I want to begin with an African saying. "Now is not the time to be searching for who is wrong. Now is the time to be searching for what is right."

It's a saying worth keeping in mind as we discuss the cannabis issue. This is an emotive topic, and it is easy and tempting to look for enemies, to look for people to blame and to look for people to demonise. But that doesn't actually help anyone.

What does help is a willingness to be honest, a willingness to be open, and a willingness to look at the evidence about what is actually going on in our country.

The interesting thing is that if we begin with a willingness to listen to each other, we find that there is widespread agreement about most things.

Most of us agree that we don't want to see young people using cannabis, and especially not at school.

Most of us agree that what we are doing now is not working and that things are getting worse.

Most of us agree that the answer probably lies in better drug education, and rehabilitation for those who need help.

Most of us agree that we don't really think that adults should be made criminals for personal use of cannabis but we want to stop drug abuse and we want to give young people a clear message that we discourage the use of drugs.

Let's go back to the first of those points. Who wants to see children using cannabis? It is widely accepted that people are much more likely to have problems with cannabis if they start using at a young age. Yet a quick glance at what is happening in our schools shows that our cannabis laws are failing our young people even more then they are failing the rest of the community.

Cannabis use among young people is rife and it is growing fast. Last year almost 2,000 students were suspended from New Zealand schools over cannabis, up some 200 from the year before. According to Trevor Grice of the Life Education Trust up to 150,000 school-aged children in this country — some as young as nine — had serious drug problems in 1997. And despite what some people would have you believe this didn't start when I became an MP. This is a trend that has been growing for some time.

The question we have to ask, as a matter of urgency, is what do we think we are we doing? The policy that we have followed since 1975 is an absolute disaster. There has to be a better way.

We cannot afford to play politics with this. The National Party has stated that they refuse to take part in a review of that policy. I am not talking about supporting law reform, I am talking about their refusal to even discuss whether the policy works, and if not what would be a more sensible approach.

And when you consider that the 1998 Health Select Committee inquiry into the mental health effects of cannabis - which recommended that parliament review the legal status of cannabis - was chaired by National MP Brian Neeson, I can't help thinking that our young people are being sacrificed for politics.

There is no doubt that prohibition does not work. We all know stories about young people who have been badly affected by cannabis abuse under prohibition. In fact not only does prohibition fail to either reduce cannabis use or more importantly reduce the abuse of cannabis, in fact it increases abuse.

It is counter-productive and a barrier to effective and honest drug education and rehabilitation programmes both in our schools and in our communities.

The fear of arrest keeps the cannabis issue underground and prevents open dialogue. It stops people who need help from seeking it and it puts up barriers between youth and the people they should be able to trust. Perhaps most significantly the law makes good quality education — which the Greens believe is the key to this issue — much more difficult. As the Health Select Committee report said: "The double standard which sometimes surround the cannabis issue [is] an impediment to effective anti drug education… the younger generation perceive a double standard in the social acceptance of alcohol and tobacco despite their obvious negative health and social repercussions, while cannabis is clearly prohibited and its harms are less apparent".

A report this year on drug use among Maori by the Whariki Maori Health Research Group shows the main reason people who identify themselves as needing help don't seek it is because of fear of the law.

Let me repeat that in case you're starting to nod off. The main reason that people who need help for cannabis problems don't ask for it is because they are afraid that they will be arrested if they do.

The second reason, cumulatively, was lack of available services.

It is interesting to note that the Mental Health Commission has estimated that funding of some $47.75 million is needed for treatment of substance abuse disorders if they want to meet the objectives of the National Mental Health Strategy.

That to me is the worst kind of indictment. The police spend at least $20million a year arresting people for cannabis. That doesn't include the cost to the Dept of Courts or the Dept of Corrections, which is probably another $20 — 30 million.. Yet when I asked the Education Dept what they spend on cannabis education programs I was told that they are working with the Alcohol Advisory Council to provide ….$1.6 million.

So police spend more than ten times as much money punishing people for cannabis than the education department does educating them or helping them if they have problems.

Prohibition does not stop young people from using cannabis. What does is accurate information so that they can make truly informed decisions. As I mentioned earlier most new Zealanders would agree with ex head of Interpol Raymond Kendal when he says that every dollar spent on drug education is 7 times as effective as a dollar spent on policing at reducing demand.

