MISUSE OF DRUGS AMENDMENT BILL
First Reading
Wednesday 25 August 2010; 7.45pm
Hon Dr Pita Sharples, Co-leader Maori Party

This is an amendment that the government is making to the misuse of drugs act, which will make the supplying, importing or possessing a pipe, or any identifiable component, illegal. This will only cause more harm to the community, as we all end up with aluminium poisoning from our homemade cone pieces. Help us fight this bill by adding a submission here.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. I will take a short call on this bill.

The bill amends the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 and the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005 by inserting a complex drug vocabulary into the statute.

The basic incentive of the bill is to reclassify ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as class B controlled drugs, remove thalidomide as a class A controlled drug, allow hazardous substances to be scheduled as restricted substances, extend the definition of amphetamine analogues, and extend the controls over drug paraphernalia.

The bill prohibits the supply, import, possession for the purpose of sale and supply, a pipe, other utensil, or identifiable component of a pipe. That is the paraphernalia part.

The bill also amends the Land Transport Act 1998 to reflect that thalidomide is no longer a controlled drug. Previously it was an exception to the offence of driving while under the influence of schedule 1 controlled drugs.

But let us be clear. The real purpose and value of the bill is to add to the campaign against P.

Technically speaking, this legislation will define ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as class B2 controlled drugs, whether or not it is contained in the substance, preparation, or a mixture.

The key point is that there has been too high a risk that pseudoephedrine is being diverted into the manufacture of methamphetamine. This risk is such that the ongoing availability of pseudoephedrine over the counter is not sufficiently significant enough to outweigh the cost in adding to the manufacture of P.

Anyone who has experienced the havoc that P has wreaked on families and communities will tell us of the devastating impact this drug has on health and the well-being of a community.

We have, though, done some amazing things in our communities in fighting the scourge of P in our midst. For years, besieged communities have had programmes responding to the effects of P and trying to help keep people away from it. The Patua Te Ngāngara programme at Hoani Waititi Marae is one programme. I am proud to say that I initiated that programme and ran it for four years, and it is still going now.

But when taking that programme around New Zealand, from Kaitāia to Invercargill, and stopping at various towns, to educate about P we heard anecdotes and situations from police and people attending those hui that are devastating. We heard of mothers sending their children out to prostitute for them, so that they could get money for their P habit. A little girl tried to hang herself at school, and was cut down. She said she was on P, but she was not. She was prostituting for her mother who was on P. We heard of a man coming home from work, to find a gang in his house with his wife. She owes $10,000. We heard story after story. A man wanted to shoot his son because he has caused such havoc within his family, because of his P habit, and so on. It is really horrific.

P is the most antisocial of all drugs, and it attacks society. However, around the country, towns and communities have declared themselves to be P free. There are rāhui set up in certain places against P, and generally there is a spirit in the community that it is not good to use P. Even amongst gangs, there is some work being done on getting rid of P. Denis O’Reilly is leading a lot of that work amongst the community. We know that children as young as 9 years old have been sold P in fruit-flavoured tablets.

There are all sorts of different things going on. It is all scary stuff, and anything at all that stops the assault of P on our young lives has to be considered.

The Māori Party will support any initiative to curb the underbelly of the P industry. If this reclassification will help towards that end, then that will be our stance.

I commend the local councils that are working together with iwi, the police, and Government agencies to remove the pushers, the cooks, and the suppliers of this drug. I hope, though, that doctors’ prescriptions for cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine will not incur additional costs on low-income families, if they are merely visiting the doctor to get that prescription only. The Māori Party will support this bill, and let the kōrero be had at the select committee. Thank you.

There are a few images up on Dakta Green’s facebook from the Northland tour over the weekend. Pop on over and take a look if you are interested.

Today we are off to Hamilton for a few days of toking and promoting, will see all you Hamiltron Stoners soon!

Whangarei – Friday 20th August
Dargaville – Saturday 21st August

We will be setting up the Mobile Daktory each night, so come down and visit us. The address will be posted later in the week, so stay tuned to our itinerary and facebook.

Well, not literally.

The bus suffered some more mechanical issues this morning, as the Armistice Tour convoy set off for it’s Northland tour. As a result, we are sorry to inform you that we will be postponing our Northland tour. We are truly sorry to those of you who were hoping to checkout our Mobile Daktory, but we will be making it up to you at a later date.

We will be visiting the Auckland electorates regardless of Mary Jane’s status, as we will be showing up with our support vehicles, Stashin Wagon and the Bongo Van, if she is not working on the day.

The Daktory itself is running as per normal while the tour is in Auckland. We will be broadcasting live tonight at 7.30pm on Stickam, if the player on our site doesn’t work, then click here for our Stickam profile player.

We are sorry once again for the delay. We keep being told the vehicles are fixed and ready, but we keep being let down.

If you are able to help in any way with the Armistice Tour in your town, then please email armistice.tour@thedaktory.org.nz

Despite mechanical breakdowns we commenced our tour on time at 11am August 11th 2010 at Cape Reinga. There is no mobile internet or phone access at Cape Reinga so we were unable to broadcast live via the internet but we did record the 11am statement. Here is the raw footage.

Stage three of the cannabis Armistice Tour kicks off on Wednesday, August 11 and will cover the entire country before a hikoi to Parliament on Armistice Day, November 11.

Dakta Green, founder of Auckland’s cannabis club The Daktory, will be driving Maryjane the Cannabus, along with an entourage of support vehicles in a three month tour commencing at 11 am with a ceremony beneath the lighthouse at Cape Reinga on Wednesday.

“We will visit every electorate Member of Parliament office in the country and talk with MP’s about the harms that criminalisation causes for ordinary New Zealanders,” said Dakta Green.

