22 August, 2003

Turner's fallacies debunked - three weeks ago

Green MP Nandor Tanczos said that Judy Turner, United Future's Health spokesperson's comments today have completely missed the point.

The Health Select Committee's report into cannabis debunked the fallacies repeated by Mrs Turner when it was released earlier this month.

"The committee's report confirms the view that prohibition itself, not cannabis, is the gateway to harder drugs," said Nandor, the Green spokesperson for Cannabis Law Reform.

"Judy Turner's statement should leave the public very suspicious that she has even read the report, which calls into question whether she is at all qualified to comment on it."

For Judy's benefit, Nandor offers the following verbatim quotes from the Health Select Committee's inquiry into cannabis use in New Zealand:

* "The high levels of use and the level of black market activity indicate that the current prohibition regime is not effective in limiting cannabis use.... It also facilitates the black market and potentially exposes cannabis users to harder drugs." (p.57)

* "We are advised that very strict prohibition of cannabis, where even minor personal use is criminalised, could contribute to a range of problems, including creation of a large-scale black market..." (p.51)

* "Research supports the view that 'the relationship between cannabis use and 'harder' drugs arises from the legal status of cannabis rather than its pharmacological effects'." (p. 21)

* "Cannabis law reform in the Netherlands 'has resulted in very low levels of cannabis use amongst youth and some of the lowest rates of hard drug addiction in the Western world'." (p.58)

ENDS

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