Bill of Rights
Your comments on the hypocrisy of drug enforcement are well made but it is the toughest dilemma in the book. Is legalisation akin to condoning the practice and in turn setting a bad example? Drug driving is almost as common as drink driving among the under-25s. Likewise, will criminal gangs simply accept a loss in earnings and take it on the chin or will they pursue more ruthless and hideous ways of making money? The other dilemma concerns the use of cannabis and its role in the onset of schizophrenia. This is one condition that is very hard to spot or that may lie dormant until triggered by drug abuse. Effectively, it is like Russian roulette in that you may not know you have it until smoking cannabis after which the Pandora’s box has been opened and the process is irreversible. Modern production methods make cannabis far more potent than it is in the natural form. It appears that Anglo-Saxons have this crazy gene that can't help bingeing. For some reason which I don't understand, people on the Continent seem able to eat and drink what they like but they do so in moderation. It could be something to do with the slower (more sustainable) way of life. Hugo Bouleau
I thought NZ had this already. My view is that the country already places too great an emphasis on individual and small groups’ rights to the detriment of the greater good. Project Aqua is a good example where a new hydro scheme was torpedoed by small interest groups. Ben Davies