...it's awfully hard - much as I might try - to get beyond the Aotearoa-New Zealand Green Party's approach to cannabis reform, aka the much-discussed (of late) referendum (in conjunction with Election 2020) on the potential *legalization of marijuana in **Godzone...
The moment isn't sufficient (i.e. I just don't have the time, and my ****shuteye is quite precious to me) to herein discuss (what I anyhow consider to be) all the ins and outs of the contentious subject...
...suffice to say, I've been closely following certain interesting 'developments' thereupon over recent weeks upon the Mike Hosking Show, and here is my bare-as-nails conclusions, for what they're worth:
Green Party law change standard-bearer Chloe Swarbrick has done not only 'the Hosk' himself, as well as his listenership, but verily the entire nation a great and immeasurable service, a 'good deed' worthy of TV1's special Sunday Night 'Good Sorts' slot, in fact one I'd humbly suggest is well worthy of an NZ 'Order of Merit' of the first degree...
And what, prithee, might that possibly be, in view of all I've written herein upon said topic? Just this, and it's something Mr Hosking has himself generously paid tribute to as well, if in somewhat more restrained and concise manner: Ms Swarbrick has done the really decent thing of alerting NZ Inc to the important 'case study' of the American state of Colorado, which has of course undergone a similar course to that outlined by supporters of cannabis legalization here in Godzone/God's Own...
Or rather, hasn't (i.e. achieved the sort of naively idealistic, rose-tinted, pollyannaish outcome suggested by dope legalization proponents); nope, it (that is, the venerable U S 'rocky mountain' state of *****Colorado, made so famous half a century ago by legendary singer-songwriter John Denver) has simply followed the typical path of liberalization long proposed by not only the likes of our (NZ's) own Greens, but by their dope-obsessed political predecessors here, i.e. the Aotearoa Legalize Cannabis Party (of yesteryear...or is it still around?)
Or, to briefly sum up as I borrow some very messily scribbled notes I made upon the subject during Mike's show sometime this morning...
-Eureka, I've found it! -it was simply as follows:
Following a phone conversation - it surely couldn't have been that awful Skype thingamie, the connection was altogether too clear - that Hosking had with a Colorado-based, I believe, ******'expert' upon the matter, I scribbled as follows: Hey, Mike, you just have to hand it to Chloe Swarbrick, she's done a great - if entirely unintended - service to you, your listeners, and kiwis generally, by referring us all (awhile ago on your show) to Colorado State's actual on-the-ground lived experience of legalization.
Yes, the consequences of her doing so are essentially the exact opposite of why she did so, but hey, let's be generous and not only do what I suggested above (i.e. nominate Chloe for 'good sort of the year', or, better still, a special order of merit above and beyond the regular ole PM's one already referred to), but, moreover, admit that New Zealand Dopes Incorporated *******ain't really all that bad after all...for - however admittedly inadvertently - they've pointed us here in quite the right direction...to obtain the most pertinent, up-to-date facts upon the real-deal effects of marijuana legalization on a population, and surely that can't be altogether bad?
Postscript (and Encouragement to read my footnotes below):
Yes, with the benefit of hindsight, it just might be salient/useful/the smart thing to give/list/detail at least a few of my personal reasons for so readily falling in here with the anti-brigade. Point well taken - and moreover why (I think) marijuana legalization has apparently fallen so foul with so many even in Colorado - though our ('mainstream' public radio) media here would scarcely seem to have noticed; that it has proven so problematic to Colorado-ens since being made legal barely six years ago...
Admittedly methinks sometimes one (naturally enough) gets a little too caught up in the various passions aroused/elicited in such debates/contentious matters to see the wood clearly from the trees, to use a different but equally appropriate analogy, something about there being a little too much heat when a bit more light needs shedding upon a particular subject....
All doubtless only too true, but having considered all this overnight and throughout today, I believe you'll be 'pleasantly' surprised to find a small number admittedly, but nevertheless a series of fairly substantial reasons why I, like so many other kiwis - especially those parents who've brought up their own teens, as has been insightfully observed by some who've given the matter serious attention - am now backing away (if ever I'd been previously positive or at least lukewarm) from supporting such a move.
But yes, you'll need to read on, especially past ******(that's six asterisks) below, where I mention the Coloradon interviewee once more...and hopefully right through my P.P.S. ...
*Though without particularly strong or passionate views on the subject, Yours Truly has personally ***always favoured 'decriminalization' - with small, on-the-spot fines for smoking and/or possession - much in the manner of some overseas' jurisdictions...
