Greymouth swings Green
The Greymouth Star is running a poll on who its readers will be voting for in this year’s general election. Now that I’ve linked to it, and before you North Island Herald readers all race of to vote in it and thus distort its accuracy, let me record for posterity a snapshot of political life on the West Coast:
Maori - 1.28%
New Zealand First - 2.56%
Legalise cannabis - 7.69%
Labour - 14.1%
Greens - 20.51%
National - 53.85%
It looks like Labour might have been caught standing in the middle of the road.
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March 31st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Ha! Frogblog has gone from criticising the accuracy of various media opinion polls when it carries bad news for the party, but then uncritically heralding very dodgy opinion polls when they give you the results you want to believe!
Bryce
http://www.liberation.org.nz
March 31st, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Come on Bryce - everyone knows these polls are dodgy. I’m sure frog’s just having a bit of fun here at Labour’s expense.
But if Greymouth votes National, I’ll run a naked pub crawl thru it.
Whoops, didn’t Keith Locke say something similar and get held to his word? Perhaps I better retract that one.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:03 pm
No, I reckon it’s a serious poll! Just looked and the Greens are now up to 26.09% and rapidly catching ground on National which has fallen below 50%. Go Greymouth!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:03 pm
That’s 31 or 32 MPs
March 31st, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Toad - yep, fair enough. I should be encouraging Frog to have as much fun at Labour’s expense as possible!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
So frog- think it could be a Green/National coalition?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:42 pm
The North Island Herald? I haven’t heard of that one. Do you mean the Auckland Herald?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Kiore- I think it’s a joke on the fact that it calls itself the New Zealand Herald
March 31st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Most people in Greymouth think that they have already voted National in as Chris Anchovy (as he’s known locally) is the only name you can see about town and the only politician who bothers to send press releases/comments to the Greymouth Star. Greenmouth sounds great but we need more visible local input from your pals Frog.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:50 pm
78 self-selecting respondents produces a fair margin of error, frog.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
kiore1 said: Do you mean the Auckland Herald?
Hey, how did those of us who live in Auckland become responsible for it, kiore1?
It’s a crap newspaper with a political pro-National agenda, and despite the greenwash of the “Green Pages” real Green ideas that challenge the “economic growth is more important than the environment” axiom don’t get a look-in.
Yep, change your lighbulbs, recycle your rubbish and the F*ckland Herald will be right behind it. But challenge business to improve its ecological footprint, and the Herald will always back business profiteering at the expense of the environment.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Toad
It is hardly pro National, yes it has run a lot of stories highlighting the EFB in particular but then that is there right.
Were you this critical of the Herald when it was Labour’s unofficial mouthpiece and flag waver for the better part of the last nine years?…..I doubt it.
Do yourself a favour ans stop looking for conspiracies around every corner.
I do find it interesting that you take ANOTHER anti National stance, would it not have been far more honest for your co leader just too tell the people of NZ that you will NEVER EVER do ANY deal with the Nat’s after the next election, Jeannette was less than honest when confronted with that question yesterday.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:21 pm
That’s cos no one (*especially* National) have not put out very much election policy, have they? So how can anyone say for sure??
March 31st, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Toad
What would the Greens have as their top rate of income tax anyway?
March 31st, 2008 at 9:24 pm
She actually SAID she’ll wait for policy and declare closer to the election!
March 31st, 2008 at 10:20 pm
BB, I’ve got to wait and see, just as you have, and as Jeanette does actually. She doesn’t decide these things unilaterally, as happens with most parties.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Oh, and as for the Herald, then it was a crap newspaper with a political pro-Labour agenda… same difference really BB.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
BB
I hardly think the Herald editorial of 2005 indicates it was pro Labour - it virtually demanded that voters reject a Labour-Green coalition - anything but was their line. Remember when they and the DP virtually invented United’s period with 9 MP’s to provide a safe centrist coalition partner they approved of in place of the collapsing Alliance.
It has supported National line on tax cuts, size of government, favoured employer over union, business over environment etc (as has the DP).
You also forget the winter of 2000 when the Herald and DP reflected business hostility to ECA reform (even though it was in the governments manifesto) and none of their concerns in support of business have proven warranted.
The fact is that incoming governments implement their manifesto and this gets reported, if the times are good subsequent to this, then this also gets reported - and if the government is popular as a result, you think the media is to be called pro government?
The Herald’s editorial position, pro right continued throughout all this reporting. It is incidental against popular support for a government.
