A rift has opened between Act Party leader Don Brash and his most important election candidate over the decriminalisation of marijuana.
Brash is calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis , saying prohibition of the drug has not worked.
Act has previously run a tough anti-drugs policy and his comments surprised other parties.
They also appear to have surprised John Banks, a former police minister in the National government, who is Act's candidate in Epsom and has to win it to ensure the party stays in Parliament.
"I've always been opposed to drugs and I always will be opposed to drugs," Banks said on Radio New Zealand.
"It isn't party policy and I can't see myself walking into Parliament to support the Greens in decriminalising marijuana."
Banks is expected to win Epsom because National will campaign only for the party vote in the electorate.
He is Act's lifeline, because under MMP holding an electorate
seat means a party doesn't have to reach the 5% threshold of the
party vote to get seats for list MPs - and Brash is first on its
list.
ACT is polling well below 5% at present.
'Step in wrong direction'
Earlier Monday Prime Minister John Key also disagreed with Brash,
saying it was a step in the wrong direction.
"I think you go and ask the police officers of New Zealand, go and ask the parents whether or not they want their 18-year-old child smoking a joint before they head off to school," Key told TV ONE's Breakfast.
There is no place for drugs in our society, Key said.
"I'm sorry but that's the thing that leads to criminal activity, it leads to people's brains being fried and it's a drug that takes them on to other drugs."
Brash said there are "all kinds of things you can do" to restrict the use of cannabis.
"I'm not encouraging its use; I'm simply saying criminalising it has not worked," Brash told TV ONE's Q+A programme.
Brash said he has never been tempted to use marijuana or any other kind of drug, but the reality is the present law is not working.
He said it is estimated there are 400,000 New Zealanders using cannabis "on a fairly regular basis", 6,000 people are prosecuted every year over cannabis and $100 million of taxpayers' money is being used to police this law.
"It isn't working. The Law Commission has said it isn't working, the Global Commission on Drug Policy says it isn't working, I mean it's now recognised it ain't working."
But Key disagrees.
"The police take a considered view on these matters they don't take necessarily arrest everybody on Saturday night they catch with marijuana," Key said.
Justice Minister Simon Power's position on the issue has also been very blunt.
Earlier this year he said as long as he was Minister of Justice there would not be a single, solitary chance that drug laws in this country would be relaxed.
A recent UK Government-commissioned report found that a single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40% and taking the drug regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.
A Christchurch Health and Development study found that "dopey driving" was more common than drink-driving.
Support for Brash
There is some support for Brash's thinking, with the National Addiction Centre welcoming the call for another look at cannabis laws.
Centre director Doug Sellman said he welcomes a change to the cannabis laws "but no psychoactive recreational drug is completely safe".
Professor Sellman said there is a problem in having the drug prohibited and yet used by thousands of New Zealanders on a relatively frequent basis.
The recent Law Commission Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act has encouraged public discussion about drugs from a health perspective rather than just as a criminal justice issue, Sellman said.\
What do you think? Should cannabis be decriminalised? Have your say on the messageboard below.
- With NZN
Add a Comment:
Post new commentDebs nz said on 2011-09-28 @ 08:16 NZDT: Report abusive post
http://www.justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/09so.htm All you people holding up the Netherlands as an example, check out rthis site - Dutch not happy, drug use has increased (particularly of what we would call hard drugs) and they want gram quantity reduced in the coffee shops. When you talk about research why don't you actually do some. Brash's personal 'float' of decriminalization not Act Policy, just gaining headlines.
str80G said on 2011-09-27 @ 02:32 NZDT: Report abusive post
YOU SAID IT BRO AND THE "REAL" TRUTH HURTS EM!!!
geeds said on 2011-09-27 @ 00:27 NZDT: Report abusive post
For anybody who wants to make their own opinion and base it on facts, rationality, and scientific research, consider looking up the Global Commission on Drug Policy. This Commission is made up of UN members, Presidents/Prime Ministers, Richard Branson, and many more. Here's a link to their report, which includes recommendations for all nations: http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Report
geeds said on 2011-09-27 @ 00:23 NZDT: Report abusive post
The main reasons cannabis is still illegal is (and this is not my opinion, but a conclusion from research): A) Not enough people are doing their research. Overseas examples show that ALL problems related with the drug are either eliminated or reduced when the drug is legalised. B) Politics. If your voters don't want it legalised, you (as a politician with elections always around the corner) don't want it legalised either.
skaboom777 said on 2011-09-26 @ 19:40 NZDT: Report abusive post
Cultures like native Americans used cannabis for centuries with no harmful effects on their society. When western nations introduced alcohol to them they suffered greatly.It makes you wonder why is cannabis illegal in the first place?