**Aware - as of yesterday while blogposting, when a light suddenly went off inside my cerebral cortex - that 'Godzone' as opposed to 'God's Own' might be the correct term... However, since there doesn't seem a great deal of distinction between the two terms, I'm not awfully 'sorry' if, in using 'God's Own' regularly over my seven years now of blogposting, I've not been as technically correct as could be the case... - so, yes, you guessed correctly, I'm gonna continue using the two alternative forms (of what is essentially the entirely same concept) as interchangeably as ever...
***But yes, the proponents of such a law change are A1 correct on one basic point: the so-called, long-running 'war on drugs', led out by the United States of America under some federal administrations of yesteryear, has indeed been an abject failure -and all the rest...
****The non-drug-induced variety, I hasten to add...
*****For those interested (in bits of trivia) the very state - aside from my American favourite, Oregon - which just so happened (or so I adjudged at the time) to be closest to NZ in geography/size and population numbers (when I criss-crossed back across the US of A on a greyhound bus (through Colorado etc) on my way to Las Angeles to fly back to God's Own in June 1995.
******Entirely my own assessment following the interview, she didn't seem the sort to blow her own trumpet, that's for sure... Now (a day later) I heard Mr Hosking briefly revisiting the interview, by which I understand said expert to be a childrens' hospital doctor from Colorado by the name of Sam (as in Samantha, I gather) Wong.
She found all manner of harms/ills associated with the use of marijuana/cannabis/dope - in connection with her line of work, naturally enough - and these I'll doubtless refer to in time to come; suffice for now to simply say, that what she herself had to say about it, to quote the now famous words of one-time National Party leader and long-time Reserve Bank Governor, Don Brash, about the leader he ultimately replaced in the former post, was nothing constructive; end of story.
However, for Yours Truly - and which, I now realize, may well seem to contradict my own somewhat lenient attitude to the drug, i.e. if not 'positive' legalization thereof, at least its decriminalization - the essential reasons I oppose its use and legalization, are, in staccato bullet-point (form):
#the thc levels are apparently much higher than when it came into vogue in the 1960s, and hence its ability to wreak havoc (however limited) in the lives of its users -and those they're associated with (including on our public roads and in our workplaces).
#the strong reaction to former Green M.P. Nandor Tanczos(sp?) - a highly intelligent chap, just incidentally (and a seventh-day Sabbath keeper as well) - whose lifetime championing of said drug, including during his three-six-nine year stint in Parliament, put him offside with many, including especially school principals evidently throughout the length and breadth of Aotearoa...concerned by/upset over the way in which they doubtless rightly perceived his (political) influence in those (arguably generally unhallowed) chambers making New Zealand's laws - while continuing to smoke the illegal substance (as well as have it in an Auckland shop he was involved with) - was somehow encouraging school pupils to engage in smoking the stuff themselves - and probably in school time!
#It serving to be a 'gateway drug' into the far more serious and life-wrecking narcotics and hallucinogens etcetera, as expertly outlined in graphic detail in former 'Focus on the Family' radio show host Dr James Dobson's seminal work Dare to Discipline.
#And last but not least - though doubtless I've neglected a whole host of other weighty reasons - the well-documented increase in levels of psychosis amongst teenagers and young adults especially in recent years. Hearing such a description a wee while ago I was struck as with a 2 by 4 across my cranium that that oh so perfectly described/depicted/characterized the life issues and trajectory long since travelled by a certain member of my extended family...directly impacting many others including the rest of our family as a result. Nuff said (except to briefly add that I personally at least happen to find such purely/'merely' anecdotal stuff fairly conclusive).
*P.S. And to top it all off/be the veritable clincher for me, I'll briefly touch on one of the commonest, and to my mind - as that of innumerable others - a fairly conclusive one...in favour - not...of its legalization: ye ole hypocrisy scenario...i.e. the longstanding situation wherein two of the most lethal and societally impacting drugs, i.e. alcohol and tobacco, have long been themselves perfectly legal.
A plausible-sounding and -seeming argument indeed, to which I can only respond, as so many others have themselves concluded thereabouts, that two wrongs do not a right make. End of story.
P.P.S. And if one needs additional reasons, just talk with A & E staff in our public hospitals, who, while they may well have no strong or firm views upon the legalizing of dope, certainly do not need anything else to add to their already laborious workload and increasingly fraught job...-mainly due, it must be readily conceded, to the demon drink.