However, when the government has been incumbent awhile, gets complacent and out of touch (”after all we have done”, rather than continuing to listen and act to improve things) it can respond to valid criticism by shouting that the bias is now too much. The real issue at those times, is to recognise that in such times a partisan media can do some damage and simply operate at a level sufficient to command respect, however grudging (the area where Greens operate every day of every month of every year).
The government has been hit by the conjunction of tax cut populism, while dealing with the issue of party funding, parliamentary spending and campaign finance - a dangerous combination late in a term in office. It was all too easy to be attacked from on high. To be subject to campaign to associate the left wing and its desire for fairness and an even playing field with big government limiting the free speech of the political opposition. That a partisan media would exploit this is obvious, but saying that they are only taking their position out of bias is superficial. Whenever the conventions of the governing and electoral playing field are changed, a debate about this is going to be partisan and management of the new regime questioned.
In pushing through their bill, the incumbent government was always going to be attacked and the media was always going to play a part of the debate on the issue of free speech (however ridiculous the position advocated by the Herald was in terms of actually being any improvement on the flawed bill).
April 1st, 2008 at 10:06 am
…and for a moment there I thought you guys were going to discuss something relevant to us Mainlanders.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
Kaimatacroft - What about those dirty old SOE’s wanting to trade Kiwi habitat for coal and hydro. Sounds like Kayakers want to stop this new Dam. Whats the word on the coast?
April 1st, 2008 at 8:03 pm
good poll, frog. but fellow frogbloggers, arent we missing something from the analysis??. you all know what youre thinking (LOL!)
nice swing to legalise cannabis party reflecting some true public sentiment sadly missing from the current Parliament line-up. ALCP have an active candidate in West Coast Tasman, drumming up support. STeven Wilkinson, a good option for the Greens to back too as he has brains green ethics and is not scared to be an advocate (see norml forums for example).
Many NZers i speak to Hate prohibition - they know it is socially damaging, hypocritical and corrupt and unjust and a crock of lies and the most stupid, evil, dangerous repressive thing happening in NZ. but often these people wont vote, such is the disillusion with our elected reps and community leaders law enforcemetn and health promotion/ human rights experts who cant even talk about this subject.
(the cone of silence aint good, thats for sure. Hey frog bloggers, Lets break it down some more!)
If we didnt have the 5% MMP threshold, watch the cannabis party start to poll like this every time (including the big marijuana referendum coming up later this year)
April 1st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
weedeater
You really should get out more, I do not know ANYBODY who wants Cannabis leagalised but by all means keep baning on about it, every time you do it loses votes.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:35 pm
that just proves youre the fascist on this list
April 1st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
weedeater
Come on now..name calling is beneath you.
Cannabis legalisation is and always will be a vote loser with the mainstream.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
votes lost because they are ignorant (as in UNited Future voters) are losers we dont want on our side. this is another cannabis policy election. same balance of power in last 3 did you notice - the one BIG issue that is unresolved.
admit, prohibition is a corrupt and discriminatory law instrumental in the prison-industrial state and power crazed administration. self perpetuating because all are too scared (mentally ill) to blow the whistle on it.
is is based on banning a plant. how stupid and contrary is that?
if you and your fiends support that and think legal regulation and a decent slice of freedom is not a good idea you are the biggest loser of all.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Weedeater
Wow…can you not reply without name calling?
So those who do not want cannabis legalised are “ignorant” are they?
Cannabis will never be legalised, now you can work yourself into a lather about that all you like it will simply not happen and it will remain a vote loser for any party that pushes it.
You are kidding yourself that it is a “BIG ISSUE”, the mainstream do not give a toss, they do not want their kids smoking the stuff and they do not want people like you telling lies about the so called medicinal qualities of the plant.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
Big bro- “ignorant” is not necessarily name-calling alone, even if it is a bit insulting.
The fact of the matter is that most of the public debate on cannabis legalisation is ignorant in the sense that people involved don’t know or usually even care for the facts surrounding the debate- for instance, most voters don’t understand that everyone wants to make sure that cannabis does as little harm as possible- the disagreement is over whether begin illegal actually adds or reduces the harm posed by usage of soft drugs.
While I’m instinctually very wary of encouraging black market dealing on any drug, I’m certainly open to good research that suggests that cannabis would do better staying illegal. What I’m not impressed by is people making statements like “hahaha, the hippies want to legalise drugs so they can get high! What losers…”, because that’s just childish.
