PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE USE
Dunne Proposes Bill Of Rights Violation
An Open Letter To Peter Dunne
Dear Mr Dunne
I write to you as the parent of three children and as a spokesman for Libertarianz. In your open letter, published in
the press two days ago, you spoke of the concerns of many parents that children might be exposed to and pressured into
using mind-altering drugs. My party shares that concern. However, we regard your suggested changes to existing anti-drug
laws as nothing short of absurd. If you want to prevent children from being harmed through drug use, then surely you
should advocate increased parent accountability.
You speak of minimising the risks associated with drug use. Yet the biggest "risk" is the harm done not by the drugs
themselves but by the crime and misery which results from drug prohibition. If drug utilisation by children is the
problem, then make parents and guardians answerable for their lack of adequate supervision. Don't punish the thousands
of adults who make a conscious informed decision to use drugs themselves, but punish them if their children do.
And in any case, Mr Dunne, didn't you realise that forcing adults into drug rehabilitation programmes is a breach of
article 11 of the Bill of Rights Act 1990, which states that everyone has the right to refuse to undergo any medical
treatment?
Two hundred years ago the American Congress ratified ten constitutional amendments, thereby creating their own Bill of
Rights. Read through those ten amendments, Mr Dunne, and see if you can find any mention of drugs. You won't. For a
hundred years, the American government entrusted the care of children to their parents. It allowed people to get on with
their lives with minimal interference. And from that beginning a great nation evolved. Why couldn't we do the same in
New Zealand?
Yours sincerely
Richard McGrath, Deputy Leader, Libertarianz
For further information,
e-mail: mongrel@winz.co.nz Phone: (06) 378 8488