Thursday, 07 December 2023
KaitaiaWhangareiDargavilleAucklandThamesTaurangaHamiltonWhakataneRotoruaTokoroaTe KuitiTaumarunuiTaupoGisborneNew PlymouthNapierHastingsDannevirkeWhanganuiPalmerston NorthLevinParaparaumuMastertonWellingtonMotuekaNelsonBlenheimWestportReeftonKaikouraGreymouthHokitikaChristchurchAshburtonTimaruWanakaOamaruQueenstownDunedinGoreInvercargill
NZ HeraldThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay Of Plenty TimesRotorua Daily PostHawke's Bay TodayWhanganui ChronicleThe Stratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu CourierVivaEat WellOneRoofDRIVEN Car GuideThe CountryPhoto SalesiHeart RadioRestaurant Hub
Voyager 2023 media awards
Subscribe

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Doug Sellman: Control of legalised cannabis best placed in govt hands

By Professor Doug Sellman
11 Apr, 2016 08:07 PM4 mins to read
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail
The days of cannabis prohibition in New Zealand appear to be coming to an end. Photo / Getty Images

The days of cannabis prohibition in New Zealand appear to be coming to an end. Photo / Getty Images

The days of cannabis prohibition in New Zealand appear to be coming to an end. Peter Dunne is reflecting a change in public attitudes towards cannabis that is gathering momentum.

The brave admissions by Helen Kelly and others about their illegal use of cannabis for medical purposes has helped reignite public discussion about cannabis law in general.

Drugs, including alcohol, are here to stay - our job is to get better at managing them as a society. Declaring war is a failed strategy, which needs to be replaced by scientifically based harm-reduction approaches. There are a wide range of strategies, and the current approaches to our top two recreational drugs, alcohol and cannabis, are at opposite ends of a continuum.

Alcohol has a highly commercialised "free market" approach, which Sir Geoffrey Palmer described as "unbridled commercialisation" when he led the Law Commission's call for strong regulatory reform in 2010 (mostly ignored by the Government at the time). At the other end of the continuum is prohibition, which exists for cannabis and all other recreational drugs (except tobacco).

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Even possession of small quantities of cannabis can potentially attract a criminal conviction, which can scar a young person for life, derailing them from feeling they belong to the mainstream of society and blocking career and travel options.

Excessive harm is caused at both ends of the continuum, where big business flourishes, one within the law and the other outside of it. Both share the goal of profit maximisation from supplying and selling as much of their drug as possible.

The alcohol industry goes out of its way to project a socially responsible image and strives to be seen as part of the solution to problems its product creates rather than ever admit it is central to the problems.

Behind the scenes, however, alcohol corporates target new young customers, avoid paying tax, schmooze politicians, and attempt to denigrate those who point out their devious tactics.

The organised criminal cannabis suppliers also flagrantly target the young and avoid paying tax, but they don't try to pretend they are anything but gangsters making money out of drug dealing.

Leaving recreational drugs in the hands of big business, without very strong regulation, is a recipe for harm maximisation. Prohibition is an admission of defeat and an abrogation of control.

Related articles

World

Experts call for rethink on drug laws

25 Mar 04:00 PM
New Zealand

Health, rather than criminal, approach to drugs

29 Mar 08:19 PM
Lifestyle

Why sugar addiction is like drug abuse

11 Apr 05:45 AM

Harm would be minimised in the middle ground of the drug policy continuum if the Government took centre-stage and strongly regulated drugs in terms of marketing, pricing, accessibility, age of purchase and drug-driving laws.

With change in the cannabis laws coming there is danger that a 180-degree switch might occur - from prohibition to commercialisation.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Lobbying of our parliamentarians may already be under way by business leaders salivating at the new fortunes they anticipate reaping. This is especially so since the dramatic changes in the United States where four states now have laws allowing private businesses to supply and sell cannabis.

There are alternatives to a private business model, one of which is the establishment of state-owned enterprises.

Government monopolies of retail sales of alcohol exist in Scandinavia and are documented as a highly effective harm reduction intervention for alcohol . In Uruguay the Government directly controls a legalised cannabis market alongside home growing and social clubs.

With the Government taking control of drugs, the huge profit from sales goes back to the Government for the greater good. Black markets are undermined while health promotion can be genuinely undertaken at the point of sale, motivated by the fact the state bears the costs for harm from excessive use of these drugs.

At the entrance of a Finnish liquor outlet I visited several years ago was a display of educational material about alcohol harm, although it was the absence of ugly alcohol marketing, limited hours of purchase, and the lack of ultra-cheap discounted alcohol that was most impressive.

The continuance of rampant commercialisation of alcohol with the addition of an exuberant privately driven cannabis industry would be the very worst outcome of re-thinking cannabis law.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Professor Doug Sellman is director of the University of Otago's national addiction centre in Christchurch.
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand|Crime

Greymouth man jailed for sexual offences on victims as young as 10

06 Dec 08:21 AM
Politics

Police Minister sets expectations for Commissioner in new letter

06 Dec 07:02 AM
Crime

Man who murdered his brother claims love triangle was not a motivator

06 Dec 07:00 AM
Premium
Politics

Claire Trevett: Friend or foe? Refreshed roll call of political enemies as new MP shines

06 Dec 06:05 AM

Toy trends for Christmas

sponsored

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Greymouth man jailed for sexual offences on victims as young as 10

Greymouth man jailed for sexual offences on victims as young as 10

06 Dec 08:21 AM

Police commend bravery of victims after sentencing of 27-year-old Liam Nixon.

Police Minister sets expectations for Commissioner in new letter

Police Minister sets expectations for Commissioner in new letter

06 Dec 07:02 AM
Man who murdered his brother claims love triangle was not a motivator

Man who murdered his brother claims love triangle was not a motivator

06 Dec 07:00 AM
Premium
Claire Trevett: Friend or foe? Refreshed roll call of political enemies as new MP shines

Claire Trevett: Friend or foe? Refreshed roll call of political enemies as new MP shines

06 Dec 06:05 AM
More houses coming
sponsored

More houses coming

About NZMEHelp & SupportContact UsSubscribe to NZ HeraldHouse Rules
Manage Your Print SubscriptionNZ Herald E-EditionAdvertise with NZMEBook Your AdPrivacy Policy
Terms of UseCompetition Terms & ConditionsSubscriptions Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 2023 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP