Fowlie back at the helm than ALCP, who seem determined to pick the wrong fights. But I do think their cause is being helped by others entering the debate.

Craig Young

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 09:41:13 +1300

At least this'll make it easier to decriminalise medipot as a first step- that is, when NORML and ALCP get real about reform and stop faffing around doing civil disobedience in defence of recreational use instead getting medical use penalties off the statute books first. Why does New Zealand have…

Sacha

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 21:55:03 +1300

just ask if they want a single shot

Trevor Nicholls

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 21:31:27 +1300

some sort of pass system

A tax on buyers from other regions would do nicely.

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 21:02:08 +1300

Since 58% of Wellingtonians support legal weed, can't we have it just for us, with some sort of pass system to stop people from other areas coming to buy it?

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 19:56:34 +1300

This set-piece between Kevin Hague and Peter Dunne in Question Time today – and lets face it, they both know what's going on – is pretty awesome.

https://youtu.be/kSJ5EKqebuM

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 19:32:53 +1300

The Checkpoint report, story and audio.

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 19:30:53 +1300

I could not have put it better, Cameron.

Cameron Price

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 19:06:12 +1300

Totally agree. The policy of police decriminalisation by stealth makes the law even more unfair for the very unfortunate few who do still get pinged. Especially because they're often people who are the least able to protect themselves against police discretion, as you say. The police wouldn't dare arrest Helen…

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 18:55:19 +1300

It’s worth noting that for an overwhelming majority of cannabis users, their use is de facto decriminalised.

This is true. The police have basically begun to unilaterally practice decriminalisation, because the politicians are too scared to do it.

The problem is that this kindness does not appear to be spread…

Cameron Price

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 18:25:45 +1300

It's worth noting that for an overwhelming majority of cannabis users, their use is de facto decriminalised.

Last year there were just 2,840 convictions for possession and/or use of cannabis. Compare that with the estimated 400,000 people who used cannabis in the last 12 months. Less than 1% of cannabis…

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:08:20 +1300

And, importantly, the slide on methodology.

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:06:46 +1300

Here are those slides again, so you can embiggen them for easier reading.

Public Address

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:06:46 +1300

Discussion from blog post.