Nobody Should Be Punished by Their Boss Simply for Smoking Cannabis

“Nobody in New Zealand should be ever punished by their boss simply for smoking cannabis on their own time”, said Dakta Green today.

“So long as no-one is being hurt and no disturbance caused, what goes on outside of the job is no matter of the company or the employer”.

Mr Green was referring to the current investigation by TVNZ into claims that its staff smoked cannabis during a visit to Waitangi on the CannaBus with Dakta Green and members of NORML and the Daktory.

“NORML sympathizes with any employee in New Zealand who fears for their job because of private cannabis use, or who has faced consequences from their employer for having used cannabis”, Mr Green said.

Dakta Green said he knew of many people in the cannabis culture who felt upset about the way in which Close Up treated him in a segment aired last week. “Some have made formal complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority, but my understanding is they only complained about the content of the show, nothing else”, he said.

“Any claims of wrongdoing alleged against the TVNZ staff in question are nothing but hearsay”, he said. “We enjoyed their company and I believe they enjoyed ours, but I can categorically say they never smoked cannabis with us on the CannaBus”.

“And besides”, Mr Green continued, “even if they had, so what? They’re adults! It’s only cannabis – a drug that’s far safer than both alcohol and tobacco”.

“I’m very sorry these people are being treated this way; particularly as it’s happened immediately following the Law Commission’s report recommending no more criminalization of cannabis smokers.”

Dakta Green said that such persecution is an infringement of basic human rights, something he plans to talk about more on the upcoming Armistice Tour 2010.

ENDS

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