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NewsHub 20 May 2019 
More than a million Kiwis are keen to try medicinal cannabis, according to a new survey.

With polls suggesting New Zealand will vote to legalise recreational use of the already popular drug, licensed medicinal cannabis developer Helius Therapeutics expects the market for its products to explode from 2020.

It commissioned a poll by Horizon Research to find out just how big the market could be, and was blown away by the results.

“Even if we just focus on those who would ‘definitely’ try accessing medicinal cannabis products, at 14 percent that represents phenomenal demand, set to be unleashed next year,” said executive director Paul Manning.

Fourteen percent of adult Kiwis equates to more than 430,000 people. In addition to them, another 20 percent said they are ‘most likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ to seek out medicinal cannabis. It’s unclear what percentage would have a legitimate medical reason.
READ MORE: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2019/05/a-million-kiwis-want-to-try-medicinal-cannabis-survey.html

NZ Herald 19 May 2019
A third of Kiwis have indicated they could try to access medicinal cannabis products when they become more widely and legally available next year, a survey shows.

Licensed medicinal cannabis company Helius Therapeutics commissioned the Horizon Research survey of 1156 people, 14 per cent of whom said they would definitely try to access the products. Ten per cent each said they would most likely, or were somewhat likely, to do the same.

More than half of respondents indicated they wouldn’t seek out medicinal cannabis products, including 23 per cent who said they were most unlikely to do so and 22 per cent who said they definitely would not.

Twelve per cent weren’t sure.

Regulations, licensing rules and quality standards around medicinal cannabis are to be set later this year, after Parliament recently cleared the way by passing amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The results gave Helius Therapeutics, New Zealand’s largest licensed medicinal cannabis company, an understanding of the potential market size, said the company’s executive director, Paul Manning.

“Even if we just focus on those who would ‘definitely’ try accessing medicinal cannabis products, at 14 per cent that represents phenomenal demand … it’s not just the sheer size of the potential market and groundswell of demand, but it’s a timely reminder that Kiwis are increasingly seeing cannabis as a mainstream health product.”
READ MORE: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12231632&ref=twitter

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NewsTalk ZB 17 May 2019
Family First Comment: She said legalisation is not the solution to drug reform. “We just had a study released which said that we are actually spending US$4.50 for every dollar that we bring in on taxes. We are seeing one in four employees self report that they go to work stoned.”

The US State of Colorado is continuing to fight the cannabis black market, six years after legalising the drug.

Seizures of marijuana in the U.S mail system have increased more than 1000 per cent since 2013, as Colorado becomes a major exporter of the drug.

National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association executive director, Jo McGuire, told Kate Hawkesby greater rules and regulations are needed.

“Not only do people completely bypass the regulatory system when they are a player, but people from other countries [are] flooding our state and setting up illegal grow operations in our national forest.”

She said legalisation is not the solution to drug reform.

“We just had a study released which said that we are actually spending US$4.50 for every dollar that we bring in on taxes. We are seeing one in four employees self report that they go to work stoned.”
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/early-edition/audio/colorado-still-fighting-cannabis-black-market-six-years-after-legalisation/

USA Today 3 May 2019
Family First Comment: Consequences of legalising cannabis – even with ‘regulation’…
“Just as with tobacco, students can vape right under a teacher’s nose and go undetected. There is no telltale odor, and the handheld devices used are small enough that a surreptitious student can indulge in class. Compounding the trouble, experts say, is the potency the devices can deliver, giving a student a much more intense high than expected.”

As more teens vape, schools have struggled to keep the practice in check. Now, some schools are seeing a worrisome twist — students vaping marijuana.

Just as with tobacco, students can vape right under a teacher’s nose and go undetected. There is no telltale odor, and the handheld devices used are small enough that a surreptitious student can indulge in class.

Compounding the trouble, experts say, is the potency the devices can deliver, giving a student a much more intense high than expected. Often adults don’t realize a student has indulged until the teen confesses.

School resource officers at one large Indiana high school has seen a surge this year in something they have never dealt with before.

Several students were sent to the emergency room by the school nurse after vaping THC, the chemical compound in marijuana that produces a high.

