Voters will have their say on the cannabis referendum. Photo / 123RF
Voters will have their say on the cannabis referendum. Photo / 123RF
Opinion
What is sensible about cannabis?
Is it realistic to think cannabis use can be prevented? Nope. Is it sensible to force cannabis smokers to buy from criminals? Nope. Is it sensible to keep a policy that enriches gangs? Nope. Is it sensible to spend taxes fighting unwinnable wars? Nope. Isit fair to keep a policy that disproportionately victimises Maori? Nope. Is it sensible to forego the job creation and revenue that legalisation would bring? Nope. Is it sensible to continue to treat drug use as a crime, rather than a health issue? Nope. So, sayNopetoDopiness. Chris Elias, Mission Bay
Ask Collins
Jacinda Ardern is pilloried by the right-wing media for not telling us how she will vote in the cannabis referendum. Why is that important? Because the right-wing media are run on alcohol advertising funding. Why don't they ask Collins why she forced her caucas to vote no? Steve Russell, Hillcrest
Reading Heather du Plessis-Allan's opinion piece (October 4), the 1989 film Heathers comes to mind. This was about a gang of mean girls at high school, but one of them was nice. The nice one, if you like that type of nice, was Jacinda Ardern. The mean one was — well, do you need to ask? Crusher is crushing the nice one in the debates, because she is mean enough to have all the data at her fingertips. It's showing in the polls. "Dear" will have to watch out! Pauline Alexander, Waiatarua
Living wage
Would Andrew Parsons (Letters, September 27) work for $15 an hour? This equates to $600 per 40-hour week before tax. With the average weekly rent in Auckland now just over $600, this leaves nothing for essentials. NZ is already a low-wage economy, brought about by successive governments' policies such as the destruction of unions plus free trade agreements with low-wage countries such as China. Manufactured goods may be cheaper but wages for many workers are being reduced. Free trade agreements can only be fair when negotiated between countries of equal standing. Paying anything below a living wage equates to slave labour. David F Little, Whangārei
