drugs Archive

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  Misuse of parliamentary procedure to change Misuse of Drugs Act - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Today Parliament debated a proposal from Peter Dunne to change the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill to allow him to ban any substance that might cause harm, essentially by decree. The original bill — which went through the health select committee in November last year — was flawed to begin with. The original bill was [...] read more
  August 3, 2011 9:19 am - 10 Comments
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  Could this be the beginning of the end of the failed War on Drugs? - by frog

  
  
  
  Earlier this week, the Law Commission released its final report on Controlling and Regulating Drugs.  Green Co-Leader Metiria Tūrei issued a media release supporting the Commission’s report at the time, but I thought I’d provide a bit more information about it here. The report is a weighty tome – 350 pages, including 144 recommendations, so [...] read more
  May 6, 2011 12:28 pm - 36 Comments
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  Drunk in charge of a sickness benefit - by frog

  
  
  
  No amount of work-testing is going to get people who cannot work because of alcohol or drug dependency back into the workforce. All that will do is make them feel harassed and more likely to sink deeper into the faux refuge of their dependency. read more
  March 19, 2010 8:17 am - 20 Comments
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  Ignoring the evidence again on drug law reform - by frog

  
  
  
  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 - 280 Comments
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  Canterbury DHB needs to rethink drug rehab policy - by frog

  
  
  
  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
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  An extraordinary blogroll consensus for drug law reform - by frog

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

  
  
  
  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
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  Salvation Army & Law Commission support rational alcohol laws - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  On Tuesday the Salvation Army released their submission to the Sale of Liquor Bill currently before the Justice and Electoral select committee, calling for the bill to be scrapped. They said that the bill simply tinkered with the issues and didn’t deal with the almost complete cultural acceptance of the harm this highly dangerous and [...] read more
  April 30, 2009 8:30 am - 25 Comments
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  The cure all - by frog

  
  
  
  Ben Goldacre has an interesting article in the Guardian about how we try to solve many of life’s problems these days with pills. The pharmaceutical industry is in trouble: the golden age of medicine has creaked to a halt, the low-hanging fruit of medical research has all been harvested, and the industry is rapidly running [...] read more
  September 3, 2008 10:43 am - 8 Comments
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  Spiders on Drugs - by frog

  
  
  
  Continuing with my coverage of the Daily Green’s comic environmental videos on the web is this ‘oldie but goodie’. The Greens’ drugs and animals policy is that animals can grow for their own consumption but cannot manufacture or retail for other animals. A drug-free lifestyle is the healthiest. Arachnids need their drug-related legislation to ensure [...] read more
  August 12, 2008 3:12 pm - 18 Comments
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  Metiria gets personal - by frog

  
  
  
  Metiria launched the Greens’ youth policy last weekend with a fair amount of frankness: When I did it for the first time, I confess it wasn’t for love, it was for fun. My boyfriend and I had stayed out the whole night before and the next morning, still awake and restless we just thought, “Yeah, [...] read more
  August 5, 2008 10:46 am - 29 Comments
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  The drug deal - by frog

  
  
  
  One of the things we will be trading with China under our new preferential trade deal is drugs. And Sue Kedgley has just pointed out that provisions in the preferential China trade agreement require most goods to be fast tracked through borders within 48 hours. It seems highly likely that this will weaken the safety [...] read more
  April 23, 2008 12:27 pm - 3 Comments