Recent News

NZ Herald 30 August 2019
Family First Comment: Businesses sound the alarm…
“You can’t have drug-impaired people operating processing sites, yet this Government is considering legalising stuff we are testing against. We are strongly anti because we know how it negatively impacts on performance.”
“We have a high suicide rate and a high level of mental health issues – it would do nothing but social harm,” 
#saynopetodope

The number of zeroes on the balance sheet of Kirk Hardy’s business would probably treble if cannabis use was legalised, but it would be hard to find anyone more opposed to the idea.

The co-founder and chief executive of The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), Australasia’s biggest workplace drug tester, says legalisation would be “a terrible mistake”.

“We have a high suicide rate and a high level of mental health issues – it would do nothing but social harm,” he argues.

Hardy says that judging from the experience of US workplace drug testers in states where cannabis use has been legalised, his business workload would increase three- or four-fold.

“Businesses don’t want it in the workplace, so they do more testing.”

Hardy has spent much of his working life around drugs and has seen first-hand the damage they wreak. The Aucklander was a panel beater before joining the police force and becoming a drug squad detective for nearly 10 years.

Workplace drug testing is a family affair. Hardy’s brother Karl, one of the original directors after TDDA was founded in 2005, now heads another drug testing company, Auckland-based WorkCare, which has partnered with the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA).
READ MORE: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12262707

Stuff co.nz 29 August 2019
Family First Comment: “Woolley was found with cannabis and a pipe for smoking methamphetamine, and drug tests confirmed both substances in his system.”
But weed never killed anyone eh.
#saynopetodope
#VoteNO

A man who caused a double fatal crash while on a cocktail of drugs has apologised to his victims’ families.

Anaru Freedom Woolley, 27, has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of Kevin Hanks, 40, and Macauley Arnott, 13, when he collided with their vehicle at an intersection on State Highway 2, near the Tui brewery in Mangatainoka, on April 4.

Hanks’ two sons, Koben​ and Kasen​, were passengers in the Northern Wairarapa crash. Koben, 13, suffered a head injury and was in an induced coma in Auckland’s Starship children’s hospital, while Kasen, 15, suffered minor injuries.

In the Palmerston North District Court on Thursday, defence lawyer Steve Winter apologised for the “irreplaceable” losses his client had caused.

“Mr Woolley has specifically asked me to do that,” he told the group of about 15 family members.

“He is very sorry at the loss he has caused your family.”

A forestry worker from Dannevirke, Woolley was found with cannabis and a pipe for smoking methamphetamine, and drug tests confirmed both substances in his system.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/115370766/drugaffected-driver-apologises-to-crash-victims-families-for-killing-two-people

CBS Boston 26 August 2019
Family First Comment: “A chocolate labeled as 10 milligrams of THC could have far more and send someone to the emergency room with hallucinations.”
Disturbing.
#saynopetodope

How much marijuana is really in that pot brownie? Chocolate can throw off potency tests so labels aren’t always accurate, and now scientists are trying to figure out why.

In states where marijuana is legal, pot comes in cookies, mints, gummies, protein bars — even pretzels. These commercial products are labeled with the amount of high-inducing THC. That helps medical marijuana patients get the desired dose and other consumers attune their buzz.

But something about chocolate, chemists say, seems to interfere with potency testing. A chocolate labeled as 10 milligrams of THC could have far more and send someone to the emergency room with hallucinations.

The latest research on chocolate, to be presented at a San Diego meeting this week, is one example of chemistry’s growing role in the marijuana industry. Besides chocolate’s quirks, chemists are working on extending shelf life, mimicking marijuana’s earthy aroma and making products safer.

The marijuana business is at a crossroads in its push for legitimacy. The federal government still considers marijuana illegal, yet more than 30 U.S. states allow it for at least medical use. Even in those states, there are no recognized standard methods for testing products for safety and quality.

Chemists working for marijuana companies and testing labs are developing those standards and some are legally protecting their ideas.
READ MORE: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/08/26/marijuana-chocolate-pot-brownies-potency-labels/

NBC News 26 August 2019
Family First Comment: “Marijuana concentrate can come in multiple forms, including oils and butter-like compounds, and can contain very high levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. It’s often ingested using a vaping device and doesn’t smell like traditional pot. In the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, researchers surveyed almost 50,000 adolescents in Arizona. The researchers found that among teens who used any form of cannabis, 72% had experience with the more potent products.”

Teens who used a concentrated form of marijuana — sometimes called dabs, wax, shatter or crumble — are more likely to also use other drugs than kids who avoid marijuana, a new study suggests.