I’m also with John Stuart Mill to a degree- excluding the social issues like gangs and dealers- if people want to damage their own bodies with drugs, the option ought to be available to them, even if we make it very inconvenient for them to do so using health warnings, large taxes, and strict regulation on sales.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
…just so long as they don’t damage other people’s bodies in some way e.g. smoke, samurai sword.
The American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy seems to think that medicinal use can apply for (1) severe nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy or other causes, (2) weight loss associated with debilitating illnesses, including HIV infection and cancer, (3) spasticity secondary to neurologic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, (4) pain syndromes, and (5) other uses, such as for glaucoma. Marijuana is associated with adverse psychiatric, cardiovascular, respiratory, and immunologic events. http://www.ajhp.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/10/1037
Does marijuana use create victims? I know i’d rather run into someone stoned than someone drunk ANY night of the week.
Weedeater, you DO need to get out more, I agree with BB on that…
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
Plus I wouldn’t too excited about that poll. The 5% threshold is there for a reason too!
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Big bro, You say you know nobody who wants to see cannabis legal, then I must agree with StephenR.
What ALCP is trying to get done is to regulate cannabis which places it alongside alcohol and tobacco.
The harms that prohibition does out strips any harm that cannabis might cause. (with the major of these harms disappearing with the removal of prohibition).
I’m guessing the reason why your social group hasn’t spoken about the legality of cannabis, is because cannabis does not factor in their day to day lives . They see slanted articles in the media regarding cannabis, most wouldn’t even read them except for the headline; “Cannabis causes bla bla…” So their view is to maintain Status Que. Its not until you are visited at 6 am by the police, or harassed by them, especially if you are young and male (all for the benefit conditioning through intimidation), or your child is arrested for smoking cannabis at a party (while on the gateway drug, alcohol). Then you start to look at the prohibition issue:
Prohibition;
- Allows organise crime to fund its activities through money generated from the illicit drug trade.
- Creates a huge chasm between the police and the public, culminating in alienating the police from society.
- Creates a “forbidden fruit” mentality, making it difficult to protect young people, who become exposed to criminal gangs and harmful drugs such as “P”.
- Undermines effective drug education.
-Stops cannabis being use medicinally - Cannabis is a safe and effective medicine for many conditions including cancer, HIV wasting syndrome, glaucoma, chronic pain, arthritis, MS, paraplegia and epilepsy.
- Wastes tax payers money. - According the Parliamentary Research Unit. NZ Police and Justice enforcement of cannabis prohibition was estimated to cost tax payers $56 million in 2000, increasing every year. With 80% of all drug arrests being cannabis related, shows that police are not focusing on the serious drugs that are rampant in our communities.
Regulation would:
- Control where and how cannabis is sold. - Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party supports a “media blackout” for cannabis advertising, recommending only a small sign on the outside of the premises.
- Police an R18 age restriction, minimising juvenile use.
- Separate cannabis users from harder drugs and criminal environments.
- Release the equivalent of almost 150 full-time police officers, who annually look for, arrest and prosecute cannabis smokers.
- Relieve the pressure on our courts and prisons. The beginning of 2008 the Nelson courts threw out cases that included; assaults, kidnapping, wounding with intent and possessing offensive weapons, solely to alleviate the huge backlog of cases.
- Enables medicinal users to medicate without the threat of stigmatisation or incarceration.
- Reduce Pharmac’s annual cost of purchasing medicines. Also opening up the way for New Zealand to become the world leader in non-toxic research and development.
- Stimulate “rural communities” economies through development in paper, fuel, textile and other industries. - 10,000 acres of land will produce as much paper as 40,000 acres of land devoted to pulp land.
- Input new money into the New Zealand economy. The “recreational” cannabis industry could be worth $1-2 billion dollars annually. Only a regulated market allows cannabis revenue to be taxed.
FACT - Cannabis can be used to produce more than 5000 textile products ranging from rope to fine lace.
FACT - Cannabis contains more than 77% cellulose, and can be used to produce more than 25,000 products, ranging from dynamite to cellophane. (products currently being produced using fossil fuels.)
Cannabis is at least 4 times richer in biomass/cellulose potential than its nearest rivals on the planet - cornstalk, sugarcane, trees etc. - Cornell University, Science Digest, 1983. Because cannabis is prohibited it can not be used in these industries.
