Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jan 2014
Source: Manawatu Standard (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2014 Manawatu Evening Standard
Contact:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1057
Author: Michael Cummings, Editor

LESSONS FOR US IN COLORADO'S SMOKE

The legalisation of recreational marijuana in the American state of
Colorado has attracted international attention, and New Zealand
lawmakers should pay close attention to the experiment. Hundreds of
people queued up on New Year's Day to be among the first people to
legally purchase state-regulated marijuana, with media from around the
world there to witness the historic moment.

The legalisation of the drug for recreational use by adults marks a
significant change in America's drug culture, but whether it is
positive or negative remains to be seen.

Whatever plays out in Colorado ( and in Washington state when it
follows suit later this year), now is a good time to start discussing
whether New Zealand's prohibition on cannabis is the most sensible
approach.

It's a complicated issue, for sure, but it's difficult to escape the
conclusion that criminalisation is a blunt, expensive and largely
ineffective tool. That's not to say that legalisation is necessarily
the answer, but we should start discussing what might be.

A 25 year study of 1000 young New Zealanders' drug use, released in
2006, found that those who used cannabis regularly were at increased
risk of using other illicit drugs.

The authors of the study said what wasn't clear, however, was whether
that was because people using cannabis were more likely to come into
contact with other drug " markets" ( read dealers), or whether using
cannabis made them more likely to experiment with more serious drugs.

The former would support the argument in favour of liberalising
marijuana controls, the latter would support greater
restrictions.

This is an area that requires closer examination, and there are many
others. With two states in a country not culturally dissimilar to New
Zealand embarking on a new approach to dealing with low-level drug
use, many of the gaps in our understanding of drug users' behaviour
are about to be filled.

New Zealand has the ninth highest level of marijuana use per capita in
the world. We spend millions of dollars each year policing,
prosecuting and incarcerating offenders, and at least four officers
have been killed while enforcing our cannabis laws as they are.

That might be the most sensible and effective approach but, given the
huge cost to society, we shouldn't be afraid to examine the
alternatives.

One more thing:

A lot of people will be returning from holidays this weekend so if
you're on the road in the next couple of days take a deep breath, be
patient, and make sure you get where you're going safely. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D