Chloe Swarbrick: Evidence Should End War on Drugs

COMMENTARY:

Earlier this week, the New Zealand Drug Foundation released its annual survey of Kiwis' attitude towards cannabis. Voters from all walks of life are seeing support for cannabis law reform grow.

The survey found that 87% of New Zealanders support "the cultivation and / or use of cannabis for medical reasons such as pain". a jump of almost 10 percentage points in the last 12 months.
In terms of recreational use, 67% of New Zealanders support the reform of personal possession and use, and 61% support personal growth reform.

All This Is Important Because It Shows Our Cannabis Laws

But perhaps even worse than that, we know for a fact that our cannabis laws are completely out of step with everyday practice.

The most recent study of the Ministry of Health Unfortunately, in 2013, drug use in New Zealand revealed that more than 400,000 Kiwis had used cannabis in the last twelve months.

In this study, 42% of people reported using it to relieve pain. . The cat is well and truly out of the bag – the ban does not work.

On top of that, there are a number of New Zealand police officers who have openly admitted that cannabis is decriminalized on the front line.

But what does all this mean?

The most important starting point is to clarify that medicinal and recreational cannabis issues are two separate issues. There will be a referendum on the recreational and adult use of cannabis by 2020 or earlier, in accordance with the Agreement on Green Confidence and Supply.

In January of this year, two bills were introduced in Parliament to reform the medicinal cannabis law.

One was the bill of my MP, originally drafted by the Honorable Julie Anne Genter – who, becoming Minister of the Crown, could not advance a project of law – and the other was the government bill.

The government bill proposes a criminal defense for terminally ill persons, defined in the legislation as being twelve months to live, and delegates to the Ministry of Health the power to create new regulations for the medical prescription of the patient. cannabis. as a licensing scheme for the domestic production of local cannabis products.

The bill of our Green Member would have created a prescription scheme for those with a "qualifying medical condition" defined to "cultivate, possess or use the cannabis plant or products with the support of". a registered health professional.

The main point of contention raised by the bill of my MP was the provision "push back yours". I've noticed that in Canada and some states in the United States, they have long had the ability to grow their own plants for medicinal purposes, and studies have soothed moral panic by demonstrating that there is no more recreational or youth use. As is often the case with moral panics regarding personal production

The reason it was included in the bill was the success of these models overseas, because sustainable supply and because, frankly, that's what's happening already right now – would not it be better that it happen under the supervision of a doctor?

The same week, the government's bill was passed unanimously in the House, while the support bill obtained only from our Green Caucus, Labor Party members and members of the House of Commons. ; ACT.

Fast forward six months, and the special committee on health just reported this week on the bill on medicinal cannabis government. The National Party has advised the public that it will withdraw support and instead present its own bill on the basis of an order-based model.

This member's bill, like all bills, is based on the lottery "to end up in the House, which means that the bill could be established next week, or potentially stay there forever.

In recent months, I have worked in the House to bring together a multi-stakeholder group on harm reduction, with an expansive reach, no less focused on ending the drug war in favor of an evidence-based public health approach, and in the case of medicinal cannabis, explicitly attempting to bring MPs together to act as soon as possible. 19659003] No one is trying to suggest that it's not a good thing. There is no harm that comes from the abuse of cannabis, as with any drug, alcohol included, but it would seem that we are starting to get consensus across Parliament is that an action urgent collaboration is necessary for the p and whānau to ensure safe and affordable access to medicinal cannabis. It's something we can celebrate.