“We are also going to talk with as many New Zealanders as possible and ask them for their views on cannabis and the law.”

The Armistice Tour will conclude at Parliament at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month following a march to Parliament.

“We will discuss this issue with everyone, in every part of the country. It makes no difference whether they have or haven’t used cannabis; the current law impacts us all.”

“Whether it’s someone whose family member gets arrested or the taxpayer who has to shoulder the costs of policing cannabis and putting people in prison – every citizen of this country is affected by a policy that doesn’t work.”

Dakta Green pointed out that the recent Police raids on gardening supply shops code-named Operation Lime could lead to significant number of people going to prison in the near future.

“250 people were arrested in that operation,” Dakta Green said. “It costs $1800 per week to keep someone behind bars. That’s a huge financial burden to the State simply because someone was caught growing a little weed for themselves or their friends.”

“The spiraling cost of prohibition alone should give Members of Parliament good reason to listen to the people and immediately stop arresting people for cannabis,” Dakta Green concluded.

ENDS

Note to Media

There will be a departure ceremony at The Daktory on
Tuesday 10th August at 4pm.

Firm departure time 4.20pm.

All welcome to attend.
Interviews will only be available before 4pm.
Some reporters may be able to travel with us for an hour or 2.

Contact
Dakta Green
09 948 1049 (until Tuesday)
Armistice Tour Hotline: 021 213 6646

Original poster image from nzta.govt.nz

The tour will see Mary Jane the Cannabus, along with it’s newly pained support vehicles. painted support vehicles, head from Cape Reinga, to the Bluff, and back up to Auckland, stopping by all of the countries electoral offices to spread the truth about cannabis, and to show support for users around the world.

If you are looking to be a part of the tour, then you can ether help us make some noise at 2pm outside your local MPs office when we visit your town, or stop by at our mobile Daktory, which will be setup each night. If you are looking for more info then check out the Armistice Tour 2010 information page, or email us at armistice.tour@thedaktory.org.nz.

The Daktory, live like it’s legal!

Two ideologically diverse advocates on Wednesday echoed an earlier call by a coalition of drug-policy reform groups by condemning a series of recent raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration on medical marijuana collectives operating legally under state law.

The Tenth Amendment Center, a group that advocates for states’ rights, and Jane Hamsher, the publisher of Firedoglake.com, called on the DEA to respect duly adopted state medical marijuana laws and immediately end those raids.

“The federal government is only authorized to exercise those powers that ‘We The People’ delegated to it in the Constitution,” said Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center. “It is especially egregious when these laws are used to justify raids in states where the use and distribution of cannabis is expressly allowed by law.”

“How many hundreds of thousands of people are going to be arrested before We The People say ‘enough is enough’?” Boldin asked. “The time to end this unconstitutional, immoral, and costly federal war on people is now.”

Under the “leadership” of acting administrator Michele Leonhart, the DEA has staged medical marijuana raids in apparent disregard of Attorney General Eric Holder’s directive to respect state medical marijuana laws.

Most recently, DEA agents flouted a pioneering Mendocino County, California ordinance to regulate medical marijuana cultivation by raiding the very first grower to register with the sheriff. Joy Greenfield, 69, had paid more than $1,000 for a permit to cultivate 99 plants in a collective garden that had been inspected and approved by the local sheriff.

Told that Greenfield had the support of the sheriff, the DEA agent in charge responded by saying, “I don’t care what the sheriff says.”

The DEA’s conduct is inconsistent with an October 2009 Department of Justice memo directing officials not to prosecute individuals “whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”

“At least 73 percent of Americans support medical marijuana, according to recent polls, and its use has been made legal in 14 states plus the District of Columbia,” said Jane Hamsher, publisher of progressive political blog and advocacy group Firedoglake.com.

“Attorney General Eric Holder was crystal clear last year when he directed officials within his department not to waste federal resources interfering with state medical marijuana laws,” Hamsher said. “Yet throughout the tenure of President Obama’s administration, the DEA’s raids have continued in a manner wholly inconsistent with the spirit of that directive.”

“What part of ‘not a priority does Michele Leonhart not understand?” Hamsher asked.

“We are pleased that opposition to the DEA’s over-aggressive behavior is spreading across the political spectrum,” said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project.

“The agency is defiantly sending agents on missions to destroy the private property of citizens who are in full compliance with state medical marijuana laws,” Fox said. “In doing so, the DEA is intentionally undermining the will of state voters and lawmakers who have acted to ensure that medical marijuana patients are no longer treated as criminals.”

“Such acts are not just an insult to advocates of medical marijuana — but also demonstrate a desire to flaunt the power of the federal government in a manner that denies states the right to pass and carry out laws in the best interest of its own citizens,” Fox said.

Based largely upon these recent raids, a coalition of drug policy organizations — including MPP, NORML, California NORML, the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), and Students for Sensible Drug Policy — last week called on President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Leonhart to be the permanent head of the DEA.

• Prop 19 PPP
• Support 52%
• Oppose 36%

This is the largest margin of support we have seen from recent polling on Prop 19. Interestingly, the poll found support among African Americans to be extremely high. From PPP blog:

Democrats are more likely to throw their support behind the prop than Republicans. 62% of Democrats, 37% of Republicans and 55% of Independents support Prop 19.

African-Americans are the strongest supporters of Prop 19; 68:32, followed by Whites who support it 53:37.

Those are surprisingly high numbers among African Americans. A SurveyUSA poll from earlier this month had African Americans on average about as likely to support Prop 19 as whites. Significantly, a small percentage of African Americans said they were certain to oppose it.

Read more of this article at elections.firedoglake.com