Marijuana concentrate can come in multiple forms, including oils and butter-like compounds, and can contain very high levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. It’s often ingested using a vaping device and doesn’t smell like traditional pot.

In the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, researchers surveyed almost 50,000 adolescents in Arizona. The researchers found that among teens who used any form of cannabis, 72 percent had experience with the more potent products.

Those findings should serve as an alert to parents who may not even know their kids are vaping, said the study’s lead author, Madeline Meier, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University.

“I don’t know that parents know about this stuff,” Meier said. “If I weren’t a marijuana researcher, I don’t know if I saw [a vape with marijuana] that I would know what it was. Parents should educate themselves about what these forms of cannabis look like.”

To get a better sense of teen drug use, Meier and her colleagues surveyed 47,142 students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades from 245 schools across Arizona in 2018. The students were asked whether they’d ever used marijuana or marijuana concentrate, as well as whether they had used either in the past month. They were also asked about other drug use, peer substance use and whether they thought cannabis was safe.
READ MORE: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/teens-who-use-concentrated-marijuana-more-likely-use-other-drugs-n1045961

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Otago Daily Times 23 August 2019
Family First Comment: University to become pot shop.
“The Otago University Students’ Association is a step closer to eventually selling marijuana, after students voted to investigate the idea should the drug become legal.” 
Dopey idea.

The Otago University Students’ Association is a step closer to eventually selling marijuana, after students voted to investigate the idea should the drug become legal.

A members-only OUSA general meeting was held on Thursday afternoon and was attended by about 120 people.

More than 70 members of the association voted to investigate the idea, while 34 voted against, and 11 abstained.

OUSA spokesman James Heath said the investigation was only in the early stages, and stressed the OUSA did not have an official position on whether it should sell cannabis or not.

“It was made quite explicit that this was the start of a long process,” Mr Heath said.

A spokeswoman said the association could not comment on the channels it would be exploring, saying it would depend on what happened nationally.

Students also voted to accept several changes to their executive structure and a new constitution, which had taken months to prepare.

The vast majority of students supported the changes, only eight voting against them and three abstaining.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/university-of-otago/ousa-will-look-legal-sale-cannabis

National Families in Action – The Marijuana Report https://www.nationalfamilies.org/ 
20 August 2019
Family First Comment: The latest stats are in
“When Colorado and Washington fully legalized marijuana in 2012, 31.5 million Americans ages 12 or older had used the drug in the past year. By 2018, that number ballooned to 43.5 million, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released yesterday… Perception of harm continues to drop among all age groups.. In 2018, 1,339,000 adolescents used marijuana for the first time, compared to 1.2 million new users ages 18-25, and 525,000 new initiates ages 26 and older.”

Those who oppose marijuana legalization predicted that a commercial marijuana industry would drive marijuana use up in order to increase profits. Six years after the first two states legalized marijuana for recreational use, that prediction is proving true.

When Colorado and Washington fully legalized marijuana in 2012, 31.5 million Americans ages 12 or older had used the drug in the past year. By 2018, that number ballooned to 43.5 million, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released yesterday.

Moreover, 27.7 million Americans used marijuana in the past month in 2018, up from 18.9 million 2012.

And 8.7 million used the drug daily or near daily, up from 5.4 million in 2012.

Legalization proponents say use among 12- to 17-year-olds is lower than it was in 2012. While true, that claim misses the point that adolescent use started ticking up from 3,676,000 in 2016 to 3,806,000 in 2017 and 3,823,000 in 2018.

Perception of harm continues to drop among all age groups, another indicator that the uptick of use among adolescents is likely to continue.

In 2018, 1,339,000 adolescents used marijuana for the first time, compared to 1.2 million new users ages 18-25, and 525,000 new initiates ages 26 and older.

About the only good news in the new survey is psychotherapeutic drug use, including pain relievers, is beginning to decline, and marijuana use among pregnant women dropped by half since last year.

Access the 2018 survey here.

TVNZ One News 16 August 2019
Family First Comment: The survey is based on data collected in 2012! A lot has happened since then, with both the government and also pro-drug groups like the Drug Foundation working hard to normalise drug use. The real test will be to get data from the last 2-3 years and examine those trends.

Stuff co.nz 15 August 2019
OPINION: One day the court sentenced a known addict to traffic school for a drugged-up three-car writeoff. He killed my mum 40 days later.

The circumstances of Mary Radley’s horrific ending represent a typical scenario, seen perhaps weekly: it occurred following many drug crashes that were misprocessed as “careless driving”.

