Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand) Copyright: 1999 New Zealand Herald Contact: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ Author: Bernard Orsman MP VOWS TO KEEP SMOKING CANNABIS Rastafarian Nandor Tanczos says he will keep smoking pot as an MP - and he has the backing of the Greens leadership to flout the law. The 33-year-old Aucklander told the Herald yesterday that smoking cannabis was part of his religious culture and he was not about to give it up. He said he used cannabis less than once a week and that there was no way he was going to be conducting parliamentary business after a smoke. He does not drink alcohol. The Greens co-leaders, Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald, do not have a problem with one of their MPs defying the law. "Good on him, quite frankly," Mr Donald said. "The law is an ass, and the sooner we change it the better. Clearly he is a responsible person who uses cannabis less frequently than most people drink alcohol." Jeanette Fitzsimons said she considered Mr Tanczos a responsible person, saying he was simply flouting a law that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, ignored. "I don't have a problem with the occasional breaking of this particular law." She was confident a review of the cannabis laws announced by the Minister of Health, Annette King, would lead to acceptance of the Greens' policy of legalising cannabis for personal use. Mr Tanczos said that, for Rastafarians, smoking cannabis was a spiritual continuation of references in the Bible to the use of the drug. Asked how, as an MP, he could justify breaking the law, Mr Tanczos said: "As far as I understand, people are guaranteed the right of religious practice by the Human Rights Convention and the Bill of Rights. I'm of the opinion I'm not breaking the law." A police spokeswoman said the possession and use of cannabis were illegal, and anyone who chose to flout the law risked being prosecuted. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake