Canadians say: legalise cannabis

An official report recommending that Canada legalise and licence the production and sale of cannabis has been welcomed by Green Party Drug Policy spokesperson Nandor Tanczos.

Mr Tanczos said that although the Green Party policy was for the more moderate step of allowing adults to grow their own, he recognised that the Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs had done an enormous amount of work over two years to identify the best policy for Canada.

The Committee stated that "used in moderation, cannabis in itself poses very little danger to users and to society as a whole."

It added that "even if cannabis were to have serious harmful effects, one would have to question the relevance of using the criminal law to limit these effects…The prohibition of cannabis does not bring about the desired reduction in cannabis consumption or problematic use. However this approach does have a whole series of harmful consequences".

Nandor said he hoped that the New Zealand parliament took note.

"People who argue for the status quo are offering no solution to the problems of rising drug abuse, the waste of 280,000 hours a year of police time and mass profits to gangs. The Greens have been attacked simply for saying what everyone knows: the law does not work.

"I congratulate the Canadians for having the courage to do something about it and hope that the New Zealand parliament can be equally honest."

Nandor says the New Zealand Health Select Committee's decision to continue with its inquiry into the legal status of cannabis shows respect for the many hundreds of New Zealander who had gone to the effort of participating in the inquiry.

"Parliament should be listening to what the community is saying, rather than allowing the debate to be dominated by a vocal minority. The Select Committee had an open process, and seventy five percent of people said that the law should change."

"This is why United Future was so keen to lock the government into the failed status quo, before the Committee reported back to parliament. They knew that an open-minded assessment of the facts would show that change is needed".

The Canadian Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs report can be found at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/sum...