The epidemic led to me establishing Candor Network to drive change. Later my psychopharmacology qualifications saw me become a court-recognised drug-driving expert.

Cannabis swings elections, as Helen Clark once pronounced influentially. Every party historically treads carefully to avoid cannabis users’ eviscerating wrath (I get death threats).

Green Party politicians go further in diligently playing down the risk on our roads from cannabis smoking, but recent use suggests a danger level matching that of alcohol. Just three nanograms (ng) of cannabis in blood, where New Zealand deaths mostly cluster, imparts 7.4 times the risk.

Both dead cannabis drivers and dead drunks have a doubled risk of death by speeding – the notion that people drive more slowly under the influence of cannabis is a myth.

There is no education about the specific risks for young smokers who kill others on the roads. Today there is stasis by politicians towards victim-run campaigns. They merely instituted roadside “stand on leg” tests in 2009’s Land Transport Amendment Act No 4, when most other nations were introducing saliva tests that detect subtler impairment.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114934410/stop-delaying-saliva-tests-for-drugged-drivers-and-we-can-save-hundreds-of-lives

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NZ Herald 17 August 2019
Family First Comment: Superb!!
“just 39% of responders to a new survey say they will vote yes. And a growing number of Green Party voters – whose party has pushed for the referendum – are saying they are now opposed to the bid to make pot legal.”
Similar results to polls on Newshub and ONENews.

Support for the personal use cannabis referendum has plummeted, with just 39 per cent of responders to a new survey saying they will vote yes.

And a growing number of Green Party voters – whose party has pushed for the referendum – are saying they are now opposed to the bid to make pot legal.

Voters will have their say at next year’s election over a potential legal cannabis market; which would allow for special bars for consumption, special outlets and sales and strict rules for home-grown cannabis.

But just 39 per cent of those who take part in a new survey carried out by Horizon Research – commissioned by New Zealand’s largest licensed medicinal cannabis company, Helius Therapeutics – have said they support legalising the personal use of cannabis.

Support in the survey – which featured 1003 respondents – is down from 52 per cent in April, and 60 per cent in November last year.

It is the third such survey the company has commissioned on the referendum.

“On the current trajectory, the referendum is heading for certain defeat,” Helius Therapeutics executive director Paul Manning told the Weekend Herald.
READ MORE: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12258491&ref=twitter (behind paywall)

NewsHub 14 August 2019
New Zealand’s cannabis-related hospitalisations have more than doubled in the past decade.

New statistics, collected by the Ministry of Health, show that in 2008 only 192 people were released from hospital with a primary cannabis diagnosis. However, by 2018, this had increased to 505.

Otago University Professor Joseph Boden, who has been appointed to New Zealand’s expert panel on cannabis, says the increase is probably due to a combination of factors.

“One is that people are more aware these days of the harms associated with cannabis, and may be more accurate in attributing their symptoms to their use of cannabis,” he told Newshub.

“Second is that [as] in overseas jurisdictions, cannabis use is becoming more normalised, so patients may be more willing to admit to it during a medical examination in the ED.

“Third is that there may be some error of measurement, such that patients say that they have used cannabis when they have in fact used synthetic cannabis.”

“The evidence shows the number of hospital admissions rise when recreational marijuana is legalised, in Colorado there was a threefold increase in emergency room visits,” says Paula Bennett, National’s spokesperson for drug reform.

“The increase is because of wider availability of recreational marijuana, combined with limited education on the harms it causes, and a natural willingness of people to try it once it becomes legal.

“We can’t rule out children getting their hands on marijuana mistakenly if edibles, drinks and lotions are available. They are marketed to appeal to younger people.”

Family First national director Bob McCoskrie says the fact remains there is no ‘safe drug’.

“These stats will only worsen if marijuana is legalised in New Zealand and the marijuana industry floods the market with highly potent cannabis concentrates – edibles, dabbing (smoking highly concentrated THC) and vaping – as they have in all other jurisdictions where dope has been allowed,” he told Newshub.

“This should sound the warning bell that marijuana is absolutely a health issue, which is why the law is so important for protecting public health and safety. A soft approach would be a disaster.”

“At a time when New Zealand’s mental health system is bursting at the seams, why would we legitimise a mind-altering product which will simply add to social harm? It’s patently obvious that legalisation will increase its use and harm. So-called ‘regulation’ doesn’t change the fact that drugs harm.”
READ MORE: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/08/new-zealand-cannabis-hospitalisations-more-than-double-in-decade-ministry-of-health.html

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