No, quite correct. I’ve actually had coversation with people who hold exactly that position. My point is that Dunne isn’t the only person who seems *ahem* slightly inconsistent when it comes to his attitudes regarding pot and tobacco.

Hey, I know there are more thoughtful folks discussing these kinds of issues than Dunne and the screech-owls at ASH, but they don’t seem to get a lot of face time in the media do they? The self-righteous and hysterical just make better copy, I guess.

To think that being told not to smoke in confined public places is in the same ballpark as being arrested and potentially thrown in jail (and yes it does happen) just for holding some pot is ridiculous.

For what it’s worth I think the government should decriminalise all drugs, but the most addictive and dangerous should no be for sal in shops. I guess that means people growing their own tobacco and brewing their own beer.

Well, I’m also amazed at the severe cognitive dissonance of those who think the state has no business telling them they’re not allowed to smoke pot wherever then damn please but don’t extend the same courtesy to people who use drugs they don’t approve of. Once more, the most vocal people on both sides of an argument have one thing in common - blatant hypocrisy or at least, a lack of intellectual honesty and consistency.

The only way I can imagine he avoids painful cognitive dissonance is by believing that pot smoking hurts others. That could be argued, to roughly the same extent that drinking piss harms others.

i find myself in total agreement on this issue with a previously described
rightwing loonie’..

clearly a case of left and right meeting behind the bike shed..eh..?..:)

clara said..”..“and it is not to the detriment to othersâ€? e.g. a person cannot choose to harm their bodies if doing so negatively affects their children or community..”

a bit of a wide-open/ranging caveat there clara…some hysterical ones would argue an adult puffing on a joint meets your strictures..eh..?

and what exactly is your definition of ‘the community’..?….

phil(whoar.co.nz)

It wouldn’t take much imagination to pitcture the outrage if the election had gone slightly differently, and various lobby groups had demanded “assurances” that a Green associate Health Minister would “have no say” in (for the sake of argument) drug policy, their pet issue, because you’ve taken a *ahem* more liberal view.

FWIW, I don’t completely agree with your policy. But I sure don’t think that means the Greens are in the pockets of drug dealers, or that it immediately disqualifies the Greens from holding any health-related role in a left-leaning Government.

And, Alistair, Peter Dunne isn’t a Holocaust denier in any respect and I really think that’s the kind of shrill and ugly rhetoric that just undermines the credibility of the anti-tobacco lobby. I thought you were a fan of debating issues over name-calling?

well, I think it’s a matter of public record that he wants to help the tobacco industry. Kill people, I wouldn’t know. Perhaps he’s a holocaust denier in that respect.