Posts by Craig Young

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  • Hard News: Public Address Word of the…,

    Jacindamania!!!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: Friday Music: Who is the head…,

    Surely Temuera Morrison when you think about it. He did play Boba Fett's dad in the second Star Wars movie, Attack of the Clones.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: What we learned yesterday…,

    Well said, namesake. At some point, Parliament needs to repeal the wretched Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993, but for tactical reasons, it will have to be after Winston pops his clogs. Although a surprising number of godbots have suddenly realised its risks, given that Winston is now talking about a euthanasia referendum too...

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: What we learned yesterday…,

    It just makes more strategic sense to me to fence medicinal cannabis off and then deal with recreational cannabis as a seperate issue. That appears to be what happened in the case of US state decriminalisation of first medicinal and then recreational cannabis. Note that I am not necessarily opposed to the latter, but a seperate recreational cannabis campaign could also focus attention on the lack of evidential backing for the categories within the current Misuse of Drugs Act and raise important questions about the current regulatory regime of controlled substances within it.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: What we learned yesterday…,

    And then we should legislate for recreational cannabis use as a seperate issue on its own merits and evidence-based substantive risks. Which might be met through a pragmatic shunting of risk attribution to P/crystal meth, which is demonstrably more dangerous.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: What we learned yesterday…,

    I oppose any use of referenda outside constitutional questions- they are too expensive and detract from service provision. When it comes to medicinal cannabis, what should happen is this (a) amendment of Category C of the Misuse of Drugs Act to exempt medicinal cannabis and related products from its recreational ambit (b) the establishment of a wide-ranging set of medical conditions that could benefit from the analgesic and palliative application of medicinal cannabis and its derivatives (c) the establishment of a national registry of medicinal cannabis users (d) and the issuing of 'green cards' akin to Community Service Cards to show to law enforcement and other personnel.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Election 2017: the no…,

    Sorry, but I have to disagree with this. The Conservatives were basket cases- they self-destructed (almost) only a year after they came close to the five percent threshold. Allowing a lower threshold is a recipe for political instability and until recently, I would have said that it excluded extremist outfits from entry to Parliament. Granted, things might have been more interesting had the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party popped up without a threshold, but we would risk the protracted shenanigans that one witnesses in Italy and Israel, neither of which have thresholds either. If one wants greater diversity of parliamentary representation, might I suggest that they should have voted for a Single Transferable Vote electoral system instead of MMP?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: Drugs and human rights,

    It seems to be being reported as a misstep. In stating that human rights and civil liberties would be infringed, Bennett has placed the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons within what has become a very tight electoral race. Chris Finlayson and Amy Adams will be very pissed off at her and I imagine that there are some rather heated phone conferencing exchanges going on within Fortress Nat at the moment as a result.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: About last night's medical…,

    I certainly agree with the proposition that medicinal cannabis and its derivatives should be decriminalised as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there's also the question of competitor monitoring. Family First (yes, them) has a Say Nope to Dope website that elides support for decriminalisation of medipot with recreational decriminalisation.

    Perhaps someone on the decriminalisation side could rig up a Say "Knob" to Bob website to fact check and counter FF's claims?

    http://saynopetodope.org.nz/

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

  • Hard News: The new establishment, in reply to Moz,

    No thanks- I was in Oz in 1995 during the sledging of Koorie and Murrie women over Hindmarsh Island land claims. In Queensland. Ugh. My parents live there and I love them dearly but I never could :/

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report

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