“I’ve walked down the hallway, and you can visibly see kids who are so stoned that they don’t know where they are,” school resource officer at Carmel High School in Carmel. Ind. Shane VanNatter said. “They’ll self-report. They’ll come to the nurse and say, ‘I’m too high. Something’s wrong.’”

Seventeen students, including those who were hospitalized, had been caught this school year either using, possessing or dealing THC vaping products, VanNatter said.

One vaping cartridge VanNatter confiscated was 83.6 percent THC.

THC levels in plant marijuana generally range from 15% to 24%.
READ MORE: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2019/05/03/teens-caught-vaping-marijuana-their-e-cigarettes/3661177002/

The Seattle Times 13 March 2019
Family First Comment: “One in four marijuana users who are employed admit to doing this within the past year, according to a new survey of cannabis consumers in Washington, Oregon and Colorado, three states where recreational weed is legal… The survey shows that after legalization, many cannabis consumers increased their usage.”
Read our Fact Sheet on this issue https://saynopetodope.org.nz/workplace/

One in four marijuana users who are employed admit to doing this within the past year, according to a new survey of cannabis consumers in Washington, Oregon and Colorado, three states where recreational weed is legal.

One in four also said they’ve gotten high before work — I’m guessing it’s the same one in four, but the survey doesn’t specify. The marketing communications firm Quinn Thomas, which has offices in Seattle and Portland, funded the survey, which was conducted by polling-and-opinion outfit DHM Research. A representative sample of 900 cannabis consumers were interviewed — 300 in each of the three states — from Jan. 8 to 14. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.

“There is a lot of information out there about the cannabis industry and its regulatory structure, but not much is known about consumers,” said Zach Knowling, vice president at Quinn Thomas, in an email. “We felt our experience researching and reaching unique audiences could build greater understanding of who they are.”

Washington and Colorado both legalized recreational use of marijuana through voter initiatives in 2012, becoming the first states to do so. Oregon followed in 2014. The survey shows that after legalization, many cannabis consumers increased their usage. In Washington 44 percent of respondents said they are now regular consumers of pot (daily or a few times per week), compared with 36 percent who said they consumed that much prelegalization.

… While the survey shows that getting stoned at work is a fairly commonplace activity, so is drug testing. Twenty-one percent of respondents said they’ve been subjected to a drug test that checked for cannabis within the past year. And just about the same number said they stopped getting high for a while in order to pass the test.
READ MORE: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/1-in-4-marijuana-users-with-a-job-get-stoned-at-work-survey-says/

NewsTalk ZB 14 May 2019
Family First Comment: Another prominent broadcaster joins the NO camp…
“Chlöe Swarbrick said the main reason was being able to regulate and control the supply and in doing, so keep the drug out of the hands of gangs and out of the hands of kids. This does not wash with me. Currently, the Government has regulation and control of supply, because the drug is illegal. Meanwhile, the law is a tool to crack down on the gangs whose criminality goes much further than just cannabis. When asked what the gangs would do in a legalised market Chlöe hoped they’d go legit. Dream on.”
www.VoteNO.nz

So last night I sat down with my son and watched Jack Tame interview Chlöe Swarbrick about the proposed legalisation of cannabis.

On a purely superficial basis, it was remarkable watching a baby faced 31-year-old interview and even more baby faced 24-year-old on nationwide TV.

The skin was so smooth and the eyes were so clear. The conversation was snappy and polite. Welcome to the new world of millennial politics.

It started with an easy definition of the difference between decriminalisation and legalisation, which is important because we, in essence, have had an unofficial decriminalised status for the personal use of the drug for quite a while.

There is also the proposed changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act which gives police the discretion to sentence a person to rehabilitation rather than fines or imprisonment.

Slowly we are accepting that drugs are both a criminal and health problem.

So when asked why she wants cannabis legalised, Chlöe Swarbrick said the main reason was being able to regulate and control the supply and in doing, so keep the drug out of the hands of gangs and out of the hands of kids.

This does not wash with me. Currently, the Government has regulation and control of supply, because the drug is illegal.

