Read all the concerns from the police – and then ask yourself, whose opinion do you trust more? The Police who deal with this every day, OR Chloe, Andrew, Helen and the Drug Foundation?
Police concerns:
- One of the proposed benefits is to free up police resources but that is not actually the case. If it was be to more closely monitored, that would put more demand on police.
- Tax and pricing could be a problem. If you can’t drive that price down, that is not going to get rid of the black market.
- There were some concerns from members about breaching the legal grow limits, which would be hard to police.
- There was also some confusion around the purchase limits of 14g a day. Unless you have a database, how are you ever going to be able to police that?
- Members were also concerned that a law would support the idea that it was ok to use cannabis and that it was not harmful #saynopetodope
Police are raising concerns about how cannabis would be legalised if there’s a yes vote at next year’s referendum, and if gangs will really be shut out of the market.
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced the details of the cannabis bill to be voted on in next year’s referendum, and a new government website to provide information on both the cannabis and End of Life Choice referenda being held in 2020.
Personal possession of 14 grams of cannabis, the sale of cannabis edibles and growing up to four cannabis plants per household are all included in the bill, which the public will be asked to vote “yes or no” on at the 2020 general election.
New Zealanders could buy the equivalent of 42 joints each day under the draft law to legalise cannabis use.
The New Zealand Police Association President Chris Cahill said, without a doubt, there would be challenges for cops and he questioned if they would even bother policing it.
Cahill has just returned from a trip to Canada, where cannabis has been legal for about one year.
The reality was that police in New Zealand, just like in Canada, did not spend a lot of time investigating cannabis supply because there were so many other drugs, Cahill said.
READ MORE: stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117981753/police-concerned-cannabis-reform-can-not-be-policed-and-shut-out-gangs-from-black-market