Marijuana legalization in New Zealand

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Networkn
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#2737863 2-Jul-2021 12:08

Rikkitic:

Here is what maybe could have been if we hadn't chosen the timid route and decided to keep things as they were instead of facing up to change for the better. We are so lame.

So you only support people having their say, if you agree with it?

NZ voted, like they voted on the flag, get over it.

Rikkitic

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#2737868 2-Jul-2021 12:14

networkn:

Rikkitic:

Here is what maybe could have been if we hadn't chosen the timid route and decided to keep things as they were instead of facing up to change for the better. We are so lame.

So you only support people having their say, if you agree with it?

NZ voted, like they voted on the flag, get over it.

So you only support me having my say if you agree with it? Voters made a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance. Get over it.

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FineWine

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#2737906 2-Jul-2021 13:29

A very interesting article. My partner and I have both support legalisation of marijuana use in NZ. The only concern we really had was the road safety issue.

But there was a lot that people didn't know. Would teen use increase? Would road safety suffer? Would there be a "gateway effect," with more people abusing hard drugs after trying pot? Would society become one big hempfest?

Now we have a track record. Marijuana use has crept up a bit across society, but by every state's statistics, teen use has not. And marijuana has not become the much-feared "gateway" to harder drugs.

It's harder for teens to get marijuana now, since it is no longer sold so much by criminals on the street, but by legal retail outlets with strict attention to the nationwide 21-year-old age limit.

And the mystique of sharing something illegal has lost its appeal. Pot is now used by Mom and Dad. And Grandma's rubbing it on her elbows.

All very quite correct

States also report that legal marijuana does not imperil road safety. Researchers have found no appreciable difference in traffic deaths in states where medical marijuana is legal and widespread and those where it is not.

This was our only major concern. We always thought it would be no worse and maybe slightly better to be ‘high’ than ‘drunk’. Neither is good of course.

And as our country grapples with systemic racism, the racist dimension of marijuana prohibition has become very clear. Wealthy, privileged, white people like me rarely get arrested for marijuana. But poor people, Black people and other people of color have had their lives changed forever because of the 50-year-old war on marijuana. Nixon's war on marijuana had a racist agenda from the start, and our society has paid a huge price for embracing it.

You could very easily apply this to our Maori population.

One clear and predictable effect of the nationwide push to take the crime out of the marijuana equation is that black markets that have long enriched and empowered street gangs and organized crime have been replaced by thriving and highly taxed legal markets that employ thousands of people in rural corners, where such employment has been much needed, and generate billions of dollars in state taxes.

And of course you can not forget the almighty tax dollar. Northland, apparently, is one of the best places to grow marijuana in NZ. (climate and soil) The last six years the government has been poring millions into this apparently forgotten area of NZ - need I say more. The marijuana seed, just like its cousin the hemp seed, is climatic sensitive so what ever area the seed is harvested in is the area it should really be used in. Outside natural growth is better as opposed to hydroponics or other indoor growths but of course can not be as highly monitored/controled as indoor growths.

Anyway it is a very interesting article. But NZ has seen this boat sail for the next few years.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

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#2737927 2-Jul-2021 13:50

FineWine:

...

And as our country grapples with systemic racism, the racist dimension of marijuana prohibition has become very clear. Wealthy, privileged, white people like me rarely get arrested for marijuana. But poor people, Black people and other people of color have had their lives changed forever because of the 50-year-old war on marijuana. Nixon's war on marijuana had a racist agenda from the start, and our society has paid a huge price for embracing it.

You could very easily apply this to our Maori population. (!)

...

One clear and predictable effect of the nationwide push to take the crime out of the marijuana equation is that black markets that have long enriched and empowered street gangs and organized crime have been replaced by thriving and highly taxed legal markets that employ thousands of people in rural corners, where such employment has been much needed, and generate billions of dollars in state taxes.

And of course you can not forget the almighty tax dollar. Northland, apparently, is one of the best places to grow marijuana in NZ. (climate and soil) The last six years the government has been poring millions into this apparently forgotten area of NZ - need I say more. The marijuana seed, just like its cousin the hemp seed, is climatic sensitive so what ever area the seed is harvested in is the area it should really be used in. Outside natural growth is better as opposed to hydroponics or other indoor growths but of course can not be as highly monitored/controled as indoor growths.

Anyway it is a very interesting article. But NZ has seen this boat sail for the next few years.

Not necessarily. It could easily be revisited in a private member's bill. If that referendum were held today, I think it would pass.