Meanwhile, the law is a tool to crack down on the gangs whose criminality goes much further than just cannabis. When asked what the gangs would do in a legalised market Chlöe hoped they’d go legit. Dream on.

Saying that Governmental control of supply will keep the drug out of the hands of the kids is also fanciful. With the drug legal on the street, there will be a plentiful secondary market for the kids to tap into – older brothers, sisters, mates and budding entrepreneurs. Ms Swarbrick told us last night, that 80 per cent of New Zealanders have tried the drug under its illegal status. Let’s aim for 100 per cent shall we by making it legal.

The debate then wandered on to drug testing for drug driving and arcane driving statistics out of Colorado.

Which left my son and I asking each other who actually needs this bill? Who is crying out for legalised dope? What social issue is this measure trying to help? And for the life of us, we couldn’t see the reason.
READ MORE: https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/andrew-dickens-afternoons/opinion/andrew-dickens-heres-why-legalising-cannabis-is-unnecessary/

Stuff co.nz 14 May 2019
Family First Comment: Well said Mike Yardley… 
“The drug liberalisation lobby cannot ignore the inconvenient truth that drug impairment is now a bigger killer than alcohol-impairment on our roads. The latest available fatality data-set compiled by government agencies, and widely circulated by the Automobile Association, indicates that in 2017, drug-impaired driving cost 79 lives, compared to 70 deaths caused by drink-drivers… I remain firmly unconvinced that legalising cannabis for recreational use is in New Zealand’s interest. I have no problem with expanding drug addictions services, so long as the provider has a proven record in effectiveness, but legalisation will throw more fuel on the fire. More self-inflicted addiction, more wasted lives, when our mental health system is already bursting at the seams.”

OPINION: I received an email recently from a heartbroken North Canterbury couple, grieving the death of their son, who died at the hands of a cannabis-impaired driver.

Their family tragedy spurred them to sign the Matthew Dow petition, which his mother, Karen, presented to Parliament last week. The Dow petition calls for New Zealand to urgently introduce random roadside drug testing, replicating the saliva-based technology that has been widely deployed across the Western world.

Last week’s coronial inquiry into one of New Zealand’s worst mass-fatality road crashes has also highlighted the scourge of drug-impaired driving. It’s been revealed the driver responsible for the horror two-car crash that killed seven people in Waverly, Taranaki, had repeatedly consumed synthetic drugs before he got behind the wheel. Family victims from that catastrophe have also joined the crusade for drug testing.

The drug liberalisation lobby cannot ignore the inconvenient truth that drug impairment is now a bigger killer than alcohol-impairment on our roads. The latest available fatality data-set compiled by government agencies, and widely circulated by the Automobile Association, indicates that in 2017, drug-impaired driving cost 79 lives, compared to 70 deaths caused by drink-drivers.

The Dow petition is calling for the introduction of saliva tests on drugs to complement breath-testing for alcohol. It is conspicuous that in 2017 there were only 200 convictions for drug-impaired driving, compared with 16,000 for drink-driving.

The current cognitive impairment test, relied upon by police, is infrequently exercised and is best consigned to the 1950s. The current Police Minister, Stuart Nash, while in opposition, relentlessly hounded National about failing to introduce roadside driver drug-testing.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/112674482/random-roadside-drug-testing-must-be-urgently-introduced

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NZ Herald 10 May 2019
Family First Comment: “We seem to be stuck with two opposing choices. If we legalise or at least decriminalise dope we stop the stigma of breaking the law. The other side of the cannabis coin is we open up the availability to the already vulnerable – especially our tamariki. The damage done by drink is heartbreaking when you see it every day, so for me adding another drug to the problem can only go one way with no exit…  Maybe we should be asking ourselves – and each other, why do we need to get high at all, be it by drinking or drugging… (David) Bowie said, “Drugs gave me nothing. In the end I regretted I ever took them. There so-called liberating qualities were illusory”.

For me the issue is bigger than a bong full of buds, a jar full of rasta-infused gummy bears or growing a couple of plants in your own back yard for personal consumption.

I am all good for growing anything that either feeds you or fixes you up.