I believe that changing ONE law; removing the plant Cannabis from the Misuse of Drugs Act (1975) will do more than the Green Party could do in 10 years - That’s why I support Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party They have no hidden agenda (do anything to stay in parliament, including dropping the GE issue)
Steven Wilkinson
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
MARIJUANA (CANNABIS)
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the UK & USA. A dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, it usually is smoked as a cigarette (joint, nail), or in a pipe (bong). It also is smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana, often in combination with another drug. It might also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish and, as a sticky black liquid, hash oil. Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor. There are countless street terms for marijuana including pot, herb, weed, grass, widow, ganja, and hash, as well as terms derived from trademarked varieties of cannabis, such as Bubble Gum, Northern Lights, Fruity Juice, Afghani #1, and a number of Skunk varieties.
The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The membranes of certain nerve cells in the brain contain protein receptors that bind to THC. Once securely in place, THC kicks off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the high that users experience when they smoke marijuana.
Effects on the Brain
Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain.
In the brain, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.
The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. Research findings for long-term marijuana abuse indicate some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid (THC or synthetic forms of THC) withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine. Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.
Effects on the Heart
One study has indicated that an abuser’s risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana. The researchers suggest that such an effect might occur from marijuana’s effects on blood pressure and heart rate and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.
Effects on the Lungs
A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers. Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.
Even infrequent abuse can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, often accompanied by a heavy cough. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed airways. Smoking marijuana possibly increases the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck. A study comparing 173 cancer patients and 176 healthy individuals produced evidence that marijuana smoking doubled or tripled the risk of these cancers.
Marijuana abuse also has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. It also induces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into their carcinogenic form—levels that may accelerate the changes that ultimately produce malignant cells. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which increases the lungs’ exposure to carcinogenic smoke. These facts suggest that, puff for puff, smoking marijuana may be more harmful to the lungs than smoking tobacco.
Other Health Effects
Some of marijuana’s adverse health effects may occur because THC impairs the immune system’s ability to fight disease. In laboratory experiments that exposed animal and human cells to THC or other marijuana ingredients, the normal disease-preventing reactions of many of the key types of immune cells were inhibited. In other studies, mice exposed to THC or related substances were more likely than unexposed mice to develop bacterial infections and tuomours.
Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use on Learning and Social Behavior
Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems worse. Depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances have been associated with chronic marijuana use. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. Moreover, research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on memory and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.
Students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared with their nonsmoking peers. A study of 129 college students found that, among those who smoked the drug at least 27 of the 30 days prior to being surveyed, critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were significantly impaired, even after the students had not taken the drug for at least 24 hours. These “heavy” marijuana abusers had more trouble sustaining and shifting their attention and in registering, organizing, and using information than did the study participants who had abused marijuana no more than 3 of the previous 30 days. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all of the time.
More recently, the same researchers showed that the ability of a group of long-term heavy marijuana abusers to recall words from a list remained impaired for a week after quitting, but returned to normal within 4 weeks. Thus, some cognitive abilities may be restored in individuals who quit smoking marijuana, even after long-term heavy use.
Workers who smoke marijuana are more likely than their coworkers to have problems on the job. Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover. A study among postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana on a pre-employment urine drug test had 55 percent more industrial accidents, 85 percent more injuries, and a 75-percent increase in absenteeism compared with those who tested negative for marijuana use. In another study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including cognitive abilities, career status, social life, and physical and mental health.
Effects of Exposure During Pregnancy
Research has shown that some babies born to women who abused marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli, increased tremulousness, and a high-pitched cry, which may indicate neurological problems in development. During the preschool years, marijuana-exposed children have been observed to perform tasks involving sustained attention and memory more poorly than nonexposed children do. In the school years, these children are more likely to exhibit deficits in problem-solving skills, memory, and the ability to remain attentive.
Addictive Potential
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction for some people; that is, they abuse the drug compulsively even though it interferes with family, school, work, and recreational activities. Drug craving and withdrawal symptoms can make it hard for long-term marijuana smokers to stop abusing the drug. People trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, and anxiety. They also display increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately one week after the last use of the drug.
Genetic Vulnerability
Scientists have found that whether an individual has positive or negative sensations after smoking marijuana can be influenced by heredity. A 1997 study demonstrated that identical male twins were more likely than nonidentical male twins to report similar responses to marijuana abuse, indicating a genetic basis for their response to the drug. (Identical twins share all of their genes.)
It also was discovered that the twins’ shared or family environment before age 18 had no detectable influence on their response to marijuana. Certain environmental factors, however, such as the availability of marijuana, expectations about how the drug would affect them, the influence of friends and social contacts, and other factors that differentiate experiences of identical twins were found to have an important effect.
