New Zealand is an alcoholic country awash in denial

I am perplexed as to the character of those currently sitting in Parliament. Especially those leaning right and wearing expensive suits. No amount of dry-cleaning will be able to rid them of the smell of hypocrisy. I am referring to those in power who want us to believe- cannabis bad, alcohol good. It's so Orwellian like two legs good , four legs better.

Every study from around the world tells us that like tobacco, alcohol is an addictive drug and it's harm outweighs its pleasures for many people. I do not want to ban alcohol I want some fairness. Last night the Campbell show featured a story about an ordinary woman and her fall from grace due to her dependence on alcohol. Those people are everywhere. They are normal part of society and a product of what happens when we normalise an essentially unsafe commodity. They feel ashamed but carry on drinking. Its too easy to get alcohol 24/7 and its cheap.

The opposite is also occurring, where the people, who use cannabis , (often instead of alcohol) are being demonised. This week the presenter of  the Q+A programme said in relation to something about the drug testing of beneficiaries , "Lazy , over paid, dope smoking crims". How outrageous and offensive!

How very disingenious of our politicians to want to bring all sort of punishment down on a few people who smoke cannabis. Was this a response to the Court Protest in Palmerston North, where Billy McKee pleaded with a judge for permission to use cannabis. Billy McKee is 57 and an amputee as the result of a drunk driver. It would be ironic if it wasn't so sad. His supporters protested outside the court. I made a sign that said , Doctors not Judges. I want a doctor to have the power to say , this man can benefit from this treatment.

Judges do not like to be challenged. In court they are always listened too and of course always right. Maybe they are right and it is the Law that is wrong in this case.

Lazy , over paid chardonnay drinking crims may also apply to the politicians. How is it that over 52% of New Zealanders' have tried cannabis and in one longitudinal study the figure was 72% of the cohort had tried cannabis. What they are saying and it makes me feel sick to my stomach is, it's ok to punish people for a harmless act. In fact they are so far removed the reality of truthfulness, in suggesting this because imagine that before any beneficiary is drug tested we were able to apply the same principle to our MP's. And why stop at drug testing them , shouldn't they all be breathalysed each morning before they come to work?

I am sick of lies and double standards. We all know that people smoke cannabis with very little harm all over the world. We also know that these people in power have family and friends that smoke cannabis as cannabis is used across the whole of society. It just suits the media to only show the poorest of the people who have nothing to lose to make a point. You would be forgetting the American Billionaire who came to new Zealand on his super yacht was caught with hash and cannabis in 1999 and Richard Branson is in favour of legalising cannabis. Hardly loser types.

RESPECT for change

In New Zealand the word respect is not used often enough. We pay lip service to the word and teach it at schools. You will find that the word respect is used liberally when teaching children. Yet when I think of the New Zealand culture and respect as a value. We come up short.

The type of words to describe our national team are strong , winners and skilled. Respectful is not a word we use often in our sporting language.  Instead of showing respect and honouring our worthy opponents, our strategy has been to discredit or undermine them.

Compare this to a Japanese tradition of showing respect. Because the Japanese culture is much older it has developed a more tolerant approach to many things.

In New Zealand we also show little respect for alcohol. We drink unsafely , drink excessive amounts, binge drink and injure ourselves and others. By contrast, in Japan, many centuries of drinking alcohol has seen a greater respect for the consumption of it and respectful treatment of each other. Drunks are not hooligans and do not drive.

We also need to show respect for each other. I know it is not our nature, as the competitive culture we are raised in tends to make winners and losers and not great shows of solidarity, but I think we need to learn to respect others more, than winning.

I also want to think about a more respectful way forward for the Cannabis Law Reform Movement.

In the past we have fought for law reform, perhaps now we need to change our approach and show some respect and demand it in return.

The cannabis law reform movt. is not about cannabis, or smoking it. It about people. The people who are now standing up for their rights and challenging the courts, deserve respect.

They deserve respect for coming out and standing up for their rights and the rights of others.

It is the Billy McKee's , the Peter Davy's, Neville Yates and the Ann Vernon's who are respectfully urging the public to consider why they should not be allowed to use this effective medicine.

Not only are they challenging the Government, for it's refusal to adopt any of the Law Commissions recommendations on Medical Marijuana.

They are challenging the COURT's as judges are not doctors.

I want to challenge you to respect a persons right to choose what they want to put into their body and wonder why cannabis users don't deserve the same respect as any other group in society.
Can you name one harm that an adult cannabis user may be doing to society?
Is it greater than the harm that is done to cannabis users and growers through our current court system and prisons?

I have the greatest respect for those that are trying to change the laws and not blowing smoke in people faces.

The Glass Bead Game

Beads of courage are part of a programme in cancer treatment for children. A lovely little glass bead is given to make a necklace or bracelet for the patient, at every procedure. An injection, dressing change or blood test are all marked with the addition of a pretty little glass bead.

 I am beginning to wonder if there should not be something similar for every person who attends a funeral for someone who has taken their own life.

On Friday I came home from a sunny island holiday to the grim news that a friend and colleague had taken his own life. His name was Stephen. He was a special man , a loved father and husband and a gifted musician .Like me he was born in 1965 . It was only when I got home and started to get my own thoughts together that I realised, the last funeral I had attended was also for a person called Stephen, although we knew him as Steve. This Steve was also a father and loved partner and also took his life due to a long standing issue with depression due to drugs.

While on holiday, I met a man whose son had taken his own life three years earlier. Unfortunately his best mate in new Zealand was now experiencing the same thing. 

I opened the paper on Sunday and read of yet another mans story. The "High price of pretence" is how Graham Skellern describes the stigma that surrounds mental illness, bipolar and eventually his son's depression that led to his death. The young man in question was a superb athlete and also close to completing a Masters Thesis on surf protection. The world was his oyster and yet for him due to his illness life had no lustre.

And on the National radio today I heard of yet another father, Arthur Harawira, who also lost a son to suicide is forming a new group,Fathers against suicide will be speaking to schools to tell children that they love them .

I wonder just what can be done to prevent this epidemic of death that could be prevented.
In New Zealand around 500 deaths each year are attributed to suicide. Many more people are harmed or injured while attempting to take their own life. Even more deaths deemed to be accidental may well be suicide.

I have been fortunate to have been trusted enough, that people have confided to me, that their intention was to end their life in my former role as a counsellor. Each time I swallowed down the shock and terror I felt and attempted to stay calm and comfort the person as best I could. My belief is that their illness distorts the persons thinking to the point where they feel hopeless and without any value. My solution has been to stay at their home out of sight but there to stop the act of suicide taking place. An ear to listen and not judge and person who can just make a cup of tea and be a quiet presence.

If I could, I would financially fund a service that sends a little guardian angel to be with any person who reaches out to a service like lifeline for help. Any person who says," I am going to end my life. I have no hope left! "
 Some would say that is not going to work , 24 hour care is too expensive. I have to ask , how can that be true when we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars patching up accident victims in hospital? All cancer treatments cost thousands. So a few days of caring is a cheap solution if it allows a person to be saved.

Three days may be all that is required for a person to get some rest, feel a little more hopeful, know that someone cares and that they may need to try medication or move into some better care facility. But by not having any quick response service for these people many lives are being lost that potentially could be saved. Not only that , once recovered these are the people best to be part of the support group to help others.

Oh No, Not again! Cannabis Law Reform 101

Once again the Daktory cannabis club was raided by the police last night. It's not that I don't support the Daktory, I take my Hat off to Dakta Green, and his supporters, but I do think the adage applies, if you keep doing what you have always done , you will get what you have always got . In their case arrested!

There are no winners in arresting Dakta Green, the police appear over zealous and Dakta Green is likely to then become another cost to the country in jail.

Closer examination of the situation looks a bit like a Mexican stand -off. Green has plenty of supporters and support for the cannabis club and the police, it can be argued are only doing their job.  But is this how the Cannabis Law Reform battle is going to be played out?

There are several stake holders in the game of Law reform through civil disobedience. In many ways its a repeat of what when on in massage parlours around the country for decades until the law regulated the industry with health concerns and age restrictions.

The stakeholders are the growers, sellers, and buyers versus the law and the treatment fraternity who claim that cannabis is the biggest cause of presentations to health services of illegal drugs. But as a Chief Medical Officer from Wellington, was recently on the radio saying that cannabis accounts for only one in 500 presentations to hospital compared to alcohol abuse.  He is not alone. Professor Doug Sellman will admit readily that alcohol causes more harm to the community to cannabis as will Prof. David Nutt of the UK. Nutt was the head of the the UK scientific drug research programme until he was fired for saying, that Esctasy is safer than horse riding, a  fact that drove the Government into overdrive until he was sacked.

While Dakta Green is doing what he believes is right for Law reform, there are other options to pursue and many that pose less risk. The Law Commission conducted a review of cannabis and came up with many recommendations , including investigation into medical uses of cannabis and lower sanctions for social dealing. The law commission remained clear that commercial scale operations would not be tolerated.

Things are pretty confused, I will admit, as presently a great number of sick people and invalids are appearing before a judge who is forced to make a legal decision on what perhaps, may be a moral and ethical issue as well as a legal one. Most people will agree that the courts are not the right places for medical decisions as there are not too many judges, that are also medical doctors. How difficult it must be for a compassionate person to see an amputee in a wheel chair and deny him or her the use of a plant for therapeutic purposes.

Why should they even be in this position?

Billy McKee is a veteran activist for cannabis law reform and is an amputee. Right now , he is on trial for supplying cannabis to other sick people. He makes no financial gain. his lifestyle is simple and he tends not to smoke the cannabis plant but apply it as a poultice.

 I think this is the common cause for people to unite for. Regardless of your feeling about smoking a plant, or legalising cannabis. In this day and age, cannabis should be allowed as a medicine and all barriers preventing this, should be removed. Any invalid will tell you, life with pain is difficult enough without further restrictions on the individuals right to, choice of treatment. Plus it is only in keeping with what has already occurring in most places in the USA and Canada and of course has been common practice for the past thousands of years in Asia.

What about the children? Paula.

Michael Jackson loved children and wanted to live his life sharing the joy and wonderment with them. Perhaps he loved some children too much . The question that is on my mind today is the fact that Paula Bennett seems to want to have a discussion that begins with , it's worth considering sterelising mothers rather than allowing them to breed more children to harm and kill. Hekia Parata wants to reduce facilities in our Intermediate schools in an effort to save money.

Both of these initiatives directly affect young people and yet when do we hear the voice of these young people. Their voices are silenced in this country. They have no volume switch to turn up, to be heard even.

I believe that we use the wrong lens to view our social problems. We let our anger get in the way and we use our power to blame and manipulate people and attempt to control the environment. When that fails again we punish harder.

What I think we should be doing is turning our focus onto the children and looking at ways to provide better safety, shelter, food and clothing. If warmth is lacking the home, it is time to remember the most basic of human rights; is the right to safety and have access to shelter and food.

 Instead of intensively focussing on the damaged , hopeless, ill, depressed or impoverished parents who fail to be capable, we need to provide the safety net to their children. These children of school age will speak up for their younger siblings too provided it is not a dobbing in or narking situation. There needs to be a gentle approach as the lives these children live, are already brutal enough.Children may need more after school and weekend centres, to prevent cases of neglect.

Why are we so moral and quick to point the finger at a crap parent?
 There have always been historical cases of very bleak childhoods, with violence and cruelty. But at some level  we may have to change our ideas about fixing the adults, and just focus on listening to the needs of the children . I have never seen consultation with children in finding the solution apart from some youth court restorative justice conferences.

Punishing the worst of parents tends to perpetuate the problem as to avoid punishment, the parent may suddenly move. Kids need this extra support provided to them for free as it is part of their human rights, given they are the victims in the situation and powerless .

R20 for ALL. Gambling, Drinking and Smoking.

I have had over ten years experience working with clients with drug and alcohol problems. My speciality is youth, as I am a trained teacher and worked in residential treatment for young people with drug and alcohol problems. The range of problems was broad as was the choice of substances.
One thing that stood out clearly was the younger the using starts , the greater the problem later. When young people, as young as 12 , start regularly drinking alcohol they are like a cluster-bomb of potential accidents and risks. A drunken 12 year old is a lot more vulnerable than a drunken 20 year old. A drunken thirteen year old girl who looks sixteen is even more concern.

Unfortunately the child user is likely to be accessing their alcohol or cannabis or any other substance from home. There for it can be argued, that raising the age makes no difference.

Well, I do believe it makes sense, to raise the age back to 20, because, the well known fact, that people can do what they like in their own home. So if 18 year-olds want to continue to drink. That's fine, do it at home and make sure your parents look after you. No one wants to be tripping over your vomitess mess on Queen St at 2 am. Like wise the hoardes of mini skirted creatures who travel in loud raucous packs, barely able to stand or staggering along in stilettos. Girls some of you look about 14 or 15. ( I have a very impressionable 14 year old) I also think having bars open all night is madness.

