"For gangs, the Misuse of Drugs Act (1975) has been one of the best recruiting tools they’ve ever had. Criminalisation of a raft of illicit drugs not only provides them with a wildly lucrative black market.

...

Once users are prosecuted and get sent to jail, gangs offer not only a vital form of self-preservation on the inside, but are (often) the only willing employer waiting on the outside."

#GordonCampbell, 2025

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2511/S00036/on-why-we-should-de-criminalise-personal-drug-use.htm

#drugs #DrugLawReform #decriminalisation

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Decades of experience tells us that the most effective way to reduce demand for illicit drugs is to provide a regulated, legal supply. The second most effective way is to provide wraparound services, that help people break habits of self-harm that involve dangerous use of drugs.

#drugs #DrugLawReform

@vfrmedia @dyckron @Bwacton

Mike Sabin has come a long way since his MethCon days (and a con it certainly was);

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/experts-warn-nz-drug-laws-outdated-as-calls-for-reform-grow-the-elephant/FTWPJIPOCRH2TLXOD56WNKF4XM/

But he's still stuck in a 20th century paradigm where there is a single 'just say no' approach to "drugs", as a general category. One that nobody would accept if it included 3 of the most dangerous recreational drugs; alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical opioids.

#podcasts #NZHerald #TheElephant #drugs #DrugLawReform #MikeSabin #MethCon

"[Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa] believes that endless amendments to an unworkable law are not the solution. It is time to replace drug laws with a single, coherent Psychoactive Drug Law—one that regulates all drugs, including currently legal substances, such as alcohol. A modern drug law grounded in science, evidence, and human rights, promoting health education and harm reduction under the administration of the Ministry of Health."

#HRCA, 2025

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2511/S00016/enough-is-enough-coalition-calls-for-a-new-drug-law.htm

#DrugLawReform

Chris Fowlie warns that if you've made cannabis brownies, or tinctures, or do any processing of it, you're now at risk of being charged with manufacture of a class B drug;

https://feeds.95bfm.com/link/22115/17199561/marijuana-media-with-chris-fowlie-october-30-2025

The MODA drug classification system is such bullshit. You know what else is in class B? Cocaine, one of the 5 most physically and societally dangerous recreational drugs in use, according to the famous Lancet paper by David Nutt et al;

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/abstract

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#drugs #DrugLawReform

This is what a recent NZ Drug Foundation report said we need for drug policy in Aotearoa, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Politicians across successive govts have consistently shown that they can't be objective about anything to do with drugs. Too often drug harms are increased as part of "tough on crime" grandstanding, despite the evidence about what actually reduces harm.

We need a nonpartisan, evidence-focused body with powers to determine drug policy.

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#DrugLawReform #NZDrugFoundation