Treating Marijuana Problems
The latest treatment data indicate that, in 2002, marijuana was the primary drug of abuse in about 15 percent (289,532) of all admissions to treatment facilities in the United States. Marijuana admissions were primarily male (75 percent), White (55 percent), and young (40 percent were in the 15-–19 age range). Those in treatment for primary marijuana abuse had begun use at an early age; 56 percent had abused it by age 14 and 92 percent had abused it by 18.
One study of adult marijuana abusers found comparable benefits from a 14-session cognitive-behavioral group treatment and a 2-session individual treatment that included motivational interviewing and advice on ways to reduce marijuana use. Participants were mostly men in their early thirties who had smoked marijuana daily for more than 10 years. By increasing patients’ awareness of what triggers their marijuana abuse, both treatments sought to help patients devise avoidance strategies. Abuse, dependence symptoms, and psychosocial problems decreased for at least 1 year following both treatments; about 30 percent of the patients were abstinent during the last 3-month followup period.
Another study suggests that giving patients vouchers that they can redeem for goods—such as movie passes, sporting equipment, or vocational training—may further improve outcomes.
Although no medications are currently available for treating marijuana abuse, recent discoveries about the workings of the THC receptors have raised the possibility of eventually developing a medication that will block the intoxicating effects of THC. Such a medication might be used to prevent relapse to marijuana abuse by lessening or eliminating its appeal.
Source: NIDA/NIH
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:55 am
Would it be legal to drug-test at workplaces if marijuana was legal? Not a lot of mention of decriminalisation either. Weedeater must be pretty stoked at this thread at the moment…
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Greens are now polling 42% in the Greymouth Star. They’ve overtaken National who have fallen to 34%.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Wow, your West Coast candidate should be a shoe-in!
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
weedeater Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
> votes lost because they are ignorant (as in UNited Future voters) are losers we dont want on our side. this is another cannabis policy election. same balance of power in last 3 did you notice - the one BIG issue that is unresolved.
I agree that cannabis law should change, but the ONE BIG issue that remains unresolved?
what about climate change?
peak oil?
The fact that houses are so overpriced that the resulting fall in house prices is going to bankrupt lots of New Zealanders?
The fact that most lowland rivers in New Zealand have gone from being safe to swim in to being too polluted to swim in in my lifetime?
The fact that the Kiwi, our national icon, is heading for extinction?
the fact that all our major fish stocks are in serious decline?
The huge number of adults dying of AIDS in sub-saharan Africa, leaving their children orphaned?
You think that cannabis law is a bigger issue than all of those?
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Big bro, What you have posted is not an excuse for criminalising cannabis, more so a reason not too. (your post just a cut and past from NIDA’s web page: http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html). Only in a climate where cannabis is viewed from a health public prospect, instead of a criminal justice perspective, can prevention efforts be effective.
In the Netherlands less than 10% of 15 - 16 year-olds have ever used cannabis - They have a style of regulation. While here in NZ 35% of 15 -16 year olds have used cannabis - We have PROHIBITION. (Its not rocket science)
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is from the country that has imposed the “WAR ON DRUG” on every country on this planet. NIDA is part of National Institute of Health (NIH), being a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (their motto - USA.govt Government made easy. hahahahaha……) so we know where their funding comes from, so we assume that to secure funding you better have the right results in your findings.
But hey I’m not here to try and change YOUR view. But if you want, you could start looking at the cannabis issue not through the tainted view of prohibitionist, and look at the facts. PROHIBITION is a FAILED regime. It harms people that you know, friends, family. Regulation would protect them without causing stigmatisation or criminalisation for what is nothing more than a health and education issue.
If you can not see that then maybe you should be supporting a party that’s promoting prohibition of alcohol (causes the death of over 1000 NZ’ers annually, takes up 70% of all police operational time, costs $70 million dollars annually in hospital admissions alone..I could go on!). And the prohibition of tobacco, which is a form of slavery (Kills 4700 NZ’ers annually, cost NZ taxpayers $220 each year on DIRECT effects of tobacco…..You don’t need me to go on?)
Big bro education is the saviour of the future, don’t miss the bus.
Steven Wilkinson
(someone not afraid to use their real name because they stand up for what they believe). That’s right I’m offering HONEST representation.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:50 pm
the west coast is pro cannibis BB, its ganja central
——
it would be a vote winner in some areas (coromandel, west auckland, waiheke island…)
nz is not anti marijuana - the people in power are.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
marijuana is less dangerous than tobacco and alcohol - why not ban them too?