However, we seem to be stuck with two opposing choices. If we legalise or at least decriminalise dope we stop the stigma of breaking the law. The other side of the cannabis coin is we open up the availability to the already vulnerable – especially our tamariki. The damage done by drink is heartbreaking when you see it every day, so for me adding another drug to the problem can only go one way with no exit.

Bit of a Mexican marijuana stand-off really.

Maybe there is a third option to entertain?

Maybe we should be asking ourselves – and each other, why do we need to get high at all, be it by drinking or drugging.

In a recent interview on the Jim Mora Sunday show, Jim interviewed Mike Garson, David Bowie’s life-long friend and pianist who never took anything to enhance his creative talents during his 47-year touring career with the Starman.

His quote from Bowie himself about drugs has held its higher ground in my mind ever since and that in itself proves I still have some memory left.

Bowie said, “Drugs gave me nothing. In the end I regretted I ever took them. There so-called liberating qualities were illusory”.

Tautoko Rawiri I have come to the same realisation myself.

For my two bobs’ worth of what we should do about cannabis reform, all I can add to the pot pot is what I know from personal experience, and if we do decriminalise it – and we should, then let’s also sow the seed of sobriety.

Staying straight and getting high on love, life and learning is also equally as cool as cannabis.

So, this leads me back down the long and winding road to loss of memory and its possible connection to lazy thinking brought about by smoking too much of the “holy herb” back in the day.

If we legalise cannabis and it becomes available everywhere, what effect will it have on those who are already logged into lazy thinking? How will the instant everything generation react when Uncle Google is already dumbing them down by doing their thinking for them?

Lazy thinking induces a lazy lifestyle and limits the potential of our people, Māori and non-Māori.

We need to understand where the referendum will take us and prepare for the good, the bad and the ugly of decriminalising cannabis.
READ MORE: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/premium/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504669&objectid=12229174

BBC News 9 May 2019
Family First Comment: This is how wacky things are going to get…
“The UK’s National Health Service describes them as a hallucinogenic “making people see, hear and experience the world in a different, ‘trippy’ way”.”
Understatement of the year!

Denver has voted to decriminalise the use of magic mushrooms – the first US city to do so.

The motion was put to a public vote on Tuesday, and passed with a slim majority of 50.6%.

Although the mushrooms will technically still be illegal, restrictions on personal use and possession by adults will be drastically loosened.

Police officers will now be instructed to treat magic mushroom users as their lowest priority.

Denver decriminalised cannabis in 2005 ahead of the rest of the state of Colorado. Tuesday’s referendum was the first US public vote on magic mushrooms.

What are magic mushrooms?
They are a form of fungus found across the world which contains a psychedelic chemical called psilocybin.

The UK’s National Health Service describes them as a hallucinogenic “making people see, hear and experience the world in a different, ‘trippy’ way”.
READ MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48185366

Stuff co.nz 9 May 2019
Family First Comment: Dealing with the actual outcomes of drug liberalisation….
“In 2017, drivers under the influence of drugs were proven to have been involved in 79 fatal crashes on New Zealand roads, compared to 70 for those driving under the influence of alcohol.”

National MP Nick Smith says his party will continue to put pressure on the government to introduce random roadside drug testing.

The Nelson MP was suspended from the House yesterday when he made critical comments towards Speaker Trevor Mallard, after he sought leave to introduce a drug driving bill first put forward by MP Alastair Scott in September last year.

During question time in Parliament on Wednesday Smith had asked for the bill to be set down as the first members’ order of the day on May 22, but that was rejected by Mallard.

Smith said there was an urgent need to get the bill before a select committee, with drug-impaired road fatalities escalating in recent years.

“In the past five years that number has gone from 15 per year to 79, and last year for the first time it exceeded the number of deaths on the road from drunk driving.”

In 2017, drivers under the influence of drugs were proven to have been involved in 79 fatal crashes on New Zealand roads, compared to 70 for those driving under the influence of alcohol.

The bill proposed by Scott would allow police officers to undertake random roadside testing for THC, MDMA, and methamphetamine, similar to current legislation in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/112595240/suspended-nick-smith-says-drug-driving-bill-an-urgent-priority