|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
New Zealand: Harre Favours Legalising Cannabis
Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)
Thursday 25 Jan 2001 Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 Source: Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) Website: http://www2.odt.co.nz HARRE FAVOURS LEGALISING CANNABIS Wellington: Youth Affairs Minister Laila Harre Wants To See Cannabis Legalised For Personal Use Ms Harre yesterday hosted a youth forum on cannabis law reform at Parliament where she voiced her opposition to instant fines for cannabis use. The number of cannabis offences in South Australia had doubled since it introduced instant fines, yet only half of the offenders had paid the fine, she said. "If our concerns are for young people's general health, then a system that is more permissive of cannabis use, but also comparatively more effective at finding users, might be the worst of both worlds. "The fines may be nothing more than a tax on cannabis users heavily weighted against those who are most likely to get caught - young people." Ms Harre acknowledged it was not good for young people to take drugs but said no-one was suggesting cannabis be legalised for those under the age of 18. Her speech to the forum was the first time she has publicly given an opinion on the cannabis debate. Green MP Nandor Tanczos, a long-time advocate of cannabis legalisation, welcomed the comments. Speaking to NZPA afterwards, Ms Harre said her views were personal ones and not representative of the Alliance, which did not have a position on the issue. She would be "surprised" if the overwhelming majority of people did not think cannabis law needed reforming. Adults had the right to make responsible decisions for themselves and cannabis was no more dangerous than alcohol, she said. "I think the interesting debate is whether you go with instant fines or partial legalisation." It was important youth had their say in the debate, given they were the ones most likely to be negatively affected by any reforms, she said. During her speech, Ms Harre expressed a preference for a system that created opportunities for decent drug education, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation initiatives. "When it comes to young people, a system like this would enable us to work with those at risk of drug abuse rather than alienating them from the education system through suspension or expulsion, or placing an indelible mark on their criminal record for experimenting with cannabis," she said. The forum was held to provide youth with informed debate to stimulate submissions from them on a review of cannabis laws being undertaken by Parliament's health select committee. Submissions to the committee close on February 7.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!