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
yay to a greener greymouth!
April 5th, 2008 at 12:35 am
From the same newspaper - advice to cyclists on how to cope with the consequences of Labour’s land transport funding contempt for the West Coast.
http://www.greystar.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16 75&Itemid=43
April 13th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Why would a frog be surprised that Greymouth is green? Haven’t you been paying attention to the census data on travel to work? Didn’t you know that the West Coast has the highest proportion of workers walking or cycling to work. Or that the West Coast is pipped at the post for the lowest proportion of commuting by car - 67% compared with Wellington’s 66%. Almost one-fifth of West Coast workers telecommute*, but that is nothing unusual for rural regions. But less than one-half of one percent commute on public transport. Which does make you wonder why any political party would be banging on about it let alone spending silly amounts of money on it or trying to get laws passed to spend most of the Coaster’s petrol taxes on it.
*there may be some other forms of working from home in rural areas but in the knowledge economy they will, of course, be in the minority.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
People who Smoke Pot are not dumb!
They know the heath risks involved.
just like the health risks of everything that is in “life”
Why not attack what is more unhealthy… like processed foods… look at the Convenience stores/ Dairys…
They Survive by selling High doses of sugar, Tobacco,Booze, Gambling, with more and more opening up, making it easier for people to buy convenience, which also has a Major effect on the environment, with one Chain Shop owner in CHristchurch BOASTING, that he can pay the rent and all the staff wages just on the amount of bottled water that he sells….. I thought Christchurch had world class drinking water… ????
these shop owners have no concern about what happens to the products once they leave the shop…. offering double up deals to save money, discounting tobacco to fatten their pockets, while the tobacco companies give them big bonuses for doing so… the more drinks that they sell, the fatter we are getting, and filling up landfills, we are sucked into the advertising, and becoming one with the system….. needy to the government, needy for people to tell us how to feel, think, etc
there is so much more to worry about than the stoners that are sitting at home, getting creative, laughing, having fun, dancing, playing, TALKING random thoughts with their families, painting, chilling out, relieving pain, sleeping etc…
what harm are they doing to you????
look outside at the world we are living in…. lets clean it up!!!!
change habits….
this might be a random blog here, but marijuana is truly a very happy natural plant that really logically should not be a crime.
peace
xox
April 16th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
tozza wrote: the stoners that are sitting at home, getting creative, laughing, having fun, dancing, playing, TALKING random thoughts with their families, painting, chilling out, relieving pain, sleeping etc…
what harm are they doing to you????
nice one tozza - ‘and playing music’ too. ‘and cleaning up parks’, and ‘writing stuff for blogs’. and gardening, and doing flower arrangements and stuff. pot’s inspirational for all those too.
yes people who smoke pot are not dumb. perhaps even less so the ones who eat it?? (lol)
sometimes i think pot heads are the real intellient ones, compared with straighties who never tweak their thc receptors, assuming the drug-free lifestyle is healthiest (ring a bell, frog?)while the dumbass masses succumb to the prohibitionist propaganda which underpins life in NZ.
and you are so right too ,Dumbed down Kiwis buying all that shit that f**ks people up and ends up in landfills or floating down rivers - some of the worst litterers in the world, in this pathetic dysfunctional alienated country.
which is why changing the pot law is needed as a priority (kahikatia) to get us out of the darkness some and raising the consciousness (including ENVIRONMENTAL consciousness). yes Tozza. yes
Cannabis: the sky flier/joy giver as described in the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission 1894 (Bhang as a refreshing drink). Yep, that is true as i am the weedeater.
and it ’seems sometimes every second person you run into in NZ is right into pot’ (quote from a dude i was working with in southland last year) so true.
Kahikatia: those are issues too i agree, but all is connected and we need to face up to a certain erronious and corrupt bullying failure of a law that keeps us all down and depressed (we all could be tall forest trees, but prohibition is stunting Kiwis the real P epidemic is Prohibition).
and Stevoh - fantastic, youve got my (list) vote and that cool that youve got ALCP ON facebook. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12782096291
Go on frog. Let Stevoh garner the cannabis sentiment from Westcoast tasman, Frog, and you wont regret it - kill the taboo that says we cant talk about this issue, get some brains in parliament, pull in some extra alcp MPs and bye bye thicko damien oconnor as a major bonus, + most of all: slay the beast, big time!!!