Hard News by Russell Brown

In other news, New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis scheme came into effect on Wednesday.

Chris Fowlie explains what it means on the Zeacann blog.

As part of that, (some) cannabis vaporisers are explicitly legal to import and sell for the first time.

Thanks, Russell. It's good to get a bit of cannabis referendum news out there.
Just to add to the discussion about how the campaign is going, Make It Legal have pulled their campaign on-line during lock-down, but managed to get banners sent out just beforehand. These have been arriving at supporter’s homes and installed on fences nationwide.
Because we have no funding for advertising we rely on our army of supporters to provide free locations to promote the campaign.
However, landlords have been telling supporters to take the banners down or risk their tenancies. These landlords are not claiming damage to the fences – but stating that they do not support cannabis law reform and therefore do not want one of their properties to be showing support.
Effectively, an older property owning group (who oppose cannabis law reform) are using their power over younger tenants to suppress public support for the legal regulation of cannabis.
And in case you are wondering, our banners are respectable and professional.

It's quite a feat to change the campaign so significantly after two years of build up, and we are still feeling our way with a social media campaign, but support for legal regulation is growing and we are confident of a (close) win.

Health Not Handcuffs

say the Drug Foundation.... Very worthy, but not really inspiring for the crew.

I say Party not Prison

Cannabis is not, to me, a health issue any more than coffee is. It is a social justice issue.

The DF have a audience, they do good work reaching them, but their audience are wowsers. Vote for fun, vote for freedom.

And if you do not care about my fun and freedom then you should vote for (yawn) health....

And if you do not care about my fun and freedom then you should vote for (yawn) health….

I like both!

These landlords are not claiming damage to the fences – but stating that they do not support cannabis law reform and therefore do not want one of their properties to be showing support.
Effectively, an older property owning group (who oppose cannabis law reform) are using their power over younger tenants to suppress public support for the legal regulation of cannabis.

Well that sucks. Keep up the good work, Sandra.

but their audience are wowsers.

Should read: “but their audience are voters.”

Wowsers vote too. Good work with them. What ever it takes...

But some of us need to support the crew. "Drugs are bad, prohibition is worse" is how I paraphrase the DF message, and it works for the middle class matrons and gentlemen who are worried that them over there cannot handle their drugs...

I have literally watched a senior public health academic from the University of Otago rail against "big alcohol" in a café that had (I counted) seventeen beers on tap and a glass of wine in their hand. When I pointed out that "big alcohol" (actually deregulation...) had meant that we all had these wonderful choices they said "we can handle it, those other people cannot" (I paraphrase).

These people are important. I find the hypocrisy and elitism difficult to handle , so good on the DF for dealing with them.

People like me and mine use drugs because drugs are good. Drugs are fun. We get together with our friends and take drugs, we laugh, we dance, we love, we fight, we forgive, we laugh about it all again.... Being in a room with fifty people buzzing on psychedelics with the dance music pumping is a magic thing.

These people over here can handle our drugs! Love to all, even the wowsers. At times like these it is important to be kind.... Wowsers are people too, they have their fun, there is room for us all.

And we vote, too.

I'm medicated and don't drink or do other drugs (except coffee) Zanny by Billie Eilish speaks to me.

I favour legalisation from a human rights stand point.

We need to have suitable measures in place to register safe/dangerous levels of THC and have buyin from the H&S sector.

Currently safe is zero in the piss test (a test I've failed for opioids - kiddy cough mixture and Head like a Hole concert).

The Cannabis crew need to drive a cheap easy test for wide industry adoption as part of the legalisation drive and I'm not hearing it.

Without this it will result in a wasters or workers work force as we currently have now, rather than a wider more meaningful change.

Cannabis is for children.

I used to hear the same statement from junkies, delivered in a condescending tone as they heated their spoon