Dakta Green: Cannabis, tunnels, police and health budget

I WILL: . Build the tunnel you want, . Put 200 more Police on the frontline, . Build two new 350 bed prisons, . Increase the health budget for prescription drugs by 20%.

I, DAKTA GREEN, candidate for the Mt Albert electorate, representing the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP) will achieve these promises without any extra cost to YOU, the TAXPAYER

I believe cannabis should be legally available for Adults (R18).

My adult son introduced me to cannabis twenty years ago. As a thirty nine year old adult, I decided to see for myself what young people found attractive about cannabis. The experience changed my life. During the last twenty years, as I have immersed myself in the cannabis culture, I have sought an answer to the question: Why do we lock our citizens in jail for cannabis? The simplistic answer is ‘because they break the law.’ The real answer is much more complicated and has nothing to do with cannabis. I used to be a person who supported prohibition and I did not know why. From the ‘reefer madness’ of the 1930’s until today, our leaders, supported by a compliant media, have consistently pilloried those in the cannabis culture. People in our culture are treated as second class citizens. If we do not comply with societies norms we are shipped to the gulag for re-education.

During the last eighteen months I have toured the length and breadth of our country speaking out about cannabis law reform. Whilst holding a conversation with our communities about cannabis I have led protests against cannabis prohibition laws in towns and cities throughout New Zealand. The vast majority of New Zealanders believe if jail is the answer to our cannabis ‘problem’ it must have been a stupid question. They believe it is time to ‘stop locking our people up.’ I agree. We all have a relative or friend who consumes cannabis. We do not think of them as ‘criminals’. Yet every 37 minutes somebody in New Zealand is arrested for a cannabis offense. New Zealand holds the unenviable record for the highest cannabis arrest rate in the world. We are second only to the United States of America for the numbers we lock up for cannabis. 52% of all adult New Zealanders have tried cannabis. 85% of those aged 25 have tried it. Yet we as a nation continue to criminalise popular culture and give our young people a criminal record for life. It is wrong and must cease immediately.

Waterview Tunnel A regulated legal market for cannabis in New Zealand will eliminate criminal income and generate in excess of $500 million in new taxes in the first year. The tunnel is now affordable. The people of Mt Albert should not have their community divided by motorways to solve the greater Auckland transport woes. The full tunnel proposal is the least intrusive option and the right one for Mt Albert residents.

200 Police Police spend approximately 420,000 hours each year trying to control cannabis in New Zealand. The immediate effect from a legal cannabis market will be to release 200 Police officers from ineffective cannabis control duties to more important crime control activities. Our communities will be safer as Police focus on serious crime.

2 New Prisons Today, there are more than 700 New Zealand citizens in prison for cannabis related offenses. They will be immediately released, freeing up those cells for serious criminals. We do not need to spend millions building new prisons or altering our prisons for ‘double bunking’.

Cannabis is a medicine Medicinal cannabis has been available for almost a decade in California. 78% of medical cannabis patients report a decline in their use of prescription drugs. It is estimated that when cannabis is available in New Zealand as a medicine, prescription drug use will decline by approximately 20%. The savings to our Medsafe budget will result in a larger range of prescription medicines being available at no increase in cost.

Mt Albert Voters Have a Unique Opportunity To Make a Difference. SEND DAKTA GREEN TO PARLIAMENT WITH THE MESSAGE. Mt Albert voters support a legal and regulated cannabis market for adults. It is time to stop locking our family, friends and neighbours in jail for being part of the cannabis culture. WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS. STOP THE ARRESTS NOW!!!

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