Your View, Letters July 28

My target is drug harm, not personal freedom
In response to Roy Edwards (Your View, July 25), I must say that I am not a prohibitionist, and did not call for a ban for Kronic. If I am a crusader, it is against drug harm, not personal freedom. If I see evidence-based solutions to complex problems, I will promote those. I think compulsory seatbelts are a fine example - we exchanged a small amount of liberty for preventing a lot of death.
The real issues with the politics of pleasure lie in vested interests. Drugs are not ordinary household items, and if someone gets into trouble with them, at least six to seven other people nearby are directly and adversely affected.
Sadly, our commercial culture, desire to make a dollar, overrides and dominates our drug cultures, and prohibition just shifts who is making the bucks. The trick is to strike a balance with legislation so that end users of the drug and their families suffer the least damage. My current position is that our laws on Kronic and alcohol are not balanced between prohibition and commercialisation.
I ask Roy Edwards should we do nothing about Kronic in an environment that is already flooded with cheap alcohol, so that people can use lots of both?
TONY FARRELL
Mount Maunganui
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Hi-cane trouble
Re "Growers going hi-tech, low-tech" (Rural, July 20).
NZ Kiwifruit Growers chief executive Mike Chapman said bags plus information leaflets were now being distributed by rural delivery posties to orchardists and neighbours.
I have just been notified that hydrogen cyanamide (Hi-cane) will be sprayed on the kiwifruit orchard by us (which has no shelter belt, also school holidays) tomorrow or the day after. To know exactly which day I would have to access the road frontage, which could be covered with Hi-cane spraydrift, to read any sort of sign.
So where's our yellow bag? Perhaps it's with last year's, still coming.
You really have to ask what clown came up with the yellow bag idea for letterboxes. To a section of the public, and certainly visitors to the area, a yellow bag on a letterbox would give the message the "party's here" only they ran out of balloons.
Wasn't it spraydrift concerns in 2009 when we read about the protests in all our local papers? I guess progress is slow and nothing has really changed.
C MARTIN
Tauranga
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Boobs on Bikes
Re Boobs on Bikes. I support Crs Guy and Grainger on their stance on this matter. We do not need such a parade in Tauranga, or anywhere else in this country for that matter. It's just a way of advertising the sex trade for Mr Crow and he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the public. He can stick to his own backyard or out of sight. Come on, Tauranga, step up and say no to this rubbish.
SHERYLE ROWE
Tauranga
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Time for heroes
Men, remember when you were a little boy and you dreamed of fighting the bad guy and rescuing the damsel in distress? That call to heroic self-sacrifice inspired you to dream big. Now is the time to make that dream a reality.
Sacrifice the selfish sexual pleasure that watching topless women would give you and say "no" to Boobs on Bikes.
Sure, you may have failed in this area in the past but tell yourself that this time you're going to win the battle.
This time you're going to honour your woman by honouring all women.
This time you're not going to use women. This time you're going to fight for them and protect them.
Tell Steve Crow to go to another place.
Your damsel will be so impressed.
MARY-PAT KENGMANA
Tauranga