Drug Policy Embarrasment – LTE NZH

Letter to the Editor,
New Zealand Herald

Drug Policy Embarrasment

NZHerald opened a Pandora’s box when it mistakenly characterised the recent RSA drugs report critiquing the ABC classification of drugs as just “moral panic” and asking for online feedback positing “Are Drugs Wrongly Demonised?”. [The influential study concluded Britain’s drug policy is “not fit for purpose and is failing to cut addiction or drug-related crime.” ]

Clearly the weight of opinion (about 25:1) from the NZH readership supports international calls for wholesale drug policy reform. Cogent and richly diverse insight demonstrates how gravely flawed NZ’s National Drug Policy [NDP], released in the same week, has become.

At last years Christchurch NDP consultation Ministry Officials heard the review process described by an addiction science Professor as “an embarrassment to the Ministry of Health”.

Come election time Hon’s Anderton and O’Conner will be applauding themselves as ‘tough on drugs’ albeit at our expense yet deliverable harm minimisation, the return on investment objectives of the NDP, is inconsequential. NZHerald’s readership is demonstrably smarter than the government sham for policy suggesting you and yours are seen as not part of the solution, rather as an expensive (diverting resources away from what’s broken) and crime creating, thus dangerous part of the problem.

200 words

ref:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501154&objectid=10427939

http://www.tv3.co.nz/Portals/0/Admin/News/PDFs/rsa_drugs_report.pdf

Blair Anderson
50 Wainoni Road,
Christchurch
03 3894065 027 2657219

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