Pubdate: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand) Copyright: 2002 New Zealand Herald Contact: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300 Author: Anne Beston CANNABIS CHANGE STILL UP IN AIR The next Parliament could be the first to grapple with the controversial issue of cannabis law reform but even with a strong push from the Green Party it is unclear whether MPs are ready for liberalisation. Green MP Nandor Tanczos, a strong advocate of decriminalisation who has been open about his own use of the drug, wants the issue high on the parliamentary agenda. He says he hopes Labour will introduce a Government bill after the election. "If the Government won't do that then we'll look at what options are available to us. "What we'll be looking for this next term is actual legislative change. We've had enough talk." Any decriminalisation of the cannabis laws would be a conscience vote for MPs, meaning they vote according to personal belief rather than along party lines. Parliament's health select committee investigated cannabis law reform last term but did not report back to the House before it rose for the election. This sparked criticism from reform advocates that it had buried the issue. Mr Tanczos says there is no guarantee the new health select committee will consider the issue and 75 per cent of submissions to the previous select committee favoured reform. But Prime Minister Helen Clark is not promising action. Instead she wants more talk and says the Greens should wait for a report from the next committee. Helen Clark says the change to the law in Britain, where possession is no longer automatically a criminal offence, needs to be considered. "A lot of parents worry about their kids being dogged or stigmatised with a heavy criminal penalty for using cannabis when really the key issue we want to get across is a public health message." Helen Clark says she does not support legalisation. "What I have said is that approaches around partial decriminalisation, partial prohibition, are well worth looking at." And despite an admission this week by senior Labour MP Steve Maharey that he once inhaled, he also opposes making the drug legal. "It was everywhere - all around you. But I didn't enjoy it and it didn't become a habit. I think making it legal would be a big mistake," Mr Maharey told a Massey University forum in Palmerston North. His admission sparked a chain reaction. Act's Rangitikei candidate, John Waugh, also admitted to "doing drugs" when he was young but said he was vehemently opposed to any liberalisation of the law, and Rangitikei National MP Simon Power said he had smoked a joint "once, when I was at university", about 12 years ago. But he said he also was "dead against" marijuana law reform. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom