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OPINION: It’s difficult right now to write about public health without stating the obvious. The biggest health crisis in generations is everywhere, fighting for space in our news, even as we mourn those incredibly moving scenes from the terrorist’s sentencing in Christchurch.
So it’s easy to forget that there is another massive public health problem looming in a few weeks. It is Tuesday in September, and by October 17, we must have made a decision on cannabis legalization or we will lose a once-in-a-generation opportunity to voice our opinion.
You could debate the issue point by point with lobbyists who want New Zealand to vote no. Somehow I’d like to, and yes, I’ve certainly done it before. But in the age of “alternative facts,” stepping into the garbage can with those who manipulate the truth, romping through the evidence grabbing this and that and presenting it as the big picture when it isn’t, is a loser’s game. .
The word for what they do and say is “truthfulness,” possibly THE word from the 2000s thanks to John Oliver. A US talk show host took an old word and redefined it like this: the belief that something is true based on perceptions rather than evidence, logic, or facts.
READ MORE:
* Cannabis referendum: What are we voting on in the cannabis legalization and control referendum?
* Scientific evidence behind cannabis legalization is uncertain, says prime minister’s chief scientist
* Better to decriminalize cannabis rather than legalize it: opponents of the bill
123rf / Stuff
If the cannabis bill goes ahead, people will be able to grow their own.
And if there was ever a time to reject the truth of the facts, it is now.
Saying goodbye to the New Zealand Drug Foundation this week for a senior position in public health, Executive Director Ross Bell said that the Covid-19 response has taught us that we can apply that to the choice of cannabis.
“If we can’t take advantage of New Zealand’s new approach to evidence-based public health issues right now, we never will,” Bell told me.
The evidence also shows that the best way to make an argument these days is to stick to verifiable facts. So to better help you make a decision on cannabis law reform, now that I have your attention, and if you haven’t already, here it is.
Cameron Burnell / Stuff
The Executive Director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, Ross Bell, supports the legalization of recreational cannabis.
The first thing to know is that no all the facts support an optimistic picture of life after a “yes” vote. Most do, but not all. There is no weed-filled nirvana waiting for New Zealand on the other side.
According to the (very simple, very useful) website created by the government’s chief scientific advisor’s office, normalizing cannabis use would be a likely outcome, and that won’t be good for everyone. Evidence from abroad shows that use is more likely to increase in older age groups than youth, but there are still not enough long-term studies of legalized markets to know for sure. And legalization probably won’t completely eliminate the criminal drug market, either.
The change in legislation won’t create the perfect world, but since when has it tied down any widespread health and social problems in an orderly fashion?
Cannabis is part of New Zealand life, whether you like that fact or not. By the age of 21, 80% of New Zealanders have tried cannabis at least once and more than 600,000 kiwis consume it annually.
Despite the slow reduction in convictions for cannabis crimes in recent decades, we still spend $ 200 million a year on law enforcement by the police. And we have nothing to show for it, other than a system that is still run primarily by organized crime.
Christine Cornege / Things
Cannabis Referendum: New Zealanders will vote in September in the cannabis legalization and control referendum.
Almost anything would be an improvement, right? And yet the fact that we can’t wave a magic wand and fix the problem for everyone at once has left some Kiwis, especially parents, wondering which way to go. If the bill is not perfect and my child’s health and well-being is at stake, how do I choose?
The result has been a kind of decision paralysis, with figures for and against legalization hovering around 50/50. The uncertainty created by Covid-19 in almost every aspect of our lives has not helped. Who has the bandwidth right now to delve into the heart of the argument?
Well, shortly we will all have no choice but to do so if we want to have a say, so here are some more facts: A “yes” vote will make it easier for people with a drug problem to come forward. help. A vote in favor will reduce the involvement of gangs in drug trafficking. An affirmative vote will lead to strict regulation of the potency and ingredients of cannabis available for sale.
A vote in favor will mean that fewer young people, especially Maori, who are by far the worst affected, will end up with a conviction that will prevent them from getting a job, a home, traveling abroad, having a life. An affirmative vote could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for mental health and other health solutions for those who need them.
It should be a comfort to those parents to know that if they read the bill and become familiar with the facts, they will likely see that we will be better off with a carefully regulated legal market.
Not perfect, but better.
