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Chloe,
I get it – you are passionate. Really passionate. But your latest stunt, trying to drag cannabis regulation back into the spotlight, is beyond tone-deaf. We don’t need another debate on legalising marijuana.
Our kids are struggling, families are under pressure and here you are, waving the green flag like the rest of the country is just waiting for permission to get high.
They’re not.
They’re barely coping with what’s in front of them now – and there are plenty of distractions and temptations for our kids as it is. NCEA changes, exams, vaping and the biggie that’s slowly destroying them – devices and social media.
Schools are dealing with kids facing behavioural issues like anxiety, depression, vaping-related lung issues and actual substance abuse – not theoretical debates about “regulation”. Our mental health services are stretched beyond breaking point – they don’t need your enthusiasm for cannabis regulation now or anytime in the future. Legalise it and it better come with increased dollars for mental health. You’ll need it.
I’ve written about what happened in Thailand, where they softened their laws and chaos ensued. Now they’re trying to overturn the laws again.
A yes vote sends a message that it must be okay to smoke weed – that’s what they see and that’s what they hear. It happened with vaping. I have four kids – they never smoked but two now vape. Sadly. Make something freely available and people flock to it.
Let’s be brutally honest. The Cannabis Legalisation and Control Referendum happened. The people voted and you lost, yet you insist on dragging another unwanted and divisive debate into the spotlight. Why should you get another go at this after we spent millions on a referendum five years back?
Sure you lost narrowly, but you lost. I know only 50.7% voted against liberalising the law but you still lost. Interviews, parliamentary speeches and Instagram posts aren’t going to magically change the outcome – and you don’t get to relitigate it because you don’t like the result. Democracy moved on.
Yet you seem now obsessed with reviving this issue. Where does this come from and why are you doing this? Is it for an easy headline?
This is exactly the problem with political grandstanding. While families are watching their kids struggle – kids who are anxious, lonely or already experimenting with drugs – you are obsessed with proving a point. It’s disconnected, frustrating and frankly a little indulgent. There’s a line between passion and being out of touch, and on this right now you have not read the room.
I don’t begrudge anyone their principles, but leadership isn’t about endlessly relitigating issues that have already been decided. Pushing cannabis reform is a luxury and a distraction from real crises: our mental health system on the edge, vaping-related health scares, kids facing unprecedented pressures, parents barely holding it together.
We need solutions that actually help, not another lecture to people who are already struggling to survive day-to-day.
If you truly cared about young people, and I’m sure you do, then tackle the real issues. Head into schools, into communities, ask what works and what doesn’t. Go and ask teachers if they want this. Go on. Ask addiction services and agencies dealing with the fallout if they want this.
Chloe, if you want to make a difference, put your energy where it actually counts. Stop relitigating votes already lost, stop lecturing the country and start leading on the issues that genuinely matter.
New Zealanders are watching their kids struggle and fret about life. They don’t need another cannabis debate. I bet it doesn’t even make their top 20 list of things they worry about and things that need to change.
Get with the programme, Chloe.