*******Something entirely in line with the long-stated motto of this very blogsite, in fact, which is in bestowing bouquets and brickbats with fear (of) and favour toward none!
The moment isn't sufficient (i.e. I just don't have the time, and my ****shuteye is quite precious to me) to herein discuss (what I anyhow consider to be) all the ins and outs of the contentious subject...
...suffice to say, I've been closely following certain interesting 'developments' thereupon over recent weeks upon the Mike Hosking Show, and here is my bare-as-nails conclusions, for what they're worth:
Green Party law change standard-bearer Chloe Swarbrick has done not only 'the Hosk' himself, as well as his listenership, but verily the entire nation a great and immeasurable service, a 'good deed' worthy of TV1's special Sunday Night 'Good Sorts' slot, in fact one I'd humbly suggest is well worthy of an NZ 'Order of Merit' of the first degree...
And what, prithee, might that possibly be, in view of all I've written herein upon said topic? Just this, and it's something Mr Hosking has himself generously paid tribute to as well, if in somewhat more restrained and concise manner: Ms Swarbrick has done the really decent thing of alerting NZ Inc to the important 'case study' of the American state of Colorado, which has of course undergone a similar course to that outlined by supporters of cannabis legalization here in Godzone/God's Own...
Or rather, hasn't (i.e. achieved the sort of naively idealistic, rose-tinted, pollyannaish outcome suggested by dope legalization proponents); nope, it (that is, the venerable U S 'rocky mountain' state of *****Colorado, made so famous half a century ago by legendary singer-songwriter John Denver) has simply followed the typical path of liberalization long proposed by not only the likes of our (NZ's) own Greens, but by their dope-obsessed political predecessors here, i.e. the Aotearoa Legalize Cannabis Party (of yesteryear...or is it still around?)
Or, to briefly sum up as I borrow some very messily scribbled notes I made upon the subject during Mike's show sometime this morning...
-Eureka, I've found it! -it was simply as follows:
Following a phone conversation - it surely couldn't have been that awful Skype thingamie, the connection was altogether too clear - that Hosking had with a Colorado-based, I believe, ******'expert' upon the matter, I scribbled as follows: Hey, Mike, you just have to hand it to Chloe Swarbrick, she's done a great - if entirely unintended - service to you, your listeners, and kiwis generally, by referring us all (awhile ago on your show) to Colorado State's actual on-the-ground lived experience of legalization.
Yes, the consequences of her doing so are essentially the exact opposite of why she did so, but hey, let's be generous and not only do what I suggested above (i.e. nominate Chloe for 'good sort of the year', or, better still, a special order of merit above and beyond the regular ole PM's one already referred to), but, moreover, admit that New Zealand Dopes Incorporated *******ain't really all that bad after all...for - however admittedly inadvertently - they've pointed us here in quite the right direction...to obtain the most pertinent, up-to-date facts upon the real-deal effects of marijuana legalization on a population, and surely that can't be altogether bad?
Postscript (and Encouragement to read my footnotes below):
Yes, with the benefit of hindsight, it just might be salient/useful/the smart thing to give/list/detail at least a few of my personal reasons for so readily falling in here with the anti-brigade. Point well taken - and moreover why (I think) marijuana legalization has apparently fallen so foul with so many even in Colorado - though our ('mainstream' public radio) media here would scarcely seem to have noticed; that it has proven so problematic to Colorado-ens since being made legal barely six years ago...
Admittedly methinks sometimes one (naturally enough) gets a little too caught up in the various passions aroused/elicited in such debates/contentious matters to see the wood clearly from the trees, to use a different but equally appropriate analogy, something about there being a little too much heat when a bit more light needs shedding upon a particular subject....
All doubtless only too true, but having considered all this overnight and throughout today, I believe you'll be 'pleasantly' surprised to find a small number admittedly, but nevertheless a series of fairly substantial reasons why I, like so many other kiwis - especially those parents who've brought up their own teens, as has been insightfully observed by some who've given the matter serious attention - am now backing away (if ever I'd been previously positive or at least lukewarm) from supporting such a move.
But yes, you'll need to read on, especially past ******(that's six asterisks) below, where I mention the Coloradon interviewee once more...and hopefully right through my P.P.S. ...
*Though without particularly strong or passionate views on the subject, Yours Truly has personally ***always favoured 'decriminalization' - with small, on-the-spot fines for smoking and/or possession - much in the manner of some overseas' jurisdictions...