We must inspire our young people to take responsibility for their own well-being when it comes to all drugs — not just cannabis but alcohol, tobacco and the range of drugs that didn't exist in this country 20 years ago. We need to inform them properly of the consequences and the risks and above all we must encourage young people to respect themselves, believe in themselves and have confidence in the decisions they make.

We must encourage our young people to be honest. The current law does the opposite of that.

In the meantime we must be honest with ourselves. We can start by being honest about prohibition.

The use of cannabis in New Zealand is among the highest in the world, while we have the dubious honour of having the highest rate of arrests for cannabis related offences in the world - higher even than the United States. One cannabis arrest every 20 minutes. No country goes harder on cannabis than us.

The previous National government prided itself on being tough on drugs. John Carter introduced a bill to prohibit cannabis pipes and bongs. The National government aldso introduced the Proceeds of Crimes Act of 1993. Under that government cannabis use increased. Under that government the number of people who admitted having used cannabis went up 20 per cent, and became the majority of the country.

So given the failure of this approach why do we spend so much money punishing people rather than educating them?

Is it to reduce the availability of cannabis? The reality is cannabis couldn't be more available than it is under prohibition. Cannabis is for sale 24 hours a day, seven days a week in every suburb in New zealand. And they don't ask for age ID at the tinny house either.

Is it to avoid sending a mixed messages to kids. I don't accept this for a minute. The messages that prohibition sends could not be more confused: that society condones the use of dangerous drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, but punishes those who choose less dangerous alternatives; That the more people try to protect their health, such as by the use of water filters, the harsher they will be treated; That if people are having problems we prefer to punish rather than help them.

Equally confusing for youth is the hypocrisy coming from so-called 'community leaders'who admit to having used cannabis in their younger days but don't think the law should be changed.

This is exactly the 'us-and-them' syndrome which Brian Edwards summed up so well when he revealed his 13 year old conviction for minor cannabis charges recently. What they are saying is 'yes I smoked pot, everyone was doing it, it was no big deal, but I still think we should arrest, prosecute and convict anyone else who smokes a joint.'

This of course is the issue. Cannabis use may be widespread in society, but it is not the decision-makers who are getting arrested — it is mostly young people, Maori and the poor. There is a total double standard when it comes to prosecuting cannabis offenses, as the famous billionaire cannabis smuggler showed us all so clearly.

How many people in the audience have been randomly stopped and searched for drugs by the police? I have, many times, simply because I have dreadlocks. The reality is that for many of our young people living in New Zealand is like living in an occupied country.

Will changing the law will lead to higher rates of use? In fact not a single major study of drug policy has found evidence to suggest cannabis use increases in a liberalised environment. There is no difference in use between the 10 US States that decriminalised in the 1970's and those that maintained strict prohibition. In Europe several countries attributed the removal of the 'forbidden fruit' syndrome and the introduction of education to a significant drop in drug use following decriminalisation.

In the Netherlands where the market is regulated only 15 per cent of adults admit to having ever used cannabis compared to our 52 per cent; 2.5 per cent admit to being current users compared to 16 per cent in New Zealand and use by young people is half of our rate at just 12 per cent.

The Parliamentary Library briefing paper on cannabis issues makes this clear when it says that decriminalisation in the Netherlands, Australia and the USA has not led to a significant increase in cannabis use.

Because in fact everyone who wants to use cannabis alteady does so. And as every major study has proved, from the Health Select Committee Inquiry, to Professor David Fergussens work in Christchurch, to Professor Sally Casswell's surveys, to the WHO report, most people who use cannabis do so moderately and responsibly without ill effect.

We must stop wasting our time and money punishing adults for personal use of cannabis and use it to promote a clear message to young people through an age limit and a well funded, well researched and well planned drug education strategy in every school and community.

Our cannabis laws have resulted in rising levels of arrests and convictions, sky-rocketing police expenditure on enforcement and, most importantly, steadily rising levels of cannabis use. Prohibition has failed to deliver any of its stated goals. The time has come to review the law, to ask the people of New Zealand what outcomes we want from our cannabis policy and to look at the evidence as to what is the most effective way to achieve those goals.

As I said at the beginning, now is not the time to be searching for who is wrong. Now is the time to be searching for what is right.