I am certainly not a wowser or an angel. But I am tired of a patchwork of laws cobbled together that don't represent anything barely coherent. It is not public approval we want to appeal to with this issue. Nor do I require the permission of the alcohol and tobacco industries. Its a public health issue that we must tackle. In this instance we need to swing the pendulum out a little further before it can swing back and forth down the middle. Like all good bell curves the bulk of the population conforms to safe drinking practices. But there is a percentage that will not stop drinking or using any other substance till they physically can't. If you are dealing with the group of youth out at night, a quick round up of the most affected usually confirms they are already well known to the police and agencies.

If we removed alcohol from all supermarkets. (Not just the great ones in Waitakere) we have had a major step forward. Then remove cigarettes from them, dairies and garages. Why? Because they are drugs and for adults. These substances are psycho-active and alter our mood and behaviour. I think that is reason enough for them to made available to those only 20 and over. The equivalent, is visiting a doctor to be prescribed a psycho-active substance, which requires 7 years study to ensure the substance prescribed is the correct one.

There are a flood of drugs available and many young people are mixing them with the most readily available one, alcohol. Often the results are tragic, sometimes fatal.

5000 New Zealanders die each year as a result of smoking. I find that too many and unacceptable. I don't want to bury any of my family and friends due to smoking . Cigarettes are one drug that I don't want to see 12 year olds using and yet statistically most young people start smoking at 14. If we could break the uptake in young people we would have the problems associated with smoking half solved.

  So my reason for wanting the R20 to be considered is because I want R20 for all drugs and I want cannabis included in the equation. Cannabis is the third most popular drug used in new Zealand and the number one illegally used substance. Tried by 52% of the population and used regularly by 17 it is a waste of time criminalising people for this plant. However due to cannabis being illegal there are few studies to show whether cannabis is as harmful as tobacco when smoked.  Lets do a study, is all I can say.

John Key , Evil Genius?

I must admit to thinking that John key's latest attack on cannabis users is not fitting for one in his position and nor does it reflect any real truth about drug use in New Zealand. Its actually a pretty low blow to report toxicologist reports showing both pilots, involved in two separate air accidents, had cannabis in their system.
As a person familiar with drug testing and toxicology reports I would be willing to gamble that both of the pilots  consumed alcohol ,a legal drug, in the previous 48 hours prior to the accident. Perhaps they took other medication as well.The thing with flight safety, a period of time must pass before the pilot is able to fly after consuming alcohol. Fortunately alcohol is rarely detected in air accident as it passes through the system usually in under 24 hours.

No one is suggesting that either of the pilots were anything less than professional and nor is the suggestion that cannabis was being consumed to cause the accident.

John Key, as head of tourism is attempting to shift the blame, and responsibility off him, and instead stir up the old bogey, cannabis. It is not original or new, and in this instance it is offensive. There is nothing to suggest that cannabis had any role in two air accidents. Cannabis is not a dangerous drug and it is not the drug that the police are struggling to combat every weekend. Alcohol is responsible for 70 % of hospital admissions in the weekends. ACC statistics will show far more accidents , injuries and deaths are, as the result of rugby and skiing not cannabis. And Extreme sports are called that, for a reason!

The second reason I am annoyed, that John Key believes, he can be so dismissive and critical of cannabis is, because it actually makes good economic sense to, look at taxing and regulating cannabis in New Zealand. Dr Don Brash does not smoke cannabis but he did have the economic numbers to show that decriminalising cannabis stacks up financially.

The estimated tax from the  estimated amount spent on cannabis sales in New Zealand could be as high as NZ$200 million. Currently over NZ$120 million is spent on enforcing the current laws but does not include the court costs.

I think the evil genius of John Key's plan to make disparaging comments about cannabis and it's users is insulting. One real issue in Parliament that perhaps John Key does not want to draw attention to is his views on raising the alcohol age . His conscience votes shows little desire to mess with the relationship that the National Party has with the alcohol industry and indications show his intention is to split the age to 18 for an on licence and 20 for an off licence. A little twiddle unlikely to result in any noticeable difference.

Like the Emperors' new clothes. The fable has the Emperor, parading naked in the belief his clothes are wonderful. The actual real naked lie is the one that is being perpetuated , by a Minister of Tourism who could well benefit from seeing that cannabis and tourism may belong together. Hemp clothing is also very popular with thousands of New Zealanders and tourists who know a bit more about cannabis than our PM. I just wish he would stop, discriminating against cannabis users, many are medicinal, but that is a whole new blog.