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#2996094 14-Nov-2022 17:32

Maryland and Missouri voted to legalize possession. Approx half USA population live in states covered by some form of liberalisation now. Green states are medical exemption. Blue colour allows wider liberalisation of various types

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_U.S._jurisdiction

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#2996121 14-Nov-2022 18:18

Boy do we ever look backward and silly.

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#2996331 14-Nov-2022 23:25

Rikkitic:

Boy do we ever look backward and silly.

Surely not as silly as Australia where you can legally get a prescription for it, but if you drive within a month of taking your legally issued prescription medication, you're in court facing a license suspension and/or jail term.

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#2997373 17-Nov-2022 11:44

Politicians sure do have a hard time ever admitting they were wrong about something. Never mind all the victims of miscarriages of justice. The government really does need to revisit this issue, regardless of whatever Jacinda Ardern said about the referendum. We are simply looking ridiculous, just like all the 'reefer madness' propaganda. Maybe if Reagan had smoked some, he wouldn't have lost his brain. Maybe we wouldn't have crawled up America's backside like most of the rest of the world.

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#3001559 26-Nov-2022 00:31

and I was offered medicinal cannabis recently by my GP for pain relief in addition to what I was taking. He thought it would be worth a try but it costs $100 per little bottle. So much for that legislation.

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#3001582 26-Nov-2022 07:58

Rikkitic:

So you only support me having my say if you agree with it? Voters made a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance. Get over it.

Did you vote ?

Then you had your say.

Democracy has never claimed everyone would be happy with the outcome.

And those are exactly the same arguments the anti-vaxxers use.

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#3001588 26-Nov-2022 09:17

sir1963:

Rikkitic:

So you only support me having my say if you agree with it? Voters made a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance. Get over it.

Did you vote ?

Then you had your say.

Democracy has never claimed everyone would be happy with the outcome.

And those are exactly the same arguments the anti-vaxxers use.

That is an old one. My post was in response to a remark by @networkn. In any case, I don't know what you are going on about. I did not question the validity of the vote. I said it was a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance, which it was. I don't see what this has to do with anti-vaxers. Their argument seems to be that vaccination is a government conspiracy to exert mind control over people.

I have stated, and I believe, that the result of the (very narrow) referendum was an unfortunate mistake and it could be revisited via a private member's bill. This is entirely in keeping with the democratic process. In the meantime, I do accept the result though I don't agree with it. What is your problem with that?

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#3004338 1-Dec-2022 20:28

Rikkitic:

So you only support me having my say if you agree with it? Voters made a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance. Get over it.

You are kidding yourself if you think those are the only two reasons. I am neither ignorant nor scared and my reasons for voting against had nothing to do with either.

Chloe Shawbrick and Paul Goldsmith faced off on RNZ, and both made decent arguments, but Chloe sounds unhinged when she gets going. She is clearly passionate about her 'cause' however, she isn't helping that cause by getting carried away the way she does.

If she spent as much time listening to other perspectives as she does trying to railroad every discussion with her own, she would probably make more ground in convincing people.

sir1963

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#3004343 1-Dec-2022 20:45

Rikkitic:

[

So you only support me having my say if you agree with it? Voters made a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance. Get over it.

You are asking for anarchy where anyone can do as they wish.

Flat farther think everyone is dumb

Anti-taxers think everyone is dumb

Faith healers think everyone is dumb (and rely on that fact)

Democracy may not be the best system, but every other system is simply worse.

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#3004358 1-Dec-2022 21:49

networkn:

Rikkitic:

So you only support me having my say if you agree with it? Voters made a dumb decision based on fear and ignorance. Get over it.

You are kidding yourself if you think those are the only two reasons. I am neither ignorant nor scared and my reasons for voting against had nothing to do with either.

So, what were your reasons?

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Rikkitic

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#3004360 1-Dec-2022 21:58

I'm not sure what is even being discussed here. Are we (whoever is watching) having an argument or discussion or disagreement about something? My statement about the referendum, which was made back in July, suddenly seems to have become a hot item. Not sure why people are responding to it now. Also not sure why it seems to be seen as an argument against democracy. I accept the result. I accepted it then. I disagree with it, as a citizen of a democracy is entitled to do. My disagreement is with the result, not the process. I do believe many people who voted against legalisation did so out of fear and ignorance, though of course not everyone will have. The process was fair and democratic and the result, though unfortunate, properly arrived at. I don't question that and I have no problem with it. I look forward to the issue being revisited and a different decision arrived at, also via a fair and democratic process.

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