**Aware - as of yesterday while blogposting, when a light suddenly went off inside my cerebral cortex - that 'Godzone' as opposed to 'God's Own' might be the correct term... However, since there doesn't seem a great deal of distinction between the two terms, I'm not awfully 'sorry' if, in using 'God's Own' regularly over my seven years now of blogposting, I've not been as technically correct as could be the case... - so, yes, you guessed correctly, I'm gonna continue using the two alternative forms (of what is essentially the entirely same concept) as interchangeably as ever...
***But yes, the proponents of such a law change are A1 correct on one basic point: the so-called, long-running 'war on drugs', led out by the United States of America under some federal administrations of yesteryear, has indeed been an abject failure -and all the rest...
****The non-drug-induced variety, I hasten to add...
*****For those interested (in bits of trivia) the very state - aside from my American favourite, Oregon - which just so happened (or so I adjudged at the time) to be closest to NZ in geography/size and population numbers (when I criss-crossed back across the US of A on a greyhound bus (through Colorado etc) on my way to Las Angeles to fly back to God's Own in June 1995.
******Entirely my own assessment following the interview, she didn't seem the sort to blow her own trumpet, that's for sure... Now (a day later) I heard Mr Hosking briefly revisiting the interview, by which I understand said expert to be a childrens' hospital doctor from Colorado by the name of Sam (as in Samantha, I gather) Wong.
She found all manner of harms/ills associated with the use of marijuana/cannabis/dope - in connection with her line of work, naturally enough - and these I'll doubtless refer to in time to come; suffice for now to simply say, that what she herself had to say about it, to quote the now famous words of one-time National Party leader and long-time Reserve Bank Governor, Don Brash, about the leader he ultimately replaced in the former post, was nothing constructive; end of story.
However, for Yours Truly - and which, I now realize, may well seem to contradict my own somewhat lenient attitude to the drug, i.e. if not 'positive' legalization thereof, at least its decriminalization - the essential reasons I oppose its use and legalization, are, in staccato bullet-point (form):
#the thc levels are apparently much higher than when it came into vogue in the 1960s, and hence its ability to wreak havoc (however limited) in the lives of its users -and those they're associated with (including on our public roads and in our workplaces).
#the strong reaction to former Green M.P. Nandor Tanczos(sp?) - a highly intelligent chap, just incidentally (and a seventh-day Sabbath keeper as well) - whose lifetime championing of said drug, including during his three-six-nine year stint in Parliament, put him offside with many, including especially school principals evidently throughout the length and breadth of Aotearoa...concerned by/upset over the way in which they doubtless rightly perceived his (political) influence in those (arguably generally unhallowed) chambers making New Zealand's laws - while continuing to smoke the illegal substance (as well as have it in an Auckland shop he was involved with) - was somehow encouraging school pupils to engage in smoking the stuff themselves - and probably in school time!
#It serving to be a 'gateway drug' into the far more serious and life-wrecking narcotics and hallucinogens etcetera, as expertly outlined in graphic detail in former 'Focus on the Family' radio show host Dr James Dobson's seminal work Dare to Discipline.
#And last but not least - though doubtless I've neglected a whole host of other weighty reasons - the well-documented increase in levels of psychosis amongst teenagers and young adults especially in recent years. Hearing such a description a wee while ago I was struck as with a 2 by 4 across my cranium that that oh so perfectly described/depicted/characterized the life issues and trajectory long since travelled by a certain member of my extended family...directly impacting many others including the rest of our family as a result. Nuff said (except to briefly add that I personally at least happen to find such purely/'merely' anecdotal stuff fairly conclusive).
*P.S. And to top it all off/be the veritable clincher for me, I'll briefly touch on one of the commonest, and to my mind - as that of innumerable others - a fairly conclusive one...in favour - not...of its legalization: ye ole hypocrisy scenario...i.e. the longstanding situation wherein two of the most lethal and societally impacting drugs, i.e. alcohol and tobacco, have long been themselves perfectly legal.
A plausible-sounding and -seeming argument indeed, to which I can only respond, as so many others have themselves concluded thereabouts, that two wrongs do not a right make. End of story.
P.P.S. And if one needs additional reasons, just talk with A & E staff in our public hospitals, who, while they may well have no strong or firm views upon the legalizing of dope, certainly do not need anything else to add to their already laborious workload and increasingly fraught job...-mainly due, it must be readily conceded, to the demon drink.
*******Something entirely in line with the long-stated motto of this very blogsite, in fact, which is in bestowing bouquets and brickbats with fear (of) and favour toward none!
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