Health & Wellbeing Archive

• 

  Ignoring the evidence again on drug law reform

  
  
  
  In which Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne takes a head-in-the-sand approach to recommendations by the Ministry of Health’s Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs. read more
  March 16, 2010 11:26 am - 190 Comments
• 

  Canterbury DHB needs to rethink drug rehab policy

  
  
  
  The Canterbury DHB’s new alcohol and drug rehabilitation services policy flies in the face of the principle of harm minimisation and discriminates against people whose drug and/or alcohol problems have resulted in them falling foul of the criminal law. Often these are the very people who the greatest danger to themselves and others in the community and are most in need of help. read more
  March 15, 2010 12:52 pm - 13 Comments
• 

  Praise, encouragement, and keeping our kids safe this Children’s Day

  
  
  
  It’s Children’s Day today, a great day to recommit to protecting and caring for not just our own babies but for children everywhere. This year is the 10th anniversary of Children’s Day in Aotearoa New Zealand, which aims to: • heighten awareness of the importance and needs of children in [...] read more
  March 7, 2010 11:18 am - 32 Comments
• 

  Make a submission on drug law reform

  
  
  
  The Law Commission’s paper on drug law reform isn’t just a set of recommendations – it is a discussion document that sets out several options on each of a number of issues related to drugs and seeks feedback through submissions on those options. read more
  February 23, 2010 8:47 am - 7 Comments
• 

  An extraordinary blogroll consensus for drug law reform

  
  
  
  This is really quite remarkable. Since the Law Commission released its discussion paper on drug law reform yesterday, an extraordinary consensus across the political blogging spectrum has developed. read more
  February 12, 2010 10:03 pm - 29 Comments
• 

  Drug law reform: It’s not that simple, Simon

  
  
  
  The Greens support the harm minimisation approach to our drug laws proposed by the Law Commission. But Justice Minister Simon Power’s response to the Commission’s report on drug policy and legislation is to back the hypocrisy and stupidity of the current drug laws. read more
  February 12, 2010 12:48 pm - 38 Comments
• 

  A map of global risks and their connections

  
  
  
  Some economists have come up with a map of global risks. The size of the circle is the likelihood of the risk, while the thickness of the connection indicates the degree to which the risk relates to others. The thickness of the border indicates the cost of the risk. The colours are categories. Most of it [...] read more
  February 9, 2010 12:28 pm - 16 Comments
• 

  Podcast: Green Summer Holidays

  
  
  
  This week, the parties are gearing up for the political year, and the MPs are back from their summer holidays. We speak to Green MPs about how they spent their holidays, and discover that they have been relaxing, trying new things, and of course indulging in some old-school political activism. This week’s podcast features the lovely [...] read more
  February 9, 2010 9:45 am - No Comments
• 

  You can’t have your human rights because they cost too much

  
  
  
  The Government says it’s appealing against a ruling of the Human Rights Review Tribunal because the country cannot afford to pay people to look after their own severely disabled family members. What’s next, I wonder? Repeal the Equal Pay Act so employers can pay their women workers less and claim it is justified discrimination on the grounds that it would improve productivity? read more
  January 26, 2010 11:26 am - 69 Comments
• 

  A lag for a stoner, a gong for an über-dealer

  
  
  
  Isn’t it time our drugs policy focused on harm minimisation? Instead, we imprison Lionel Paul Joseph Taumata for possessing one drug for his own personal use, while rewarding Arthur Douglas Myers for selling vast quantities of another drug, which is arguably more harmful, with one of New Zealand’s highest honours. read more
  January 10, 2010 11:01 am - 22 Comments