Police pot-scapades push toll up Candor Trust

Candor Trust can not condone the insanely fruitless deployment of NZ Police on dangerous cannabis collection duties. Police have just announced they have destroyed a record 141,000 plants.

Stinkers with the potential to cause community harm worth $379 million, they claim. "This can be directly attributed to enhanced intelligence collection and the good flying weather," say Police. But there's no intelligence in this approach, says Candors Co-ordinator Rachael Ford.

"Whilst they lollop about playing McGyvor in shiney choppers, real human beings from babe's to Gran's are being relentlessly killed by drug drivers on their unpoliced roads, and at costs far in excess of those Police cite as saved above - given drug drivers are behind 15% of the road toll."

It's a matter for which no serous action plan exists. Tokers supplies are absolutely untouched by these showy commando style operations. Why? Because if you have a cupboard you can have a cannabis plant. Prohibition rampages are for Patsies, it is not a plan to reduce drug driving at all.

Candor was further disenchanted to learn that during the last year NZ Police had squandered time riffling through more than 820 private houses and back yards, leading to the record number of seizures and arrests.

"It's common sense surely. An hour wasted on a house search for cannabis would be infinitely better spent doing random drug testing on Public roads, bearing in mind that the Police Act requires Officers to protect both life and property".

Police say public informants are important to direct their noses, but Candor would encourage the Public not to provide any sort of information capable of diverting Police into mischief that could distracts them from their more important duties, on the roads.

In Victoria, the decriminalisation of Pot freed Police up to do Random Drug Testing, and their road toll immediately plummeted by more than 10% from the outset of such testing in 2004. This is a true social cost saving, whereas having bonfires of the plants seized here is not of any real net social or economic benefit. BERL reports are rather scorned.

In an Australian survey, about one-third of cannabis users (who used more than five times in the past year) had a cannabis use disorder (dependence or abuse). This concern impacting road safety has been addressed by diverting wasted resources used for Policing prohibition to health arenas, and random roadside drug checkpoints.

It is a modern approach called trouble shooting, and militates against the State going in to overkill in areas that are not not generative of any great problems.

Unfortunately, and to the great detriment of road safety, New Zealand now has a Transport Minister who believes that roadside drug tests aren't invented yet. And a green new Police Minister who apparently considers stalking cannabis smokers with an eye to severe flaggelation meritous.

Perhaps Collin's and Joyce could be saved from their pointless Punch and Judy antics by a study tour to Australia. There they would see initiatives like Police doing useful productive work, and health education and care being funded in preference to Police home invasions which can kill staff. If they can't take time out they can always view the Australian approach here www..quit.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=7070

ENDS

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